| curl-6 said: Switch 2 kinda ended up about where I expected it to be in terms of power, though a little bit better as I honestly didn't expect we'd get 120fps support given the limitations of a portable form factor. It's technically correct to say that it's multiple GPU generations (not console generations) ahead of last gen in terms of feature set thanks to DLSS/hardware raytracing/etc, but it does need to be stressed that power also matters and in that regard it's also correct to say it's closer to PS4 in raw power simply due to the physical limits of fitting in a tiny case and running off a battery. What this means for games is that it is capable of running the same games as PS5/Xbox Series, as evidenced by the likes of Star Wars Outlaws and Assassin's Creed Shadows, provided you adjust settings and such. It's also capable of exceeding PS4 and handling stuff PS4 can't, though not to the point of being an entire (console) generation ahead. |
Is there even any Ampere based GPU from Nvidia that can't run PS5 tier games? I don't think so, even the lowest speced laptop 30-series cards can run PS5 tier games, the only one where it gets dicey maybe at times is the rare 3050 variant that I think has only 6GB of RAM, but that's purely because it has only (well) 6GB of RAM as a bottleneck.
Switch 2 is the most extreme stress test of the Ampere architecture, but even at like 10 watts you still can't stop it from running games like Star Wars Outlaws even with ray tracing turned on.
I doubt this is by accident or fluke either, Nintendo worked on this chip as a custom design and got exactly the level of power they wanted this time around unlike the Switch 1 where they basically had to take a chip that off the shelf (Tegra X1) that they didn't assist in developing. T239 is a custom design made especially for Nintendo. I think they definitely asked for a chip that could run PS5/XSS tier games without being outrageously expensive because they knew they had a good chance at getting franchises like the console Monster Hunter, Final Fantasy, etc. with how well the Switch 1 sold.
It's highly unlikely the system just happens to be able to run PS5/XSS games that are already out or coming soon as it does by accident or happy coincidence.
If they wanted just PS4 tier performance or a bit better and something just good enough to make Nintendo's own games look pretty, I don't think this is the chip they would use (again look at how it performs in things like Assassin's Creed Shadows versus a $1000 handheld). They could have done that for way less money with a lighter chip that eats less battery and could've given you a smaller system too.
Think about Nintendo's hardware division today, most of the old farts are now gone, the younger guys running the show now they didn't grow up in the 1950s/60s like Iwata did when things like a pocket calculator were amazing. They grew up or were in their prime "gaming my 20s" era with the Super Famicom and Playstation, probably had gaming PCs in the 90s too. Someone like likely not going to have the same thoughts on hardware the old farts did. So that's not terribly surprising at least to me anyway, things were always going to change a lot with these new people in charge of the company and guys like even Miyamoto being semi-retired focused on movies/theme parks.
