Nintendo Switch 2 leak reveals RTX 30 series architecture, with potential for DLSS and ray tracing
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Nintendo fans are currently waiting for the Nintendo Switch 2, the next version of the popular portable gaming console. While Nintendo has not shared any official details yet, rumors suggest the company might finally unveil it tomorrow, on January 16th. However, ahead of the rumored reveal, a new leak has given us an idea about what the upcoming console could feature.
Nintendo Switch 2 specifications leaked
The leak comes from Dee Batch on X (formerly Twitter), who shared a screenshot showing key specs for the Nintendo Switch 2, which you can see below.
Technical specs
- CPU: Arm Cortex-A78C
- 8 cores
- Unknown L1/L2/L3 cache sizes
- GPU @ Nvidia T239 Ampere (RTX 30 series) • 1 Graphics Processing Cluster (GPC)
- 12 Streaming Multiprocessors (SM) 。 1534 CUDA cores
- 6 Texture Processing Clusters (TPC)
- 48 Gen 3 Tensor cores
- 2 RTX ray-tracing cores
- RAM: 12 GB LPDDR5, (some/all units will have LPDDR5X chips)
- Two 6 GB chips
Power profiles
- Handheld:
- CPU @1100.8 MHz
- GPU @ 561 MHz, 1.72 TFLOPS peak
- RAM @ 2133 MHz, 68.26 GB/s peak bandwidth
- Docked:
- CPU @ 998.4 MHz
- GPU @1007.3 MHz, 3.09 TFLOPs peak
- RAM @ 3200 MHz, 102.40 GB/s peak bandwidth
As you can see in the image above, in docked mode, the CPU will have a clock speed of 998.4 MHz, while the GPU will operate at 1007.3 MHz with a peak performance of 3.09 TFLOPS. In handheld mode, the CPU will run at 1100.8 MHz, and the GPU will operate at 561 MHz with a peak performance of 1.72 TFLOPS.
One important point to keep in mind is that the leak mentions the RTX 20 series, but the Ampere architecture is from the RTX 30 series. Still, it will be a huge jump from the Maxwell architecture we have in the current Nintendo Switch. The leak also suggests the CPU will have a lower speed when docked, which seems unusual since it should be higher. We’ll need to wait for the official specifications to confirm this.
Based on the Nvidia hardware involved, Nintendo Switch 2 will also support Nvidia’s DLSS and ray tracing technologies, something that surfaced early this year thanks to some leaked photos. For those who don’t know, DLSS is an upscaling technology that uses the power of AI to boost the number of FPS people get in games, leading to better performance. It does this by rendering the game at a lower resolution; it then uses AI to upscale the visuals while maintaining the cheaper performance.
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On the other hand, ray tracing helps improve the overall visual quality by making lighting and reflections look more realistic in real-time. While ray tracing is a demanding feature that might not perform well on the Switch 2, DLSS will likely help improve the overall performance.
If these leaks are true, the Nintendo Switch 2 will be a big step up from the current model. With better performance, smoother gameplay, and improved graphics, it could convince users of the current model to upgrade.
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