Nintendo’s upcoming Switch console is due for release March 2017, but despite the close proximity to hitting store shelves, the company has managed to keep a pretty tight lid on the console’s specifications. Unlike both Microsoft and Sony’s respective platform, whose specifications and performance information seemed to leak on a monthly basis.
But two sources (who have unsurprisingly wished to remain anonymous) have revealed that the Switch will not be powered by Nvidia’s Pascall architecture, but instead the older Maxwell generation. As a result of this, the console’s performance estimates are considerably lower, and while we don’t have a precise number yet, the Switch won’t be able to compete with the original launch model PS4 from Sony.
Unfortunately, the numbers will all depend upon clock speeds and the exact configuration of the chips inside the machine, but tentatively we can assume the low 1TFLOP range is probably about what the machine will sit at, assuming there’s nothing abnormal about the design.
Supposedly, the primary factor in the decision to use Maxwell over the more powerful hardware is said to be time. It’s of little secret that Nintendo’s Wii U didn’t catch on how the company had hoped, and with both Microsoft and Sony firmly planting their flags in the 8th generation of consoles, Nintendo wanted to join in the race.
Tegra (whether Maxwell or Pascal) is a SoC, an all-in-one chip, which houses both the systems graphics (in this case, seemingly Maxwell) and an ARM-Based CPU. Such chips aren’t a new concept, and Sony and Microsoft are using an APU from AMD for both their PlayStation 4 and XBox One systems, respectively.
Another benefit is also pricing – a Maxwell-based Tegra solution will be cheaper to produce than if Nintendo had opted to use Pascal, therefore keeping the price of the console lower than it otherwise would have been. Unfortunately, Nintendo haven’t seen fit to officially reveal pricing information, but the RRP has popped up on a few stores at around the $250 US dollar mark, but this price is far from official.
Source – VentureBeat