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Rumor: Nintendo Switch’s Power Differs From Xbox One And PS4

A new rumor has surfaced regarding Nintendo Switch‘s hardware capabilities. According to a supposed tech-savvy analyst, the upcoming console is powerful but “not in a way” Xbox One and PlayStation 4 are. This statement was reported by Wall Street Journal (WSJ) technology reporter Takashi Mochizuki, who sent out the following tweet to his followers:

Source

88 thoughts on “Rumor: Nintendo Switch’s Power Differs From Xbox One And PS4”

      1. I don’t think so. The Wii U was just a slight bit weaker than the Xbox One as it was. I really don’t think Nintendo is going to make their next generation of home consoles weaker to or equal to the Wii U. That wouldn’t make sense from a 3rd party perspective. The Switch is probably just as powerful or slightly more powerful than an Xbox One while docked. Which honestly isn’t saying very much.

        1. You’re a fool to think the Wii U is only “slightly” less powerfully than the XB1..

          That’s like saying a Downs Syndrome man is only “slightly” less likely to get laid on a Friday night then the Guidos on Jersey Shore.

          These drones

  1. I think it just means all its power is being allocated to being able to run games at a good framerate and without burning to much power on the go at the cost of not being able to push out graphics as hard as xbone

  2. So big deal it can’t do graphics as hard as XB1 or PS4. It’s not like. Intendo gas a reputation for absolutely breathtaking world designs.

    1. Actually, he saying the power works differently from the PS4/Xbox One as you can take it on the go with you. This means more than likely the Switch is slightly above PS4 when docked but lower than Xbox One when on the Go.

      1. Not hardly…I got done reading from multi sources, wiki’s, that both PS4 and xbox one are 8 gb ram…then we have the scorpio and pro coming…maybe the most powerful handheld, but half the power of those both on the home console…

        Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.

        Xbox one:
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_One

        Playstation 4:
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_4

        I have suspicions on where “they learned their lesson” and I for one hope that plan works because its definitely not going to work this way and with that low of such shit, we are not going to see those games promised or see those sells from the hardcore department…or so I think…only time will tell.

    1. Nintendo First Order Commander Quadraxis

      ||They said it would be only a teaser, whatever anyone believes or says after that is their own misguided opinions and flawed arguments…||

    2. Lipton® has more brisk than your name. Evidently, Nintendo isn’t saying a word due to NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement). You’ll have to wait until January 12th, 2017 during the live presentation from Tokyo.

      1. Maybe, but I’ve drank so much of the stuff over the years I wouldn’t be surprised to learn my blood is half Brisk (plus that’d be so cool).

        Also, say Nintendo is the creator/holder of this NDA; could they not withdraw it at a moment’s notice and break the silence again early?

  3. More powerful than any current Nintendo stuff, but weaker than XB1 or PS4. This is supposed to be a surprise? I thought that was expected.

    1. witch doesnt make a darn bit of sense considering wiiu is only a tad off thoe consoles in real world performance

      another gflops bs-er sick of idiots who do not understand specs tegras pascal is wice plus effeicent than a old tech xbone ps4 due to superior pixel memory and colour compression

      its no different to a UNEDUCATED IDIOT saying apple doesnt compare to 8 core androids only for benchmarks and real world power proving other wise

      example a 16nm next gen gpu will do twice as much plus with half the on paper specs to compared to old tech

      its idiots comparing gflops on paper and not understanding how shit works a apple iproduct with 2 cpu cores a 2gb of ram will match a 8 core cpu 8gb ram android product because a apple custom chip and software is FAR MORE EFFEICENT

      example games running from a cart will easy beat a hardrive or disc drive a 16nm next gen gpu will thru put twice as much due to superior tech and superior compression

      sick of these people who do not understand tech whats so ever

      hit been going on for years DERP GAMECUBE HALF THE POWER OF DERP XBOX

      OH REALLY GC 20 MILLION POLYGONS IN GAME @ 60FPS

      XBOX 12 MILLION POLYGONS @ 30 FPS

      A TEGRA X2 GPU WITH DUAL 2D ENGINES CAN HIT 1.5 GHZ A XBONE GPU WITH DUAL 3D ENGIBES AND OLD TECH RUNS 800MHZ PLUS

      a 4gb 16nm next gen gpu will run code a old tech gpu willl do at 8gb BASIC TECH EVOLUTION and off course scd

  4. Basically, what he’s saying is that the Nintendo Switch handles power much differently as it’ll clock down when outside of a dock, making the system below PS4/Xbox One but when you dock it into the Docking Station, the performance gets a massive boost above slightly over the PS4/Xbox One.

  5. Without the other tweets this story makes a little less sense. He elaborated a bit on how the Ace Research Institute analyst Hideki Yasuda was “inferring architecture of Nintendo Switch.” He added a note saying “this is ‘his thinking'”. He said Yasuda thinks: “Switch likely using 14/16nmFET process; GPU would be Pascal-based. Power of APU, bus between APU and DRAM likely weaker than PS4, Switch game card would use serial transmission. Dock connected via 1 port. Peripheral connections would be high-speed.”
    >>”Switch would be ideal for transmitting large data to DRAM without delay. Good for open-field games with large map data.”<<

    Then continued to quote/paraphrase Yasuda saying: "Important to note tech details of Switch itself won't decide whether Switch would be successful."

    And finally he shared this illustration:
    https://mobile.twitter.com/mochi_wsj/status/794732115816423424

    Honestly I think people will need to wait until Nintendo reveals more info and shows us what the big secrets about Switch are left before trying to write it off as an underpowered tablet or even assuming it's an overpowered hybrid. I don't think we have the whole story yet at all.

  6. In other news, your toaster heats things in a different way than your microwave.

    … and this just in! It doesn’t take a tech analyst to tell you that, and this isn’t a news worthy quote.

  7. It means…. if anyone else out there was paying attention like I DO!
    It’s referring to the API the switch is using… the other 2 consoles are using a different API..
    XBO is using DX12 if i am not mistaken.
    PS4 uses something sony cooked up internally..
    But the switch is using a modified version of Vulkan!
    The API is powerful!
    So while the hardware is not on par with the competition, the API makes up the difference a bit.
    You have to remember, Nintendo joined the Kronos Group around the time vulkan was being worked on, and Kronos is headed by a head from… drumb roll please……
    NVIDIA!
    Nintendo joined and helped work out bugs with Vulkan, and NVIDIA helped work on a custom version of Vulkan for Nintendo’s new hardware.. (along with just about everything else).
    Granted i don’t have proof of these, but anyone who has been paying attention, would notice the connections.

      1. Dingle berry, NVN IS Vulkan, or to be more specific, it’s a modified version of Vulkan for the switch!
        Ugh.. i hate when people come correcting my shit.
        Dude, i am well aware of what that says on their blogs.
        But i am almost totally positive that NVN is a modified version of Vulkan.
        And Vulkan does not run bad on NVIDIA GPUs, Vulkan was developed in part with NVIDIA!
        Kronos group is actually headed by the one of the head guys who work at NVIDIA.
        On top of all that…. i have my sources.. so i know better.

    1. You’re right. Nintendo was joined by The Khronos Group a year ago. Imagine if Square Enix (for example) were to release an Unreal Engine 4 powered JRPG for the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo/NVIDIA’s API GPU was based on the Vulkan API… the quality of the graphics would look on equal grounds with (or surpassing) the PS4 and Xbox One (with the option of using the Switch’s SCD).

  8. I am in absolute SHOCK at how many people in the comments here Actually Believe that NS will have equivalent graphical and processing power to XBO and PS4.

    The WiiU currently has roughly the equivalent of 360 and PS3 power (with minor differences, just like those two are from each other).

    Microsoft AND Sony just released SLIM versions of their current Gen hardware. THAT is how small Those Two companies can compress their current tech while still selling at an enticing price point.

    The NS will be less than 1/8 the size of either slimmed down console, compressed into a tablet which is roughly the size of a 3DS-XL while closed (with the joy-cons removed).

    For Nintendo to have ANY chance to sell more of this thing than they did of WiiU, they will need to sell it for UNDER $350.00 . (Current High-End tablets and minimum spec laptops with comparable gaming perfirmance cost Significantly MORE)

    There is NO WAY Nintendo Switch will be equal in Processing Power (overall) to other current-gen platforms.

    If you made a power graph and put WiiU/360/PS3 and XBO/PS4 marks (averaged) on it, I suspect NS will fall just under half-way between the two averages, even fully clocked on the dock, and scaled down in framerate, resolution and various graphical effects undocked.

    Now, before any of you start screaming foul about that, may I remind you that some WiiU games already look FANTASTIC. Even only a Slight bump up from WiiU processing capacities in a portable is a HUGE leap forward from a New-3DS, with its way-too low rez main screen.

    However powerful the NS is, it will be a MIRACLE that Nintendo can sell tech with slighly more power than a WiiU in a battery powered tablet, for a price consumers can afford.

    Also … Graphical/Processing power is not the only thing that matters. We are yet to see what kind of OS and Networking/Market/Online infrastructure it will have. Features, Services and Ease-of-Use could make or break the overall value of this new console.

    All that matters in the end is … will the software, funtions and services it will offer justify the cost of time and money to purchase and use.

    Only Time will Tell.

    In regards to this meaningless quote. I have no doubt that the speed/capacity/power of at least ONE component in this coplex machine of hundreds of components will have a higher performance number than its equivalent singular component in the competition. That is meaningless overall, without context to what software developers can do with that singular component capacity, or how it relates to the overall operations of the machine.

    1. Someone who makes sense. The 4GB of RAM rumor indicates it could be at least twice as powerful as the Wii U. I’m thinking the only PS4 and Xbox One ports we’ll get are going to be games that aren’t as demanding as others. A prime example being that Dragon Quest XI and Sonic 2017 are confirmed but we probably won’t be getting RDR 2.

      1. Nintendo Switch could be as powerful as the code name Scorpio and still wouldn’t get Red Dead Redemption 2. It has never been about the power of a console and it will never be about the power of a console. It will also be about how easy it is to convert the codes and assets from one console to another. It is the same when programming anything. Most people don’t understand and they just try to go with simple numbers to explain how powerful something is. It use to be Ghz on the CPU and now it is about TFLOPS. There is no real way to determine how powerful some similar technology to another due to the parts are not the same.

          1. No I’m not that person at all. I don’t do youtube. I’m sure he uses DrTre81 for his handle I use tre802001 or treeighty for my handle.

    2. That crazy guy across the street

      About the Slimmer versions, you do realize that at least 30 to 40% of its size is due to its hard drive and disk drive right? Take out both and it gets even smaller.

      1. That, and open space inside the cases for heat ventalation, because the kind of CPU and GPU that is required to run modern games get really HOT.

        … ventalation that a compact Tablet device will not have, aside from one very obvious vent on the top edge. Even using their custom, low power chips, sacrifices will need to be made to keep it from overheating and draining the battery. Sacrifices that a well ventilated box sitting unmovingly on a shelf, drawing gobs of power through a heavy power brick, rather than a USB power cable, don’t need to make. If you took out the hard drive and disk drive from a PS4, as well as all its open space inside the case, yes … the actual chips could be crammed into a very tight space. … until you turned it on, and it melted itself from inadiquate spacing between components and airflow.

        This can be (and if rumors are true, will be the case) augmented by overclocking while docked, when battery consumption, or burning players hands, is not an issue. But only by so much.

        Remember also that, while the technology exists to create a CPU and GPU architecture with 4x the graphical/gaming power of a PS4-Pro that fits inside a card smaller than a 5″ smartphone … tech like that is EXPENSIVE.

        Nintendo needs to SELL this thing. The ‘affordable’ tech alternatives they are actually using are surely more conservative than that.

        – – –

        All that matters in the end is what software developers are able to Do with it.

        1. I dont see a problem with cooling in dock mode. Look at microsoft surface or mac books. They are much thinner and able to cooling 50 watts or more.

          Main problem of mobile SOCs is always memory bandwidth and amount. The reason why PS4 games running in higher resolution then xbone games is the memory bandwidth.

          Switch is a 720p handheld. Thats why he said “not in a way PS and Xbox are so” because resolution is the way off Sony and MS.

          1. Yeah … and how much does a Surface or Mac Book cost?(hint: $800-$2,000+)
            … with heat distribution spread flat out across 4x the surface area of the NS.

            You can’t even get a decent refurbised Surface for under $450, and even then, only with a service contract. Don’t get me started on Apples inflated pricing.

            … and they can run so cool and light, not only from obscenely expensive, PREMIUM components, but also not being asked to run games like Skyrim any time soon (unless you are talking about the $2,000 versions)

            Remember that Nintendo intends to sell the Switch hardware at a Profit, and at a price point that will entice more than just the 13 million Nintendo faithful that bought a WiiU and will buy an NS at Any price..

            Examples of most expensive, PREMIUM tech on the market + Affordable Price Point = Doesn’t Add Up.

              1. No, but Products that operate at high performance benchmarks that can be simultaneously compact and cool DO cost that much. … because manufacturing components that work like that isn’t cheap.

                Even if they are selling those products for twice what they cost to manufacture, $400-1,000 is still more than NS can be manufactured at and be sold at a profit for a price that will be successful.

                The difference between the wide, flat surface area of a 10-19 inch notebook/tablet and what that allows, compared to the thick, squished 7 inch NS is not insignificant. 1/4 the space but comparable performance expectations do not equate.

                You can’t take something 4 times the size that costs too much to make, and then suggest that is somehow proof that Nintendo can manufacture something crammed into a much smaller case at LOWER cost but HIGHER performance that can smoothly run game software the larger, more expensive product could not be reasonably expected to (like a Bethesda Game).

                1. * at the same level of performance as a Gaming PC, PS4 or XBO.

                  … obviously, Nintendo is pulling strings and pulling as much techno magic as they can muster to make this thing work. And I have no doubt it will

                  … at just a little bit above what the WiiU/PS3/360 could do.

                  Which, IMHO, is the only sane, reasonable performance level to expect from this product.

                  One can WANT more all they want. It is just not reasinable to expect it.

                2. I don’t expect the tablet portion of the Switch to perform on the same level as a PS4, XBO, or high end tablet. Obviously that’s ridiculous. But why do you do you assume that the dock won’t boost the performance much? Couldn’t they allocate $150 – $225 to manufacturing the tablet and then spend more money on a supplemental computing device?

                  1. It has already been confirmed that there is ZERO supplimental computing power in the dock. It is just a charging dock and HDMI video passthrough.

                    It WILL run slightly faster when docked, because it will clock up the system while on power vs battery (like overclocking your PC), but not because there is another graphics card hidden in there or anything of the sort.

                    … that said … Nintendo HAS been toying with supplimental computing. The patents are public.

                    It is entirely possible that it might have that tech built in so they can upgrade it later, N64 expansion pack style, with a PREMIUM “NS-PRIME ” upgrade dock later on … in 4th quarter 2018 or 2019, at the earliest.

                    On March 2017, however, I’m confident the one and only NS available to both Consumers and Developers will be an affordable, modestly powerful system. Barely stronger than WiiU (excluding key refinements that come with natural tech evolution).

                    How Nintendo plans to keep that relevant in a post-scorpio, 4k gaming environment, we will have to wait a few more years to find out.

                    … but ZERO supplimental computing in the Launch NS Dock. I guarantee it.

                    1. I haven’t seen anything from Nintendo that absolutely confirms that the dock won’t have anything extra in it. The closest I’ve seen is a quote that IGN published without giving the name of its source, and it isn’t even entirely clear.

                      “The main function of the Nintendo Switch Dock is to provide an output to the TV, as well as charging and providing power to the system.”

                      Not that I have any reason to doubt IGN’s integrity, but I would prefer to know exactly who said this. For instance I would trust a hardware engineers over a UI designer.

                      Not to mention, that dock looks pretty thick for something that only supplies power to the system. For that matter, now that I took a closer look at it, the Switch itself looks quite a bit thicker than any tablet I’ve ever seen, even the Surface. I’m not saying that this necessarily means anything, but it does seem like Nintendo had to make it thicker to pack all the components in.

                      You may very well be right about all this, but I’ll wait until January.

            1. You failed to note that those products don’t cost nearly as much to make as they do to buy. Apple typically makes between 100% and 200% profit on their devices. If Microsoft is selling a $2000 product you can be guaranteed that it costs them no more than $1200 to make. The last estimate I saw for the iPhone 7 stated that it probably costs Apple about £225 to make the £599 32 GB model. Nintendo has never been greedy when it comes to hardware costs. They should be able to build a $300 product and sell it for $350 or less.

    3. I’m in an absolute shock at how many people think
      1. The WiiU is on the same level as 360/PS3 which it is obviously NOT (It’s at least halfway between PS3 and PS4)
      2. Switch needs to cost less then 350$ to sell, even though other consoles cost more and sell regardless.
      3. Todays mobile tech isn’t able to keep up with yesterdays lower midclass tech.

      – Nvidia recently made a huge jump in performance with the Pascal architecture which the new Tegra is supposedly based on.
      – Cooling? We are talking about a mobile chip and cooling is what AMD is bad at, you can expect a Nvidia mobile processor to require way less cooling and energy as well.
      – Size? Like was already mentioned, the Xbox and PS slims are still that big because of the HDD and the disc drive. Switch doesn’t have either.
      – Price? Look at how cheap PS4 and XBOX One already are, and they don’t use todays technology.
      Mobile processors have come a long way since recent years because of smartphones and tablets, there isn’t that much of a price difference anymore. The cost for the screen of the Switch should be pretty much equalized out by the lack of a blu ray disc drive, those things aren’t cheap to make and simple 720p screens shouldn’t be much more expensive.
      Software costs money too, Switch has way less multimedia features.

      All that does not mean, the Switch definitly has the same power or more than PS4/Xbone.
      But it is possible!

      Two things:
      Do not underestimate todays mobile processors.
      Do not overestimate PS4 and Xbox One, both are weak as hell for what they are.

  9. These rumours of Switch specs are kind of getting out the hand
    What about rumours of Pikmin 4 or even the upcoming Mario 3DLand?

    Im not hearing anything about the software, just Grunty wearing big dirty underwear that Brentilda told the world way back in my lair.

  10. Literally sounds like when you have the portable piece it’s going to be weaker… but put it on the dock and it becomes stronger than before, possibly not better than the pro and scorpio, but getting there

  11. Rumors and whatnot will continue to roll back and forth until we have solid confirmation from Nintendo, which we will get from January 12th onward.

    But with that said the Switch is powered by a custom Tegra processor – a mobile processor. I may be wrong but as far as I know, there are no mobile games that perform on the level of the best PS4/Xbox One games.

    Even if it’s a modified X1, the Tegra’s most “powerful” model, it’s not going to be as powerful as a PS4 or Xbox One if we take into consideration the PS4 Pro, Xbox One S, and Scorpio.

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