Rumors are swirling about the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2, the next-generation handheld console from Nintendo, which is rumored to incorporate over a thousand NVIDIA cores based on the Ampere architecture. Recent reports indicate that this handheld device will be powered by the T239 System-on-Chip (SoC), reportedly designed by NVIDIA. The T239 SoC is expected to utilize the previous-generation Ampere GPU architecture along with an Arm CPU complex.
Several leaks have emerged regarding the specifications of the T239 SoC and the manufacturing process node it will use. According to sources like Kopite7kimi and Tech_Reve, the SoC will be built on a Samsung 8nm process node.
Notably, the NVIDIA Orin SoC, referred to as “T234,” already utilizes the aforementioned 8nm process node. While there have been speculations that the Nintendo Switch 2 SoC could potentially adopt a 5nm node, such assumptions may be overly optimistic based on Nintendo’s historical choices.
memo
someone said it is SF 7nm node… 🤔 pic.twitter.com/jMntClvvyK
— 포시포시 (@harukaze5719) September 16, 2023
In terms of graphics processing power, the Nintendo Switch 2 SoC is anticipated to house 1280 CUDA cores, as suggested by KittyYYuko. This implies that the SoC will likely employ the consumer version of Ampere, featuring 128 cores per Streaming Multiprocessor (SM), resulting in a total of 1280 cores spread across 10 SMs.
On the CPU front, rumors indicate that the Nintendo Switch 2 SoC will incorporate 8 Cortex A78 Arm cores. These cores are expected to be organized within a single cluster, and there is a possibility that the variant with 8 MB of L3 cache, known as the A78 “C” variant, might be utilized.
Recent speculations suggest that the Nintendo Switch 2 is capable of running various games natively at 4K resolution and 60 frames per second. Additionally, it is said to provide comprehensive support for Ray Tracing and NVIDIA’s DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) technologies. The Switch 2 handheld has been demonstrated running the Unreal Engine 5 Matrix Awakens demo with NVIDIA DLSS 3.1.
While an official launch date for the Nintendo Switch 2 handheld has not been announced as of yet, more information is expected to surface in the coming months. Stay tuned for updates on this exciting development in the gaming world.
