Nintendo Switch 2 motherboard leak shows off what's hiding under the hood
TL;DR A YouTuber managed to get their hands on what appears to be a Nintendo Switch 2 motherboard.
The console is said to run on an NVIDIA SoC that's almost twice as big as the previous Tegra chip.
It's believed the Switch 2 should perform similarly to a Steam Deck in handheld mode.
In April, Nintendo held a Direct event where it revealed many of the specs for the Switch 2. However, there were still plenty of questions left unanswered after the stream, particularly with the hardware. A new leak may have now uncovered what's under the hood of the Switch 2.
A YouTuber who goes by Geekerwan claims to have gotten his hands on a Nintendo Switch 2 motherboard. How did he get the motherboard when the system isn't out yet? It appears the YouTuber purchased it off of what he calls 'Chinese eBay.' In his video, he provides a full breakdown and analysis of the technical aspects of the Switch 2.
According to Geekerwan, this motherboard contains 12GB of LPDDR5X memory running at 8533MT/s, which is split across two memory dies. Along with it is a MediaTek MT3681AEN, which provides the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. The star of the show, however, is the NVIDIA processor, which comes with the name T239. The YouTuber also points out that this SoC has a die size of 207mm squared, making it almost double the size of Switch 1's Tegra X1 chip. It's also bigger than the 170mm squared Snapdragon X Elite.
When mapping out the die shot of the chip, it was found to have eight A78C CPU cores in the Ampere-based GPU. This GPU appears to borrow the same architecture as NVIDIA's RTX 30-series graphics cards. Geekerwan claims that the closest comparison to the Switch 2's chip is a 'massively downclocked RTX 2050 laptop GPU.'
Based on simulated performance, the YouTuber says that the Switch 2 should be capable of performing as well as a Steam Deck while in handheld mode. This would be pretty impressive given that the Switch 2 is just as thick as the original Switch. Meanwhile, performance is closer to that of a GTX 1050 Ti while sitting in the dock. Handheld mode and dock mode for the Switch 2 are said to be about seven times better than the Switch 1.
It's also important to note that the system will get some assistance from NVIDIA's DLSS for graphical output. This technology should help the Switch 2 better handle demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077.
The Nintendo Switch 2 is available for pre-order right now and starts at $449. Nintendo has scheduled the release date for June 5, which is only a few weeks away.
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