Is The Switch 2 A Steam Deck Killer? Digital Foundry Dives Deep

[admin]

​

Now that we're getting super-close to the Switch 2 launch and with a ton of specs and technical details to get stuck into, the boffins over at Digital Foundry have been cutting through all the hyperbole to take a detailed look at what we actually know about the Switch 2's custom Nvidia T239 processor.

We've devoured every scrap of the currently available Switch 2 gameplay footage, but by tracking back over some historical leaks, starting all the way back with a tweet which showed the T239 in 2021, Digital Foundry has put together an impressively detailed picture of what we can actually expect from the new console when it arrives.

So how much horsepower does the Switch 2 have? And how does this power help line it up against the likes of the PlayStation 4 or Valve's Steam Deck?

Over on Eurogamer, Digital Foundry's Richard Leadbetter gets right into the gory details;

"We know from our own sources that T239 may share the same GPU architecture as T234 - the Ampere architecture used by Nvidia for its RTX 30-series graphics cards - but everything else is all-new. The deep learning accelerator and ARM Cortex A78AE are gone, while the 2048 CUDA core GPU is slimmed down to 1536 cores. Meanwhile, a 256-bit memory interface drops down to 128-bit. In the process, the gigantic 455mm2 T234 processor drops down to around 200mm2 - much larger than Steam Deck's, but fabricated on a less sophisticated, less transistor-dense process."

Leadbetter concludes that with the specs to hand, and taking the information as legitimate, he's unsurprised by the showings at last week's Direct;

"I have to say that there's nothing from last week's Nintendo Direct or the hands-on demos in the Paris and New York events that look at all surprising. Everything seems to slot in perfectly with expectations, barring a conspicuous lack of DLSS-supported games....when, Activision's Bobby Kotick described the machine as offering PS4 class power and by and large, that's in the ballpark of what the third-party demos revealed."

Images: Digital Foundry

But beyond performing on a similar level to a PS4 overall, there are also improvements to be found with Switch 2's more modern architecture.

For example, with 256GB of UFS (universal flash storage) backed by upgraded file decompression hardware, any devs should have lightning-fast access to data in a way that the PS4 didn't. With this in mind, Leadbetter says;

"Cyberpunk 2077 will be an interesting exercise in seeing how Switch 2 handles demanding titles, but more than that, I can't wait to see Star Wars Outlaws - where the footage shown in last week's Direct looked perhaps too good to be true."

Testing the processor on PC last year — Image: Digital Foundry

The Digital Foundry article, which is chock-full of more technical details, then goes on to discuss the question of whether or not the Switch 2 could be a "Steam Deck Killer". According to Leadbetter, this is something they're currently being asked a lot. He keeps his response short, saying that;

"Our answer for now is both yes and no. More specifically, our contention right now is that the docked Switch 2 delivers more than the Deck - but the jury is out on the mobile experience. Looking at third party games like Elden Ring and Final Fantasy 7, it's hard to believe that the Deck could deliver native 1080p with the same features and performance Switch 2 is delivering."

However, there is a bit of a flip side to this good news, as Leadbetter goes on to say;

"The Valve machine, running fully unlocked, has a 1.6GHz GPU and a 2.4GHz to 3.5GHz CPU, and I've seen it consuming up to 28W of power. Meanwhile, Switch 2 has a mooted 561MHz GPU clock and a 1.1GHz CPU, and based on a 20Wh battery with a minimum two hours battery life, it'll be sipping a maximum 10W of power during play - almost one third of Steam Deck's consumption."

So there's very obviously a bit of a complex picture being drawn up overall, but isn't it amazing, almost surreal, really, to be talking about a new Nintendo console in these terms, with some of the biggest and best AAA games in the conversation and performing well, too?

Cyberpunk 2077 on Switch 2, right here — Image: Zion Grassl / Nintendo Life

There are still those questions over its power-draw situation, as Digital Foundry indicated, and the actual nature of Nvidia's DLSS utilisation is also still unclear, but besides these factors, everything else is pointing to a machine that will hit the ground running, and one that's certainly capable of trading blows with PS4 and Valve's handheld behemoth.

How are you feeling about DF's summary of Switch 2 processing abilities? Let us know in the comments.