Nintendo Switch Reportedly Cuts GPU Clock Speed Significantly When Undocked

We're learning more about the capabilities of the Nintendo Switch today, though folks who are hoping that it'll be able to challenge the Xbox One or PS4 may not be pleased to hear it. A new report from Digital Foundry is shedding some light on the performance hit the Nintendo Switch takes in its portable mode. As it turns out, the GPU is the only component that takes a sizable performance hit upon switching modes, but it's a fairly significant one.

Digital Foundry's report, which is based on information Nintendo has shared with developers, sheds some light on how the NVIDIA processor inside the Switch will work. Rumored to be based on the Tegra X1, the available CPU speeds will remain consistent regardless of whether the console is docked or being used in its tablet form. Players can expect a clock speed of 1020MHz in each scenario.

This, as Digital Foundry points out, "ensures that running game logic won't be compromised while gaming on the go." The same is mostly true for the speed of the memory controller within the Switch. While docked, it sports a clock speed of 1600MHz, dropping to 1331MHz when used in its tablet configuration. Developers can keep it at 1600MHz regardless of the mode, though, giving them some options in that regard.

However, GPU performance is a different story entirely. When docked, GPU speed maxes out at 768MHz – which is already lower than the 1GHz the Tegra X1 can achieve in NVIDIA's Shield Android TV. When the tablet is undocked, clock speeds drop to 307.2MHz, a mere 40% of its docked clock speed. This ensures that temperatures stay in a desirable range and that battery life doesn't suffer too much.

There's a lot to unpack in Digital Foundry's report, but that's the biggest takeaway from it. Graphics performance when Switch is in its tablet mode will be significantly reduced, and if developers don't want to spend a bunch of time testing different configurations for their game, they even have the option of keeping GPU speeds at 307.2MHz while the machine is connected to its dock.

Keep in mind that this is unconfirmed by Nintendo for the moment, but don't be surprised if it turns out to be true. We'll be finding out more about Nintendo Switch on January 12, so hopefully detailed specifications will feature in that presentation. In the meantime, head over to Eurogamer to read Digital Foundry's full report on the Switch's hardware capabilities.

SOURCE: Eurogamer