Extremely anticipated: The tempo of leaks surrounding Nintendo’s next-generation handheld has intensified in current weeks. Some are anticipating an imminent official unveiling of the Swap 2 and new materials has reignited years-long hypothesis in regards to the system’s efficiency and performance. Whereas leakers agree on sure particulars, any data in a roundabout way from Nintendo must be taken with a grain of salt.
New images of an alleged Swap 2 PCB emerged on Reddit on New 12 months’s Eve. Across the similar time, the US Patent Workplace printed a doc from the corporate describing machine learning-based upscaling performance just like Nvidia RTX graphics playing cards and the PlayStation 5 Professional.
Though the motherboard photos do not conclusively reveal {hardware} specs, they align with prior leaks and rumors concerning the upcoming handheld. In the meantime, the patent confirms that Nintendo has no less than explored enabling AI-assisted upscaling on the Nvidia chip powering the so-called Swap 2 console.
The doc, filed in 2023 and printed in late 2024, would not explicitly point out DLSS – Nvidia’s upscaling expertise that has considerably improved over the previous few years and PC gaming efficiency together with it. Nevertheless, it does describe the same approach using Nvidia’s tensor cores.
The performance would use neural networks to resample photos from 900 x 540 pixels to 1080p, from 1080p to 4K, or combos of resolutions in between. Nvidia’s expertise has proven spectacular outcomes on PC over time however stays untested on moveable units with restricted energy budgets.
Apparently, the Nintendo patent additionally signifies that upscaling may cut back a sport’s required set up measurement. A sport with property designed for 4K decision may theoretically use upscaling from 1080p to scale back its file measurement from 60 GB to twenty GB. Assuming the Swap 2 makes use of proprietary sport playing cards like its predecessors, the approach may assist bigger titles keep away from substantial obtain necessities.
Nintendo has thus far confirmed solely two particulars about its upcoming {hardware}: the system will probably be revealed earlier than April 1, and will probably be backwards appropriate with Swap video games. Nevertheless, leakers have shared further particulars from sources throughout the manufacturing provide chain.
The system will doubtless characteristic 12 GB of LPDDR5X RAM, an 8-inch LCD display, and magnetic attachments for Pleasure-Con controllers. Moreover, current mockups of the Swap 2’s design are believed to carefully resemble the ultimate product.
Whereas the system is predicted to make the most of a chip based mostly on Nvidia’s Ampere structure, exact efficiency metrics stay elusive. The brand new PCB images could increase extra questions than they reply. Earlier data urged the chip is predicated on Samsung’s 8nm node, although a 6nm or 5nm SoC – providing improved efficiency and battery life – can also be a risk.
