Though a gentle stream of leaks and rumors have painted a blurry image of the Change 2, we nonetheless have loads of unanswered questions on Nintendo’s subsequent console. The largest questions concern its design and its efficiency. We nonetheless don’t know what the Nintendo Change 2 will appear like, however an in depth report from Digital Foundry in regards to the console’s rumored chipset offers us an concept of what the Change 2 may have the ability to run when it launches in 2024.
On June 10, 2021, Twitter (now X) person kopite7kimi shared a picture of Nvidia’s T234 processor. He claimed Nintendo would use a customized model of the chip dubbed T239. Over two years later, Digital Foundry is all however satisfied this would be the chip that powers the Change 2. In that case, the next-gen console is shaping as much as be a big improve.
Within the prolonged write-up, Digital Foundry’s Richard Leadbetter explains that the T234 is an enormous chip constructed for the automotive and robotics markets. As such, the T239 will possible be a considerably scaled-down model of the chip. Primarily based on leaks, a hack of Nvidia, LinkedIn posts, and “frequent sense reasoning,” he suspects the T239 will function 8 ARM A78C CPU cores, a 128-bit interface paired with LPDDR5 RAM, and a most reminiscence bandwidth of 102GB/s.
Examine that to the Tegra X1 powering the Change, which featured 4 Cortex-A57 CPU cores, 4 Cortex-A53 CPU cores, and 32-bit LPDDR4 RAM with a most bandwidth of simply 25.6 GB/s. Plus, the Tegra X1 was constructed on TSMC’s 20nm course of, whereas the T239 will possible be constructed on an 8nm course of. These are all main leaps for the rumored Change 2 processor.
Digital Foundry additionally notes that the T239 seems to include a brand new File Decompression Engine (FDE), which is a element that might permit for equally speedy decompression of property because the PS5, resulting in a lot quicker load instances on the Change 2.
Whether or not or not any of that technical mumbo-jumbo went over your head, the subsequent part of the report is essentially the most thrilling. Digital Foundry discovered a laptop computer that ought to come near mimicking the efficiency of the Change 2 primarily based on its findings surrounding the T239. Dell’s Vostro 5640 shouldn’t be an particularly attention-grabbing laptop computer, however its RTX 2050 4GB GPU ought to carry out considerably equally to the Change 2’s GPU. And the outcomes had been pretty spectacular.
Regardless of missing respectable reminiscence bandwidth, CUDA cores, and clock velocity, the laptop computer was in a position to ship “convincing 1080p gameplay” for Management, Cyberpunk 2077, A Plague Story: Requiem, and Loss of life Stranding. Notably, the Change 2 ought to ship with greater than 4GB of RAM (presumably as much as 12GB), and the video games might be additional optimized by builders for the console.
Clearly, none of that is confirmed but. The Change remains to be promoting exceptionally properly, and there are a number of main first-party titles dropping within the coming months. We possible gained’t hear something official in regards to the Nintendo Change 2 till no less than subsequent spring, however the items are beginning to come collectively forward of the inevitable announcement.
Take a look at the video under to see the laptop computer talked about above in motion:
