Nintendo Switch 2 will use the new NVIDIA Tegra chip in 5 nm

The development of the Nintendo Switch 2 is something that the big N carries out in the most absolute secrecy, but it is clear that this project is a reality and that it is ultimately only a matter of time before it finally hits the market. Over the last few weeks, we’ve seen various information pointing in different directions, and today we have new details about one of its most important components, the SoC.

According to this new information, the said SoC will be manufactured in node samsung 5LPP, that is, in an improved low-power 5nm node, which means that we are facing a new generation solution that will start from the base of the chip Tegra Orin than NVIDIA introduced a while ago. This is important to note, as it means that Nintendo will be using a modified version of the said SoC and that it will therefore have a slightly lower configuration.

To put you in context, I’d like to remind you that the Tegra Orin SoC in its standard configuration includes an Ampere GPU with 2,048 shaders, the same number as GeForce RTX 3050 Mobileand comes with a 12-core ARM Cortex-A78E CPU. The Nintendo Switch 2 custom version will probably come with a CPU-level mod and possibly a GPU-level shader mod as well, though I’m not so sure about the latter.

Looking at all the current sources and previous information, I bet the Nintendo Switch 2 will come with a CPU equipped 8 Cortex-A78E cores and that it will have an Ampere GPU between 1,792 and 2,048 shaders. This new console should have a graphics core based on the NVIDIA Ampere architecture supports DLSS 2 technologyan AI-based image rescaling and reconstruction technique that will likely allow you to run games in 4K without problems, and should also include ray tracing acceleration.

The amount of integrated unified memory will between 8 GB and 12 GBalthough I do not rule out that the big N chooses assembly 16 GB from memory. If these specs we’ve seen come to fruition, the Nintendo Switch 2 would be a very powerful console and a big leap from the current generation. Its launch hasn’t been confirmed yet, but everything seems to indicate that we won’t see it until 2025 or maybe even 2026, as Nintendo wants to maximize its lifespan and make the most of the traction the original model still has.