Nintendo Switch 2 full specs confirmed after hands-on analysis

The Nintendo Switch 2 SOC (system-on-a-chip) has been a subject of discussion for a while now, and we finally have a definitive confirmation of what's actually inside it. Thanks to an analysis conducted by tech YouTuber Geekerwan on the actual chipset, we now have confirmation that the Nintendo Switch 2 does indeed use the custom Nvidia T239 SOC.

While that is surprising since the system is not even officially out yet, pretty much everything lines up with what we have heard via leaks and rumors thus far. Here's everything tech-savvy fans need to know about the latest hardware analysis for the hotly anticipated console.

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Nintendo Switch 2 hardware: CPU, GPU, and more detailed

For those curious, the YouTuber found the SOC on an online listing at the website "XIanyu," a Chinese eBay-equivalent website. While the chipset seems non-functional, it is from an actual Nintendo Switch 2 system, as it has all the expected tidbits we have been hearing about for a while.

This "teardown" was made possible thanks to reverse engineering and carefully studying the SOC, including its transistor density, which has led to many exciting details surfacing, including the node fabrication process it was crafted on. To summarize the video, here are the full Nintendo Switch 2 specs as per the findings:

• SOC: Nvidia Tegra 239 (model name GMLX30-A1) built on Samsung 8nm process
• Die Size: 207 mm2
• CPU: Octa-core ARM Cortex A78C processors (single-cluster with 256 KB L2 cache per core and 4 MB L3 Cache)
• RAM: SK Hynix 12 (2x6) GB LPDDR5X RAM (128-bit at 8533 MT/s)
• GPU: Custom Nvidia Ampere GPU (6 TPC, 12 SM, 128 CUDA cores per SM and 1 MB L2 cache) at 1536 CUDA cores
• Storage: SK Hynix 256 GB UFS3.1
• Power: SOC PMIC dialog DA9092 (Max 2 x17.2W)
• Connectivity: Mediatek T3681AEN Wi-Fi & Bluetooth chip
• Audio: Realtek ALC5658 audio codec

Many of these details were discovered by viewing the chip under a special microscope, as well as studying it under a FIB-STEM machine for the process node. As previously mentioned, all of these line up with leaks going as far back as the early 2020s from multiple sources, ranging from industry insiders to an Nvidia breach that leaked many sensitive development details.

Simulated Nintendo Switch 2 GPU benchmark (Image via Geekerwan @ YouTube)

Moving on, Geekerwan also prepared a T239-equivalent PC by downclocking the closest commercially available GPU: A laptop RTX 2050. This was then tested in a variety of scenarios, from technical benchmarks to real-world gaming performance. Among those, Cyberpunk 2077's performance was pretty much similar to what the official Nintendo Switch 2 version is suggested: at 1080p 30-40 FPS when docked (and 720p 30-40 FPS (using Nvidia DLSS image upscaling).

The CPU meanwhile, was tested using an Nvidia Orin SOC, which is very similar to the upcoming Switch 2 but instead features 8 Cortex A78AE processors. Do note that this overview does not tell us anything about clock speeds, so Geekerwan assumed the following leaked clocks for this test:

• CPU (Handheld): 1.1 GHz
• GPU (Handheld): 561 MHz
• CPU (Docked): 1 GHz
• GPU (Docked): 1 GHz

Other tested games, such as Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, Black Myth Wukong, and Call of Duty Black Ops 6, also paint a bright picture for potential Nintendo Switch 2 ports. Since Nintendo's upcoming portable hybrid will have more to-the-metal optimization than a PC, fans can expect games to fare better on the real console than the "simulated" version.