After much speculation, we finally know the exact hardware specs for the Nintendo Switch 2, and they offer a massive upgrade over its predecessor. Eurogamer revealed the specs, courtesy of Digital Foundry’s Richard Leadbetter, and the numbers show a system significantly more powerful than the original Nintendo Switch, but one that still has certain limitations that developers will need to work around.
First up, the Nintendo Switch 2 has double the cores of the original, sporting a total of eight with two reserved for system operations and six available to developers. It also features six times the number of CUDA cores, at 1536 compared to its predecessor’s 256.
The Switch 2’s listed CPU clock speed is actually lower than the Switch’s, but the other hardware upgrades mean you won’t feel a drop in performance. The differences are negligible, though, with a speed of 998MHz while docked versus the Switch’s 1020MHz. The Switch 2 has a maximum clock speed of 1.7GHz, while the original had a maximum clock speed of 1.785GHz.
The GPU clock speed is nothing to scoff at, either, maxing out at 1.4GHz where the original maxed out at 921MHz. The system will have lower speeds while in handheld mode (as expected), but will still outperform the Switch in every measurable way.
Beyond that, the Switch 2’s memory is greatly improved at 128-bit DDR5 with four times the bandwidth while docked. That’s 102GB per second compared to the original Switch’s 25.6GB per second, and you will absolutely feel that difference in gameplay. Without an upgrade like this, the Switch wouldn’t be able to scale games up 4K resolution.
Finally, the system will reserve 3GB of memory for itself, leaving 9GB available for games.
These are a lot of numbers (and you can get an even more technical deep dive by watching Digital Foundry’s video), but it boils down this: the Nintendo Switch 2 presents a generational leap in power. Its final performance will come down to the individual games, however, and how the developers optimize the titles for this new platform. The Nintendo Switch 2 won’t be on par with the Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5, but it’s a lot closer than it was.
The upgraded power is necessary, especially with the inclusion of Game Chat. Nintendo expects the service to have an impact on performance, and some of that has been visible in the teaser videos so far (the cameras had noticeable lag). That said, Nintendo has pulled off something of an engineering marvel with the Switch 2, packing the console full of high-end specs that make it a worthwhile competitor to other handhelds like the Steam Deck.
Getting a look at the specs makes it clear how Nintendo was able to get demanding titles like Cyberpunk 2077 to not only run on the console but look good doing it, avoiding the issues that sprang up with ports like The Witcher 3 on the original Switch.
