Nintendo Switch To Use An Old-Gen Nvidia Tegra X1 SoC

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The Nintendo Switch will be coming out in March 2017 and it looks like that the company has not upgraded the device with the latest hardware available on the market. Nintendo has now confirmed the specifications of its latest gaming handheld and it seems many of its fans will be disappointed.

Nintendo has used a last generation Nvidia's Tegra X1 SoC and not the upcoming Tegra X2 SoC. The use Tegra X1 means the old graphics processing unit based on the Maxwell architecture, VentureBeat reported. It means the fans who wanted a powerful handheld gaming device will be dismayed. Nvidia demonstrated their Tegra X2 chip earlier this year but that technology couldn't make into the Tegra chip that will power the Nintendo Switch.

The Maxwell Tegra X1 SoC powering the Switch is still very powerful but don't expect high quality graphics as seen on the Playstation 4 from Sony. The video capabilities of the Switch will satisfy most gamers out there as Nintendo has implied that it can handle realistic looking games like the Skyrim, ArsTechnica reported.

Another reason which forced Nintendo to stick with previous generation architecture was the fact that Maxwell came long before the Pascal and Nintendo could get time to design its console. Also, the Pascal chips may be more powerful but they require extra cooling systems like motorised fans which will increase the overall power consumption of the system.

The choice of using a previous generation chip may help to bring down the cost of the system. This may come at a cost of Nintendo losing the specs game but according to Peddie : "Too many pundits and fan boys and investors make a serious mistake when they try to compare and contrast Nintendo with Sony and Microsoft." He added, "Trying to compare Nintendo to Sony is like comparing a Volkswagen to a Corvette. It's a facetious and fallacious analogy and a discredit to fans who love Nintendo."

More information on Nintendo Switch and its specifications will be shared by Nintendo on January 12. Both Nvidia and Nintendo have declined to comment on the recent stories doing the rounds.