NVIDIA’s Tegra239 SoC Confirmed for Nintendo Switch 2; Chip Image Debuts

Seems like Nintendo’s latest gem, the Switch 2, packs a familiar punch thanks to NVIDIA’s magic touch, much like its predecessor. The first glimpse of this collaboration has just hit the web, and it’s causing quite a buzz.

So, guess what? The Nintendo Switch 2 runs on NVIDIA’s brand-new Tegra239 chip. Built around an ARM-based architecture, this chip promises solid performance. When Nintendo launched the Switch 2, we were already dazzled by its ability to push out a sweet 4K at 60 FPS when docked. But up until now, the specifics of the chip under the hood were a bit of a mystery. We knew there was a deal with NVIDIA for custom Tegra SoCs, which had us speculating about the Tegra239. Thanks to a twitter peek from @Kurnalsalts, we now have confirmation — the chip, marked “T239,” is out in the open.

Now, the tweet was more of a mic-drop moment without much detail. From what we’ve gathered before, the Tegra239 is built with eight Arm Cortex-A78C cores. It combines Ada Lovelace and Ampere elements into a hybrid GPU setup, boasting 1536 CUDA cores. Expect CPU speeds to range between 1.1 GHz and 1.5 GHz, especially when switching from handheld to docked mode. Plus, it’s got a 128-bit memory interface decked out with LPDDR5 tech.

Despite the excitement, specifics about the Tegra239 are still quite hush-hush. What we do know is the SoC’s backing DLSS upscaling, which should seriously juice up the console’s allure. For those hungry for a deeper dive into the specs, we’ve covered the nitty-gritty of the system elsewhere, but here’s a tease of NVIDIA’s ambitious path forward. Partnered with ARM, they’ve truly secured an exclusive spot with Nintendo Switch for now.

The more significant curiosity in the gaming world now is whether NVIDIA’s going to surprise us by launching a chip tailored for the AI PC market. Rumors have been floating since last year about a potential collaboration with MediaTek, possibly bringing forth an ARM-centered SoC, the N1X and N1 series. Yet, we’re still waiting for any real developments on that front.