Homebrew Tegra X1 power for homebrew?

[Jacobh]

Apologize if there is already a thread on this, but I didn't see one. Can anyone provide context on what type of home brew the Switch might be capable of in the future?

The reason I am asking is that I wound up with an extra Switch that is currently on 3.0 firmware. I was probably going to buy an extra dock and set of joycons at some point in the future, so considering that the tablet portion itself isn't that expensive. If we'll likely see up to 16 bit emulation but not much else, I have other things that can do that and will return it. If we could see homebrew not possible on other portable platforms I'd likely keep it.

I know it's too early to say what and when homebrew will ever be available, so I'm asking more to understand the general power of the chipset for homebrew/emulation in theory.

 

[yusuo]

In theory you can expect full HD media player as well as emulation upto gamecube level.

May not happen but the switch should be capable of it

 

[nmkd]

Well, we can easily compare it with the Nvidia Shield TV, though the Switch clocks lower.

PSP emulation is gonna shine, it will be able to run 95% of PSP games at full speed at 720p.
GameCube depends on the game, lightweight/optimized games (Eternal Darkness, Luigis Mansion) will probably run while it would struggle with Zelda WW/TP.
Everything below (PSX, N64, etc) should be no problem.

For native games, it should be able to easily run Quake 1-3 and maybe 4, plus we might be able to get Shield games to run (RE5, DOOM 3 BFG, etc).

Best case scenario is that we manage to run Android, because then we could run all Shield games plus all emulators without needing to code new ones.

 

[sarkwalvein]

Gamecube would be a best case scenario, don't take it for granted.
I wonder if a PS2 emulator could be made to run playable on it, but if I am to base my predictions on how Play! runs on the Shield, the future doesn't look bright.

 

[nmkd]

Gamecube would be a best case scenario, don't take it for granted.
I wonder if a PS2 emulator could be made to run playable on it, but if I am to base my predictions on how Play! runs on the Shield, the future doesn't look bright.

I have a GPD Win which has roughly the same power as a portable Switch.
Zelda Wind Waker and Twilight Princess run at 30 fps with some drops, but PS2 games are barely playable - using the best, most mature PS2 emulator there is.

TL;DR: We can forget PS2 on Switch, at least for the next 2-3 years.

 

[DSpider]

Don't forget that the Switch can overclock when in "docked mode" (hooked up to a TV). Jailbraking it would unlock it, kinda like "333 MHz" was on the PSP. But it will obviously draw more power... In "standard mode" the battery lasts a measly ~3h anyway, so when overclocked... probably around ~1-2h. But even so, I would be a happy camper with PSP emulation.

High-end tablets from a year ago or so, can emulate PSP games pretty well. And the Switch is just that. Especially when overclocked.

Edit: About PS2 emulation, I have a pretty baller PC (i7 6700k @ 4.6 GHz, 16 GB RAM, GTX 1070) and some games don't run that well on PCSX2, even in software mode. Let alone on the Switch... I guess time will tell. It's great that the Switch has L3 and R3 buttons, but too bad that it doesn't have pressure-sensitive L2 and R2 triggers. A lot of PS2 games make use of them. And also, the lack of a proper D-Pad.

 

[V-Temp]

You don't want to overclock the Switch past its current clocks as that will compromise the thermal budget out of dock with the screen on.

The reason isn't battery life, its fire.

 

[sarkwalvein]

You don't want to overclock the Switch past its current clocks as that will compromise the thermal budget out of dock with the screen on.

The reason isn't battery life, its fire.

But you could use better cooling.
Look like the perfect companion for that winter hike through Siberia.

 

[V-Temp]

But you could use better cooling.
Look like the perfect companion for that winter hike through Siberia.

A toasty companion on the long trip through the gulag.

 

[sarkwalvein]

A toasty companion on the long trip through the gulag.

I don't know what would come first though, death by hypothermia or battery exhaustion.
But probably both would have occurred after one hour.

 

[MK73DS]

Being able to run Android on the Switch may be the best thing we can do for emulation
I hope that will one day be possible

 

[ShadowOne333]

Gamecube and Wii games could be possible, no doubt, more so since RetroArch has begun work on everything Dolphin related as a main core.
And Dolphin runs games quite nicely on the Shield, so no doubt they should run just as well on the Switch.
PS2 I don't know, it's like a hit or miss kind of thing, I feel like the emulators for it are not as optimized as one would think.

My sweet dream of the Switch would be to be able to run a media player like Kodi on it, alongside with everything Nintendo up to the Gamecube/Wii.
Perhaps Dreamcast could run too, but PS2 seems way too much for it at the moment.

 

[AtlasFontaine]

I think using the vulkan renderer may give better performance than the GPD WIN on dolphin.



This video is 1 year old, but I think it demostrates the gains of vulkan over OpenGL/directx.

 

[DSpider]

You don't want to overclock the Switch past its current clocks as that will compromise the thermal budget out of dock with the screen on.

The reason isn't battery life, its fire.

If it reaches the clock speeds that are used when it's docked, it will be fine. The console was designed to work at those speeds. The fan will kick into high gear and probably become a bit noisier (more noticeable when holding it instead of under the TV five feet away from you), but that's fine, you can use headphones or something. I'm more concerned about the battery life. ~3h is pathetic.

 

[V-Temp]

If it reaches the clock speeds that are used when it's docked, it will be fine. The console was designed to work at those speeds. The fan will kick into high gear and probably become a bit noisier (more noticeable when holding it instead of under the TV five feet away from you), but that's fine, you can use headphones or something. I'm more concerned about the battery life. ~3h is pathetic.

The dock turns off the screen, thats a very significant delta on your thermal envelope.

 

[DSpider]

I didn't know screens heated up that much (or at all, really).

Running my finger across my desktop monitor, it doesn't release any heat at all, except for a small corner (which I suspect is where the integrated power brick is). Same with my N3DS XL and my PSP, no thermal output at all.

 

[nmkd]

The dock turns off the screen, thats a very significant delta on your thermal envelope.

It's not lol, screens like that barely produce any heat.

 

[Frysenberg]

The dock turns off the screen, thats a very significant delta on your thermal envelope.

Not only this, the battery itself would heat up simply from discharging.

Enthalpy.

 

[Noctosphere]

If it reaches the clock speeds that are used when it's docked, it will be fine. The console was designed to work at those speeds. The fan will kick into high gear and probably become a bit noisier (more noticeable when holding it instead of under the TV five feet away from you), but that's fine, you can use headphones or something. I'm more concerned about the battery life. ~3h is pathetic.

You say 3 hours is pathetic, i bout my new gaming laptop few momths ago, with high end tech
The batrery last about that,3 hours, without gaming, so yea
I think 3 hours battwry for switch ia pretty good

 

[Sonic Angel Knight]

Try apps on Nvidia shield tv, it is tegra x1 after all, if you really need something to compare.