Hacking Question about Switch performance and dynamic resolution scaling?

[unvaluablespace]

Once the Switch gets hacked to a good enough degree, do you guys think it will be possible for hackers to adjust the clock speed on the Switch, since apparently its essentially the same hardware as a Shield with has a higher clockrate? Or is that something thats hard-coded? If so, would scaling the clock back up allow games that use dynamic resolution scaling to start performing better, and/or scale resolution back up?

I wouldn't mind losing an extra hour of battery life if certain games just overall looked better while playing, and would be nice to get that extra bump to 1080 in games like zelda or whatever when played in docked mode.

 

[Uumas]

Probably with enough effort. There's probably a reason for it to be underclocked though (some have had their switches bend, probably due to heat).

 

[Rauliki]

Underclocking for emulation could be great option too

 

[isoboy]

What about underdocking? Discuss.

 

[MK73DS]

I don't think heat is the problem, my Switch never gets too hot : I still can play in handheld mode witthout really noticing the heat, even after 2+ hours docked on a heavy game.

 

[DeslotlCL]

Sure! If you want a melted piece of plastic of course..

 

[MK73DS]

I don't know how hot your Switch gets, but mine is never more than warm. Overclocking will just drain a lot more of battery when playing in handheld mode, but I don't see any inconvenient in docked mode.

 

[unvaluablespace]

I don't know how hot your Switch gets, but mine is never more than warm. Overclocking will just drain a lot more of battery when playing in handheld mode, but I don't see any inconvenient in docked mode.

Well, to be fair, my post isn't actually referring to overclocking the Switch, but rather just clocking it back up to what it's supposedly capable of. Apparently the Shield TV can go up too 1ghz, whereas the Switch is 738mhz docked, but 300mhz undocked (sorry if my numbers aren't correct), so id be curious if performance would improve if they were clocked back up (at least to stock numbers, assuming the chips ARE the same)

Now actually overclocking past whatever the chip is supposed to be capable of stock, that's probably another beast....

 

[Kioku]

Well, to be fair, my post isn't actually referring to overclocking the Switch, but rather just clocking it back up to what it's supposedly capable of. Apparently the Shield TV can go up too 1ghz, whereas the Switch is 738mhz docked, but 300mhz undocked (sorry if my numbers aren't correct), so id be curious if performance would improve if they were clocked back up (at least to stock numbers, assuming the chips ARE the same)

Now actually overclocking past whatever the chip is supposed to be capable of stock, that's probably another beast....

I believe those are GPU clocks? Oo

 

[DeslotlCL]

Well, to be fair, my post isn't actually referring to overclocking the Switch, but rather just clocking it back up to what it's supposedly capable of. Apparently the Shield TV can go up too 1ghz, whereas the Switch is 738mhz docked, but 300mhz undocked (sorry if my numbers aren't correct), so id be curious if performance would improve if they were clocked back up (at least to stock numbers, assuming the chips ARE the same)

Now actually overclocking past whatever the chip is supposed to be capable of stock, that's probably another beast....

It would still represent a problem. They are underclocked for a reason... Overclocking it to stock clock rates on undocked mode wouldnt be that much of course, but on handheld mode not only the battery will drain significally faster, but also it will overheat a lot.

And also, there are a lot, and i mean a lot of people whose switch have started to bent, they had also to send it back to nintnendo for a fix. There was a thread about it arround here where users claimed the same.

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I believe those are GPU clocks? Oo

Yup. He wants to overclock the gpu to increase the games resolution or improve the perfomance if it help. Althought i believe you would have to overclock the cpu too if you want better perfomance overall.

 

[Kioku]

It would still represent a problem. They are underclocked for a reason... Overclocking it to stock clock rates on undocked mode wouldnt be that much of course, but on handheld mode not only the battery will drain significally faster, but also it will overheat a lot.

And also, there are a lot, and i mean a lot of people whose switch have started to bent, they had also to send it back to nintnendo for a fix. There was a thread about it arround here where users claimed the same.

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Yup. He wants to overclock the gpu to increase the games resolution or improve the perfomance if it help. Althought i believe you would have to overclock the cpu too if you want better perfomance overall.

That's what I was thinking.. Hm.. Still. I wonder if we'll see enough of a performance gain for the trade off to be worth it.

 

[DeslotlCL]

That's what I was thinking.. Hm.. Still. I wonder if we'll see enough of a performance gain for the trade off to be worth it.

Wont be worth it in the long run. The switch is fine as it is. It isnt the most powerful hardware of the three, but it is enough for nintendo.

 

[subcon959]

If you've ever opened up a Switch you can see why they had to underclock so much. I'm sure they were smart enough to leave a little headroom but personally I wouldn't dare turn it up any higher.

 

[sarkwalvein]

With Switchs supposedly bending as it is, then be prepared to welcome the homebrew enabled Nintendo Switch Boomerang™.

 

[nmkd]

Underclocking for emulation could be great option too

Not how emulation works

Sure! If you want a melted piece of plastic of course..

Heat is not a problem, even at docked clocks it's okay

 

[sarkwalvein]

Heat is not a problem, even at docked clocks it's okay

Heat is not a problem for the silicon, but it is for the rest of the materials.
Supposedly it is the little heat it produces what makes the metal plate expand and causes the warm plastic to bend.

 

[MK73DS]

Mine is still fine, so I don't mind 10°C more on this metal plate. If my Switch breaks, well, that's only my fault. But I'd really like to have the option

 

[reds]

Not how emulation works

I think that Rauliki thought about underclocking to save some battery life when the raw power is not needed. Just using less CPU/GPU would leave more battery life, but underclocking may give you better results.

 

[nmkd]

I think that Rauliki thought about underclocking to save some battery life when the raw power is not needed. Just using less CPU/GPU would leave more battery life, but underclocking may give you better results.

Well, emulation will take as much power as it needs (since there's an FPS cap), I doubt underclocking would change power usage.

Undervolting would be more interesting...

 

[reds]

Well, emulation will take as much power as it needs (since there's an FPS cap), I doubt underclocking would change power usage.

Undervolting would be more interesting...

Underclocking usually also comes with a possibility to undervolt, and that was what I thought that might give better results.