Hardware Switch rumoured to have 4GB of ram

Yil

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Also, there are 2 things that bring the Switch closer to the XB1/PS4 real-life-performance.

1st: Nvidia's GFLOPS are almost always better than AMD's. AMD has a card with 4.8 TFLOPS (RX 480), but Nvidia's 4.8 TFLOPS card (GTX 1070) is 50-70% faster.

2nd: The OS is more optimized for gaming.
Xbox has parts of Windows and PS4 is FreeBSD based, while Nintendo's OS is purely made for their own hardware.

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1) GTX 1070 has a rating of 6.5 tf. The reason Nvidia performed better is that most games are based on the crappy dx11 and Nvidia used fp32 and AMD for fp64 for high quality rendering, which despite lower fps, amd is both less laggy an looks better on the same setting. If you compare g sync and freesync enabled graphic on same tier cards you will see the difference. However this strategy is more suited towards mobile.
2) Most non-microsoft systems are at least somewhat linux.
 

Futurdreamz

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2) Most non-microsoft systems are at least somewhat linux.
That's not exactly true. macOS is not Linux based, and QNX (used in BlackBerry 10, cars, routers, smart TVs, etc) is not Linux based. Just because most companies will slap a linux kernel into their smart thingy (then be all surprised that it joins a botnet that tries to shut down the internet) doesn't mean Nintendo will. The Linux kernel is simply not great for a gaming OS. If you already have an investment in Linux you can try to tweak it to make it better, but it is far better to start from scratch - especially when you're an anal company that wants full control over the system and it's interface and security.
 

grossaffe

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That's not exactly true. macOS is not Linux based, and QNX (used in BlackBerry 10, cars, routers, smart TVs, etc) is not Linux based. Just because most companies will slap a linux kernel into their smart thingy (then be all surprised that it joins a botnet that tries to shut down the internet) doesn't mean Nintendo will. The Linux kernel is simply not great for a gaming OS. If you already have an investment in Linux you can try to tweak it to make it better, but it is far better to start from scratch - especially when you're an anal company that wants full control over the system and it's interface and security.
I gave him the benefit and translated it to "Unix" in my head. Unix systems are everywhere.
 
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Yil

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That's not exactly true. macOS is not Linux based, and QNX (used in BlackBerry 10, cars, routers, smart TVs, etc) is not Linux based. Just because most companies will slap a linux kernel into their smart thingy (then be all surprised that it joins a botnet that tries to shut down the internet) doesn't mean Nintendo will. The Linux kernel is simply not great for a gaming OS. If you already have an investment in Linux you can try to tweak it to make it better, but it is far better to start from scratch - especially when you're an anal company that wants full control over the system and it's interface and security.
Both QNX and MacOs are somewhat unix so they qualify as somewhat linux. Also Android. And are you seriously expecting Switch to start from machine code?
 

grossaffe

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Both QNX and MacOs are somewhat unix so they qualify as somewhat linux. Also Android. And are you seriously expecting Switch to start from machine code?
I expect he's expecting the Switch will run from an OS rolled by Nintendo specifically for its hardware and gaming rather than using a general purpose OS, as their Modus Operandi has been to do just that.
 

Luckkill4u

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Both QNX and MacOs are somewhat unix so they qualify as somewhat linux. Also Android. And are you seriously expecting Switch to start from machine code?
Your missing the word similar. BSD, QNX, Linux and Mac OS are all similar to Unix. I have a feeling the Switch will run off of Nintendo's own proprietary OS made by Nintendo themselves or run a modified version of BSD like the PS4. As far as I know BSD works well in nVidia dev boards.
 

Yil

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Your missing the word similar. BSD, QNX, Linux and Mac OS are all similar to Unix. I have a feeling the Switch will run off of Nintendo's own proprietary OS made by Nintendo themselves or run a modified version of BSD like the PS4. As far as I know BSD works well in nVidia dev boards.
I should have used Unix back there. My bad.
But my point is that Nintendo's system is based on unix-like that will fit pretty well with Nvidia hardware and not trying to code everything from the very basic.
 

Luckkill4u

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I should have used Unix back there. My bad.
But my point is that Nintendo's system is based on unix-like that will fit pretty well with Nvidia hardware and not trying to code everything from the very basic.
Wrong again. Nintendo's most recent OS's (DS, 3DS, Wii, WiiU) is 100% proprietary. Meaning it's built from top to bottom for that system using Nintendo's own code. Unlike the PS4 that is based on Free BSD, Xbox One that is based of something like windows (I think) or on Android that is based on Linux.
 
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Yil

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Wrong again. Nintendo's most recent OS's (DS, 3DS, Wii, WiiU) is 100% proprietary. Meaning it's built from top to bottom for that system using Nintendo's own code. Unlike the PS4 that is based on Free BSD, Xbox One that is based of something like windows (I think) or on Android that is based on Linux.
Wow, didn't know that. So they did every piece of it? And not a heavily redesigned version of existing os?
(So sony designed ps3's processor but uses a unix system, but Nintendo goes the other way when there are more resource for ARM and PowerPC?)
 

Luckkill4u

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Wow, didn't know that. So they did every piece of it? And not a heavily redesigned version of existing os?
(So sony designed ps3's processor but uses a unix system, but Nintendo goes the other way when there are more resource for ARM and PowerPC?)
They probably hired a company to work with Nintendo's own developers/designers. The PS4 and Xbox One are the closest we have seen so far as for architecture that's close to Desktop PC's so it makes sense to work with something meant for desktop PC's. Sony probably done the same thing with the PS3's Cell processor hired people to work with devs/designers.

Imma slap Nintendo if they try to build an OS through Android. It would open a whole new world of piracy for them...
 
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Yil

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They probably hired a company to work with Nintendo's own developers/designers. The PS4 and Xbox One are the closest we have seen so far as for architecture that's close to Desktop PC's so it makes sense to work with something meant for desktop PC's. Sony probably done the same thing with the PS3's Cell processor hired people to work with devs/designers.

Imma slap Nintendo if they try to build an OS through Android. It would open a whole new world of piracy for them...
But tegra have lots of existing work on them. Pretty sure PS3 is some form of Unix and Sony is directly involved in Cell's development and it has its own instructions.
Nintendo won't be stupid enough to use android but pretty sure some heavily modified unix was the best bet. The software is already there with Nvidia, just need a few more additions.
 

Luckkill4u

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But tegra have lots of existing work on them. Pretty sure PS3 is some form of Unix and Sony is directly involved in Cell's development and it has its own instructions.
Nintendo won't be stupid enough to use android but pretty sure some heavily modified unix was the best bet. The software is already there with Nvidia, just need a few more additions.
Since most Jetson dev kits tend to work well on BSD I'd put my money there. Cell OS is based on FreeBSD just like PS4's OrbisOS. PS3's cell was based on Power Architecture and was built in a collaboration of Sony, Toshiba and IBM.
 

grossaffe

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But tegra have lots of existing work on them. Pretty sure PS3 is some form of Unix and Sony is directly involved in Cell's development and it has its own instructions.
Nintendo won't be stupid enough to use android but pretty sure some heavily modified unix was the best bet. The software is already there with Nvidia, just need a few more additions.
How is it stupid to make your own OS that does exactly what you need it to do? They have the talent to do so, so why use a general purpose OS instead of rolling their own to perfectly fit their needs? Perhaps they should stop writing their own game engines, too, and just use Unity; it would be pretty stupid of them to do all that work when there are other game engines out there, right?
 

Futurdreamz

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix-like

being unix-like means shit. And Nintendo has always written their own OSs. Honestly that makes a lot of sense if you know anything from programming. As soon as you sart importing libraries into your code you bog things down, where a special-written code can run things much faster. Hell, i wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo programmed in Machine Assembly Language as much as possible.


Also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MenuetOS
 
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Yil

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix-like

being unix-like means shit. And Nintendo has always written their own OSs. Honestly that makes a lot of sense if you know anything from programming. As soon as you sart importing libraries into your code you bog things down, where a special-written code can run things much faster. Hell, i wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo programmed in Machine Assembly Language as much as possible.


Also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MenuetOS
I understand how being able to control everything is beneficial but adding features and good look to them is time consuming. Dealing with low level means you need to do more work rather than working with existing tools. Getting pixels to appear on screen and printing a line is not the same as rendering a 3d game. That takes a lot of effort (using a existing os would negate most of that, as the work is already done), and need to be done every time a new line of hardware is made. This also makes it harder for someone to port over a game.
 

grossaffe

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I understand how being able to control everything is beneficial but adding features and good look to them is time consuming. Dealing with low level means you need to do more work rather than working with existing tools. Getting pixels to appear on screen and printing a line is not the same as rendering a 3d game. That takes a lot of effort (using a existing os would negate most of that, as the work is already done), and need to be done every time a new line of hardware is made. This also makes it harder for someone to port over a game.
They spend years designing these consoles. They've got teams of experts dedicated to the task. This isn't some rinky-dink operation where you have to make do with the team you can manage to build; this is the big-leagues. This is what you do when you've got people at the top of the field working for you.
 

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This thread makes me feel that the switch is the best when compared to ps4 and xbox one
 

Yil

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This thread makes me feel that the switch is the best when compared to ps4 and xbox one
Absolutely. Ram is more than plentiful and with a modern hardware that will make mid range phones look weak. Also gaming on the go an local multiplayer with single unit.
I didn't expect Nintendo to make their own kernal, really. This will eliminate lots of hardware problems and licensing, just hope third party can cope with it.
 
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Luckkill4u

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It would have more RAM then my Windows PC, and that works great with 8.1. But sadly the Switch still uses ARM.
There is nothing wrong with ARM architecture. In a sense it's much more efficient than going with desktop architecture. It's also a good industry standard but missing those Denver cores is going to make a big hit for performance IMO.

I'd be happy if they used something like 4x ARM Kryo cores. Something that is a bit more powerful but still used in the latest flagship Android devices.
 
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