Nvidia Reveals AI and Ray Tracing Features for Nintendo Switch 2 SoC, with Full Specs Under Wraps

Nintendo certainly grabbed everyone’s attention with the much-anticipated reveal of the Nintendo Switch 2 yesterday. However, when it came to the tech secrets behind its impressive performance, the team kept their cards close to their chest. Fortunately, Nvidia, the brains behind the custom chip powering this new console, shed a bit more light in a recent blog post.

During a developer roundtable, Tetsuya Sasaki, the tech director for the Switch 2, mentioned that Nintendo prefers to keep hardware details under wraps. “Our main goal,” he said, “is to focus on the value we offer to our consumers.” Echoing this sentiment, Nvidia has opted to keep specifics like core counts and speeds under the radar. Yet, they confidently state that this new chip boasts a graphics performance that’s ten times mightier than that of the original Nintendo Switch.

The chip is equipped with Nvidia’s RT cores, granting it the ability to handle hardware ray tracing, lighting, and reflections. Alongside these, tensor cores are responsible for powering DLSS upscaling, likely driving the system to achieve stunning 4K visuals when docked and up to a smooth 120 frames per second in handheld mode.

One fascinating feature is that these tensor cores enable AI-driven capabilities like face tracking and background removal. These were showcased through the innovative GameChat feature and during hands-on sessions with games like Super Mario Party Jamboree – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV. Interestingly, it remains a mystery if this utilizes any tech similar to Nvidia’s Broadcast on PCs.

Furthermore, Nvidia confirmed that the Switch 2 benefits from a variable refresh rate (VRR) display in handheld mode, thanks to G-Sync. This should effectively eliminate any screen-tearing issues.

To give you some perspective, Nvidia was also behind the original Nintendo Switch’s tech, which ran on a customized version of the Tegra X1. Even though it was considered somewhat outdated at launch, Nintendo squeezed every bit of life out of it, with games still being released a whopping eight years later.

As we approach the Switch 2’s launch on June 5, tagged at $449.99, it’ll be interesting to see just how much developers manage to extract from this powerful new chip.