Nintendo Switch 2 Console Leaks Early and Reveals Major Weakness

The motherboard of a Nintendo Switch 2 console has reportedly leaked early, which in turn has provided new insight into how the console performs. And included in this insight is word of a major weakness of the console. More specifically, the CPU of the Nintendo Switch 2 is notably lacking, which means the console may have a hard time running a few different types of games and genres, including: real-time strategy games, grand strategy games, simulation games, MMORPGs, and to a lesser extent, demanding open-world RPGs and games with advanced physics and AI. Beyond the CPU, the console has checked out so far in performance tests.

The performance test comes the way of popular YouTuber Geekerwan, who was able to get their hands on the Nintendo Switch 2 motherboard early thanks to Xianyu, which is essentially the Chinese version of eBay. And as Centro Leaks notes, there are a few interesting details that can be pulled from the test.

For one, it appears the SoC was taped out in 2021, which presumably means this console could have been released much earlier if it was not for the pandemic and the disruption it caused.

Meanwhile, a simulated benchmark performed on a PC with the closet specs to the Nintendo Switch 2 shows that the GPU while docked is quite strong and similar to a GTX 1050 Ti. In portable mode, it is of course weaker, and more similar to a PS4.

While the GPU checks out, the CPU leaves plenty of room for improvement, with testing finding it pretty week, and considerably weaker than 2022’s Steam Deck. When running many games, this probably won’t be much of a problem, but just like the Nintendo Switch, it is going to keep a lot of games from certain genres off the Switch 2, especially high-end real-time strategy and grand strategy games.

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Of course, take everything here with a grain of salt. None of this is official information, and even if this information is accurate, it is not entirely conclusive. So far, Nintendo has not been drawn out for comment, but if this changes we will update the story accordingly.

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