Nintendo Switch vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Nintendo Switch CPU1 vs CPU2 Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2
Nintendo Switch Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2

CPU comparison

In this CPU comparison, we compare the Nintendo Switch and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 and use benchmarks to check which processor is faster.

We compare the Nintendo Switch 8 core processor released in Q1/2017 with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 which has 8 CPU cores and was introduced in Q2/2023.
NVIDIA Tegra (2) Family Qualcomm Snapdragon (102)
NVIDIA Tegra X1 (2) CPU group Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 (1)
2 Generation 2
Cortex-A57/-A53 Architecture Kryo Gold / Kryo Silver
Mobile Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor --
-- Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Nintendo Switch is a 8 core processor with a clock frequency of 1.00 GHz (1.75 GHz). The processor can compute 8 threads at the same time. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 clocks with 2.20 GHz, has 8 CPU cores and can calculate 8 threads in parallel.

Nintendo Switch Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2
8 Cores 8
8 Threads 8
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
1.00 GHz (1.75 GHz)
4x Cortex-A57
A-Core 2.20 GHz
2x Cortex-A78
1.00 GHz (1.75 GHz)
4x Cortex-A53
B-Core 2.00 GHz
6x Cortex-A55

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Processors with the support of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors. Algorithms for ML improve their performance the more data they have collected via software. ML tasks can be processed up to 10,000 times faster than with a classic processor.

Nintendo Switch Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2
-- AI hardware Qualcomm AI engine
-- AI specifications Hexagon

Internal Graphics

Graphics (iGPU) integrated into the processor not only enable image output without having to rely on a dedicated graphics solution, but can also efficiently accelerate video playback.

NVIDIA Tegra X1 (Maxwell) GPU Qualcomm Adreno 613
0.30 GHz GPU frequency 0.96 GHz
0.77 GHz GPU (Turbo) 0.96 GHz
1 GPU Generation --
20 nm Technology
1 Max. displays 2
2 Compute units --
256 Shader --
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
2 GB Max. GPU Memory --
12 DirectX Version 12.1

Hardware codec support

A photo or video codec that is accelerated in hardware can greatly accelerate the working speed of a processor and extend the battery life of notebooks or smartphones when playing videos.

NVIDIA Tegra X1 (Maxwell) GPU Qualcomm Adreno 613
Decode Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode
Decode Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode
Decode / Encode Codec h264 Decode / Encode
Decode Codec VP9 Decode
Decode Codec VP8 Decode
No Codec AV1 No
Decode Codec AVC Decode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

Up to 4 GB of memory in a maximum of 2 memory channels is supported by the Nintendo Switch, while the Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 supports a maximum of GB of memory with a maximum memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s enabled.

Nintendo Switch Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2
LPDDR4-3200 Memory LPDDR4X-4266, LPDDR5-6400
4 GB Max. Memory
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
25.6 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 51.2 GB/s
No ECC No
2.50 MB L2 Cache --
-- L3 Cache --
-- PCIe version --
-- PCIe lanes --
-- PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The Nintendo Switch has a TDP of 5 W. The TDP of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 is --. System integrators use the TDP of the processor as a guide when dimensioning the cooling solution.

Nintendo Switch Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2
5 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) --
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
5 W TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Nintendo Switch has 2.50 MB cache and is manufactured in 20 nm. The cache of Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 is at 0.00 MB. The processor is manufactured in 4 nm.

Nintendo Switch Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2
20 nm Technology 4 nm
Chiplet Chip design Chiplet
Armv8-A (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) Armv8-A (64 bit)
-- ISA extensions --
-- Socket --
None Virtualization None
No AES-NI No
Operating systems Android, Windows 10 (ARM)
Q1/2017 Release date Q2/2023
-- Release price --
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Nintendo Switch to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 2.4 stars (7 ratings). Rate now:
Here you can rate the Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 3.7 stars (7 ratings). Rate now:


Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The single-core benchmark only evaluates the performance of the fastest CPU core, the number of CPU cores in a processor is irrelevant here.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.75 GHz
270 (100%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2
8C 8T @ 2.20 GHz
0 (0%)

Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The multi-core benchmark evaluates the performance of all of the processor's CPU cores. Virtual thread improvements such as AMD SMT or Intel's Hyper-Threading have a positive impact on the benchmark result.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.00 GHz
702 (100%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2
8C 8T @ 2.20 GHz
0 (0%)

iGPU - FP32 Performance (Single-precision GFLOPS)

The theoretical computing performance of the internal graphics unit of the processor with simple accuracy (32 bit) in GFLOPS. GFLOPS indicates how many billion floating point operations the iGPU can perform per second.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
NVIDIA Tegra X1 (Maxwell) @ 0.77 GHz
393 (100%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2
Qualcomm Adreno 613 @ 0.96 GHz
0 (0%)

Devices using this processor

Nintendo Switch Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2
Nintendo Switch Unknown

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