More Switch rumors, this time the hybrid console only has 4GB of RAM. It’s less than the Xbox One and PS4, but it’s more than iPhone 7 Plus, 3DS, and the Vita. So there’s that. It’s still too early to judge. The leak was revealed by Emily Rodgers in a recent tweet and reactions have been mixed. Some praise the Nintendo Switch for having more RAM than the previous consoles but others are still skeptical as to how the console will perform.
Nintendo Switch will have 4 GB of RAM
4GB is fine. You can run most games at 1440p with 4GB of VRAM, so with 4GB it should be plenty for the OS, RAM, and VRAM. The reason the Xbox ONE and PS4 have 8 GB RAM is for multitasking. Same reason PCs need more. Think how little RAM the 360 had. 4GB might not play BF1 (it might work) but games like Skyrim Remastered, Outlast 2, Red Dead 2 (a maybe for this one) will run fine.
Ideally, Nintendo should’ve given the Switch 6 GB of RAM at least, a 1080p screen, and the Tegra X2 chip. This would’ve still put it behind the PS4, but it would’ve at least put it ahead of 95% of the mobile phones on the market and the tablets. As it stands the Switch will have a lower powered CPU than the iPhone 7, a lower quality screen, 1 GB of more RAM, and maybe a slightly more powerful GPU. But we think based on benchmark scores the Tegra X1 has a slightly slower GPU than the A10 fusion.
Depending on how much is used for the OS (probably only 1 GB) 3GB should be good enough for a good amount of games. Not to mention the 4GB claim is nothing but a rumor right now. Probably the console will be using a form of Tegra X2 (now known as “Parker”). Nvidia planned to use Parker in their Shield 2, which was canceled, presumably when they partnered with Nintendo to help with Switch. So, we assume that’s where all the scrapped Parker chips are now going.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments.