News Nintendo Switch 2 thermal limits mean you need air conditioning if you want to play in a hot climate — Big N advises against use in environments ab...

[Admin]

The console needs more cooling.

Nintendo Switch 2 thermal limits mean you need air conditioning if you want to play in a hot climate — Big N advises against use in environments ab... : Read more

 

[Notton]

Well it's a good thing Japan is famous for never hitting above 35C during summer.
Or continuously hitting above 40C since 2018
Or for getting hotter by the year

 

[Alvar "Miles" Udell]

Woefully underpowered
Insufficiently cooled
Monstrously overpriced

Sells like hotcakes! Who cares if it overheats!

 

[diminishedfifth]

I bet Nintendo fanboys and girls think this is ok

 

[thisisaname]

Woefully underpowered
Insufficiently cooled
Monstrously overpriced

Sells like hotcakes! Who cares if it overheats!

A four year old design pushed beyond it's limits?

 

[Phazon]

Woefully underpowered
Insufficiently cooled
Monstrously overpriced

Sells like hotcakes! Who cares if it overheats!

Exactly.
I've seen flagship phones that are way more powerful, in a smaller form factor, with way better cooling.

It's hard to be impressed by the Switch 2 unfortunately

 

[Li Ken-un]

The fact that there are fans and vent slots on the top of the unit bother me. In docked mode, where the unit will presumably be most of the time, dust settling down from above has a straight shot into the unit.

I’m curious whether there was no possible way to outfit it with a passive heat sink and to have a metal enclosure (with allowances for wireless signals) instead.

It wouldn’t help with the environment being too hot obviously, since temperatures tend towards an equilibrium, but given the existence of aftermarket mods to add dust filters to the original Nintendo Switch, I’m surprised that they’re still using…

A four year old design pushed beyond it's limits

---

Well it's a good thing Japan is famous for never hitting above 35C during summer.
Or continuously hitting above 40C since 2018
Or for getting hotter by the year

I’m full expecting a respin of the chips to handle the higher temperatures, concomitant with a new release à la OLED/Lite edition.

We were the early adopters. 😞

 

[mangaTom]

A four year old design pushed beyond it's limits?

It doesn't help that it's made using on what is now an old process node. Maybe a die shrink will help it but knowing it's Nintendo, they'd probably happily overcharge customers.

 

[Notton]

To be fair though phones and tablets also come with a warning not to use them beyond the ranges of 0C to 35C ambient.

 

[Ghost_MH]

To be fair though phones and tablets also come with a warning not to use them beyond the ranges of 0C to 35C ambient.

Yes, all the consoles have the same ambient temperature range. Even the Steamdeck:

Steam Support :: Steam Deck - Basic Use & Troubleshooting Guide

 

[SuperSamGalaxy]

To be fair though phones and tablets also come with a warning not to use them beyond the ranges of 0C to 35C ambient.

Also to be fair, my desire to not drown in an ocean of my own sweat means I need air conditioning if I want to play in a hot climate 🤣

 

[atomicWAR]

I am not sure why this is news. Ambient temps are always an issue for PC/console hardware. It be nice if the range was wider, particularly on the high end but it is what it is. Nintendo will respin this silicon in all likelihood down the road, add an OLED and still have a temperature range albeit ideally wider. Its what early adopters like myself get. For me I knew my Switch 2 would either be docked, or in a hospital setting (spend more time in them than I'd like) where things are cool enough and I'd have access to to plug in or dock.

 

[epobirs]

This reflects problems facing the industry as a whole. In a past era, a highly popular console like the Switch would have had three or four die shrinks by now to allow the price to get much lower with much better battery life, or a lighter more compact package around the screen. Then, when a successor platform is announced, it has a price the same or not much higher than the launch price of the current platform.

Those die shrink just aren't as viable anymore. Other than minor density improvements like the TSMC 6NP node that offered relatively easy porting from their 7NP, it doesn't make sense to port current designs to newer nodes instead of implementing the latest architecture. Which is why we don't get a $250 PS5 or $150 Switch. They would if they could. This also affects the longevity of game prices. Every console maker formerly had reduced pricing for their older games to reach the expanded audience as the cost of entry went down. But when a console's price remains little improved from its launch, there is little reason to discount the older, long into profits games to match.

 

[hotaru251]

It also warned against using its consoles outdoors

....using it outside was literally part of their marketing...

 

[Quirkz]

Not really news: Chips that runhot throttle in heat.

Hell, I've had nVidia GPUs and intel CPUs that throttled and sometimes crashed when the room was just 30c.

 

[magbarn]

This reflects problems facing the industry as a whole. In a past era, a highly popular console like the Switch would have had three or four die shrinks by now to allow the price to get much lower with much better battery life, or a lighter more compact package around the screen. Then, when a successor platform is announced, it has a price the same or not much higher than the launch price of the current platform.

Those die shrink just aren't as viable anymore. Other than minor density improvements like the TSMC 6NP node that offered relatively easy porting from their 7NP, it doesn't make sense to port current designs to newer nodes instead of implementing the latest architecture. Which is why we don't get a $250 PS5 or $150 Switch. They would if they could. This also affects the longevity of game prices. Every console maker formerly had reduced pricing for their older games to reach the expanded audience as the cost of entry went down. But when a console's price remains little improved from its launch, there is little reason to discount the older, long into profits games to match.

Samsung 8nm is a really horrible process though. It held ampere back and and allowed a huge performance uplift for Ada. TSMC's offerings back then were already superior in speed and power usage. If/When this design is ported over to a newer TSMC node it will run much cooler and give better battery life.

 

[Li Ken-un]

....using it outside was literally part of their marketing...

With the huge vents, I’m not so sure I’d even believe the marketing. Say you’re out in an urban setting. There are dangers like:

• Air conditioner condensation dripping from above
• Sudden onset of rain
• Airborne debris from construction

These units should at least be IP5X-rated like Sony Xperia smartphones for the rigors of the urban outdoors.

 

[CelicaGT]

It's almost like the laws of thermodynamics apply -shocked pikachu face-

Seriously though if people are surprised by hot things hot then perhaps it's time for some remedial education....all outrage because Nintento of course....


(wait till they learn about latent heat and all that....do they not teach this crap in grade school anymore????)

 

[DiscostewSM]

This is making sensationalism from a nothingburger. They make a general warning that applies to pretty much any piece of technology, and folks are exaggurating it. We've already had tests and such done on the Switch 1 with its off-the-shelf SoC where there system portably continued to run up to around 67 degrees C (by putting it under a blanket so the heat cannot escape), which is when it forces a shutdown due to overheating. There could be a number of reasons why folks are experiencing overheating, like blocked vents that prevent airflow.

Samsung 8nm is a really horrible process though. It held ampere back and and allowed a huge performance uplift for Ada. TSMC's offerings back then were already superior in speed and power usage. If/When this design is ported over to a newer TSMC node it will run much cooler and give better battery life.

Even with using the poorer Samsung 8nm process node, the system is incredible efficient. One can run Cyberpunk on it portably with roughly a 10W power draw for the entire system, screen and all, whereas something like the Steam Deck with its Van Gogh APU on TSMC 7nm/6nm is struggling with equal performance that pushes the APU alone to its 15W limit.

 

[Amdlova]

Where the people test these devices are really Cold...
When come to tropics everything fail because heat.
I remember the days of phenom 2 with ludicrous 62C thermal limit...
I have these 35W cpu because of this... the cpu always stay 2 or 3 degree above the ambient temp.
build a 7900x not long ago to a friend idle at 35C ambiet cpu locked 88C with a Thermalright 3 fan Cpu Cooler

 

[korn530]

Nintendo has gone down hill idk why anyone would still be willing to buy anything from them since you don't own your games anymore your just leasing them screw that and screw Nintendo

 

[JayGau]

The hatred comments again. Some people really like to hate, it's even more fun for them than actually playing games.

As others mentioned, this is a no news. Every electronic device needs to run in this temperature range. I don't even know why there is an article about this (beside triggering the usual Nintendo rage bait). What are you even doing on this forum if you don't know that a computer-like device should not be used in a hot environment?

And the switch consoles are not designed to compete with PC-like handles. The lack of horse power is compensate by other things like good battery life, versatility, Wii-like features, Nintendo exclusives, etc.

I bought a switch 2 two months ago (never owned or even tried the first one) because I had a long international trip with a lot of time to kill coming and wanted something better than those awful mobile games (and didn't want to spend $1000+ on a PC handled that can't last more than an hour on battery). And it turns out it has been one of the best purchases I have made in years. The console is light, the battery is great, it can run games as well as a PS4 in the palm of my hands. And even though my trip is over, I still use it pretty often (despite having a high-end gaming PC), mostly to play some older games I have never finished (or even started) in the comfort of my recliner.

And my kids love it, of course.

 

[HardwiredWireless]

Another Nintendo swing and a miss.
Well played.

 

[HardwiredWireless]

Not really news: Chips that runhot throttle in heat.

Hell, I've had nVidia GPUs and intel CPUs that throttled and sometimes crashed when the room was just 30c.

Why would you stay in such a hot room and not turn on the A/C?

 

[KyaraM]

I am not sure why this is news. Ambient temps are always an issue for PC/console hardware. It be nice if the range was wider, particularly on the high end but it is what it is. Nintendo will respin this silicon in all likelihood down the road, add an OLED and still have a temperature range albeit ideally wider. Its what early adopters like myself get. For me I knew my Switch 2 would either be docked, or in a hospital setting (spend more time in them than I'd like) where things are cool enough and I'd have access to to plug in or dock.

It's news because it lets people hate on Nintendo. The fact not withstanding that you shouldn't run ANY consumer electronics beyond 35°C, and they all have that operating range... it's an easy target, though, so we get this

Why would you stay in such a hot room and not turn on the A/C?

Apartments on the highest floors in many European countries can get that hot. I have seen room temperatures of 32°C+ myself growing up. AC isn't widespread here.