The Nintendo NX will reportedly be powered by NVIDIA, not AMD

The Nintendo NX will reportedly be powered by NVIDIA, not AMD

Details of Nintendo’s upcoming NX console are still scarce, but it was widely assumed that AMD would snag the contract to power graphics for the NX and hold on to its lead in the console market. But new reports have now given credence to early rumors that the NX would actually be powered by NVIDIA, or more specifically, a Tegra chip.

Eurogamer first broke the news, citing a number of sources that described the system as having a built-in screen “bookended by two controller sections on either side, which can be attached or detached as required”. This would suggest that the NX is actually a handheld, portable console.

Development kits reportedly already feature the NVIDIA Tegra X1, which can be found in devices like NVIDIA’s Shield Android TV console and the Google Pixel C tablet. However, the final version of the product is likely to sport some newer Tegra derivative instead. If true, this could mean that the NX might benefit from Tegra’s power efficiency while used as a portable gaming console, but would not match up to the Xbox One or PlayStation 4 in terms of performance.

Eurogamer also added on to previous reports that the NX will use game cartridges, and not disc-based media. This doesn’t mean that we’ll be seeing a return to blocky cartridges though, and the NX’s cartridge could very well be some sort of flash-based memory card.

We’re still quite a way off from the planned March 2017 launch, so all this should still be taken with a pinch of salt. The latest report also differs quite a bit from a Nintendo patent revealed last year that showed an oval touchscreen with physical controller buttons integrated into it.

Source: Eurogamer