The internet has been obsessed with the "Drake" chip for nearly three years now. We've seen the blurry shipping manifests, the LinkedIn profiles of Nvidia engineers who accidentally said too much, and the massive motherboard leaks from early 2025 that basically confirmed everything.
Honestly? Most of the conversation is missing the point. People are obsessed with Teraflops, comparing the Nintendo Switch 2 GPU leaks to the PS5 or the Steam Deck like they're the same species of hardware. They aren't.
If you're expecting a handheld PS5, you're going to be disappointed. But if you think this is just a "Switch 1.5," you're missing how much Nvidia’s Ampere architecture changes the math for a portable device.
The T239: Not Your Average Laptop Chip
The heart of the new system is the Nvidia Tegra T239. This isn't some off-the-shelf part they found in a warehouse. It’s a semi-custom piece of silicon based on Nvidia's Orin architecture but stripped of the "extra baggage" needed for self-driving cars.
Here is the raw reality of what's inside that chip:
- CUDA Cores: 1,536 cores. For context, the original Switch had 256. That is a 6x increase in raw processing units.
- Architecture: It uses the Ampere architecture (RTX 30-series), but recent die analysis suggests it has back-ported features from Ada Lovelace (RTX 40-series), specifically for power efficiency and clock-gating.
- Memory: 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM. This is a massive jump from the 4GB in the original Switch.
The clock speeds are where things get interesting—and a bit controversial. Leaks from mid-2025 and finalized spec sheets show a massive "split personality" between handheld and docked modes.
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When you're playing on the couch, the GPU hits about 1,007MHz. That’s roughly 3.1 Teraflops of performance. Is that a lot? It’s more than a base PS4 (1.8 TF) but less than a Series S (4.0 TF). However, once you unplug it, the GPU throttles down to 561MHz to save your battery.
Why Teraflops Are a Lie in 2026
If you just look at the 3.1 Teraflops number, you’d think the Switch 2 is just a slightly better PS4. That’s a mistake.
The "secret sauce" of the Nintendo Switch 2 GPU leaks is the inclusion of Tensor Cores. These are dedicated AI processors that the old PS4 and Xbox One simply didn't have. They enable DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling).
DLSS is the reason why we've seen Cyberpunk 2077 running on Switch 2 prototypes at what looks like 4K. The GPU isn't actually rendering 8 million pixels. It’s rendering at something like 720p or 1080p, and the AI is "painting" in the rest of the detail.
The "Tiny DLSS" Rumor
Digital Foundry and other technical outlets have spent months analyzing a specific feature of the T239: the Deep Learning Accelerator (DLA).
There’s a strong indication that Nintendo is using a "light" version of DLSS to keep power consumption low. By offloading the upscaling to the DLA instead of the main GPU cores, they can get a sharper image without the console turning into a space heater in your hands.
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Ray Tracing on a Nintendo Handheld?
Yes, the leaks confirm 12 RT Cores.
Let’s be real: you aren't going to get full path-tracing like a high-end PC. But for things like high-quality reflections in Metroid Prime 4 or improved shadows in a new Zelda, it’s a game-changer.
The T239 has hardware-level support for Ray Reconstruction, a feature that actually debuted with Nvidia's 40-series cards. This helps "clean up" ray-traced images so they don't look noisy or grainy, which is vital when you're working with a limited power budget.
The Memory Bandwidth Bottleneck
If there’s a "weak spot" in the leaked specs, it’s the bandwidth.
The 12GB of RAM runs on a 128-bit bus. When docked, you're looking at about 102 GB/s. In handheld, it drops to 68 GB/s.
Compare that to the Xbox Series S, which has sections of memory running at 224 GB/s. What does this mean for you? It means that while the Switch 2 can handle high-resolution textures (thanks to having 12GB of space), it might struggle with incredibly fast data streaming.
To fix this, Nvidia included a File Decompression Engine. This is a dedicated block on the chip that unpacks game data instantly, taking the load off the CPU. It's Nintendo's version of the "Kraken" tech in the PS5.
Real-World Expectations: PS4 Pro vs. Switch 2
People love to ask: "Is it more powerful than a PS4 Pro?"
The answer is: It depends on how you measure it.
| Feature | PS4 Pro | Switch 2 (Leaked) |
|---|---|---|
| GPU Architecture | GCN 4.0 (2016) | Ampere/Ada Hybrid (2024/25) |
| AI Upscaling | None (Checkerboard) | DLSS 3.1 / 3.5 |
| Ray Tracing | No | Yes (Dedicated RT Cores) |
| Storage Speed | HDD (Slow) | UFS 3.1 (Very Fast) |
In terms of raw "grunt," the PS4 Pro might push more native pixels in some scenarios because it has a much higher power draw (over 150W). The Switch 2 is rumored to pull only about 15-20W when docked.
However, because the Switch 2 is using technology that is nearly a decade newer, the perceived quality will likely be higher. A DLSS-upscaled 4K image on Switch 2 will almost certainly look better than the blurry checkerboard 4K of the PS4 Pro.
Backward Compatibility and the GPU
One of the biggest wins from the recent Nintendo Switch 2 GPU leaks is the confirmation of hardware-level backward compatibility.
Because the T239 is still an Nvidia Tegra chip, it can "speak the same language" as the original Switch's Tegra X1. There are rumors of a "boost mode" for older games. Imagine Tears of the Kingdom running at a locked 60 FPS or Xenoblade Chronicles 3 finally looking sharp instead of a blurry mess.
What This Means for You Right Now
We are past the stage of "if" and into the stage of "when." The hardware is finalized. The developers have had the kits for a long time.
If you are planning to buy a Switch 2, keep these three things in mind:
- Don't buy into the 4K 60FPS hype for every game. While the hardware supports 4K via DLSS, most heavy third-party ports will likely target 1080p or 1440p to keep the frame rate stable.
- Storage is finally decent. The jump to 256GB of internal UFS 3.1 storage means you won't need to buy a microSD card on day one just to install a single game.
- Battery life is the wild card. With 1,536 CUDA cores, this chip could eat battery for breakfast. Expect Nintendo to lean heavily on aggressive downclocking in handheld mode to keep playtimes in the 3–6 hour range.
The leap from Switch to Switch 2 isn't just about more power. It’s about moving from "mobile tech that can barely run console games" to "modern AI-driven architecture."
Actionable Next Steps:
- Hold off on buying large digital Switch games unless they are on sale, as we are still waiting for the final word on how "cross-buy" or "next-gen patches" will work for the new GPU.
- Check your TV's HDMI ports. If you want to take advantage of the rumored 120Hz support at 1080p, make sure you have a display that supports HDMI 2.1 or at least high-refresh rates.
- Keep an eye on the NVN2 API leaks. This is the software layer that developers use to talk to the GPU; any new documentation that hits the web will tell us exactly how much of the Ada Lovelace feature set actually made the cut.