Who knew that overclocking a console could be a great idea? It turns out it is with the Nintendo Switch, with the boys at Digital Foundry managing to get upwards of 70 percent improvement in CPU speed and 40 percent in GPU frequency, just by overclocking the integrated Tegra X1 SoC.
Before we continue with this discussion though, we must place the obligatory warning that overclocking a Switch could lead to locking it out from online content if Nintendo doesn't like it. If your cooling isn't adequate you also risk damaging your hardware and significantly reducing its lifespan. You have been warned.
With that out of the way, let's take a look at some clock speed examples. DF was able to push the CPU clock to the maximum stock specifications of the Tegra chip: 1,785MHz. That's more than 700MHz higher than the standard switch Docked mode. The GPU overclock wasn't quite as impressive, resting at a maximum of 460MHz in portable mode. But that's still a more than 50 percent increase over the standard portable frequency of 307MHz.
This really brings home how great some of the Nintendo Switch ports are, as that is an incredibly modest frequency to play games like Doom 2016 and Wolfenstein Youngblood. And especially so considering it appears to be the CPU that's holding everything back.
So, why did Nintendo leave so much performance on the table? A major reason is battery life. With the full overclock in place, running effectively close to docked-mode, the Switch battery life drops down to just 2.5 hours. Temperatures are also a concern, leading to a rise in fan noise in the Switch and much higher temperatures. Nothing too crazy, but it could effect lifespan of the hardware longterm.
It may be though, that in the future as battery technology improves, Nintendo will release a higher performance Switch. It's certainly possible.
