I overclocked Zelda Tears of the Kingdom on the Switch and... | MVG

Zelda Tears of the Kingdom has been out for a few days now and overall its a fantastic game but does come with some performance issues. Lets see if we can smooth them out using an overclocked Nintendo Switch.
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#Zelda #TOTK

[@thegreathadoken6808]

I just like the way your microphone appears to be hovering in mid-air due to the aggressive blurring around it

[@legendofphil]

MVG - MagicVintageGamer

[@wile123456]

Microphone.png

[@KittyMike32202]

I'm just now noticing this and it's sick

[@Bugz]

We're getting shafted on performance and mvg gives us just the tip

[@mikeyandwho]

It's messing with my mind 😂

[@ChaoticanarchyX]

The Lost Woods in BotW where the Master Sword is has THE worse frate rate drop in the entire game.

[@phattjohnson]

Almost the entire series - I was getting Ocarina of Time vibes from that section :P

[@chriscofer6780]

Went there in totk after helping the deku tree, didn't notice any frame drops there

[@fenderbender5691]

@@ObtuseAcute1 CEMU doesn't count

[@FelipeKana1]

also a beautiful place

[@lancelnce]

*Hyrule castle:* _hold my beer_

[@Nabalazs]

Hey, just letting you know, Nintendo added this clock increase during loading screens to Botw and Mario Odyssey a couple years ago. If you go and check, botw should also bump the cpu clocks for faster loading. So the faster speeds in totk aren't just that.

[@glados_boatman]

This had a big impact on the BOTW speedrunning community. The Switch's v1.6 CPU speedup during loading made for a faster speedrun than the WiiU, and everyone changed platforms accordingly.

[@StarmenRock]

Keeping the switch overclocked all the time on cfw makes playing the switch a completely different experience. Nintendo is shitting the bed by not unlocking it on docked mode at least. Every single game runs so much better

[@Phoenix_1991]

@@StarmenRock I think they do it for longevity reasons since they probably can't guarantee that the switch will last a long time with it OC'd like that. Could probably find a workaround but yeah, think that's their reasoning.

[@thebravegallade731]

@@Phoenix_1991 Its probably due to specifically the V1 switch holding the others back, as it is less efficiant. the mariko chip switches could probably run at the max reccomended tegra clock speeds without issue to the battery.

[@StarmenRock]

@@Phoenix_1991 in my case, my switch runs only 4C hotter when overclocked. They dont have to go full 1750mhz, just boost the gpu clock and get the CPU to around 1300mhz. That already makes kakariko village a solid 30fps with way less noticeable dips :c

[@ThunderingRoar]

memory bandwidth is the main bottleneck in APUs like 90+% of the time

[@Hairybarryy]

Also SOCs like the M1 and M2 chip and Mesh bases cpus like AMD ZEN and Skylake -X, Sapphire rapids etc

[@Hairybarryy]

@BigTitMaster nope it's a soc. Apu is gpu and cpu. The M1 and M2 have ram, cpu, gpu and encoding chips all on one chip.

[@Hairybarryy]

@BigTitMaster the switch has an soc

[@vladimirs6258]

Просто поставьте 4ifir и у вас не будет проблем с bandwidth bottleneck

[@alexbrookner5331]

Why don’t Nintendo use that extra memory bandwidth or whatever

[@vintatsh]

If I remember correctly Breath of the Wild also had the same 1.785 MHz CPU boost feature during loading screens, so it must be some further optimization elsewhere. Very interesting to see that memory bandwith is the only bottleneck.

[@Hartie95]

Yep, but they only added it with a later update. Don't know which one though.

[@zawacchi]

Yes, I do believe this is the case since one of the later updates. It does give a significant boost to loading times, but TotK is still a lot faster. Props to Nintendo for optimizing their loading algorithms, although it’s pretty much just impressive in general what they’ve managed to do on such old hardware.

[@zerogms9585]

Might be caused of the Engine change. TotK uses the Splatoon Engine.

[@zawacchi]

@@zerogms9585 Oh, that’s really interesting! Didn’t know that they changed engines. Partially explains why they took 6 years to develop the game. Porting existing assets and such must be a lot of hard work.

[@mitchjames9350]

@@zerogms9585 how do you know that?

[@Lachesis3D]

Hello, Dimitris. I am the developer of 4IFIR. I have been subscribed to you since time immemorial. I enjoy watching all the regular content on your channel. I have long thought about telling you about my development, but I was afraid of seeming tactless, I didn't want to steal your time. I kept putting it off until the third million downloads, and that you decided to talk about my modest development on your own. Firstly, a huge thank you for paying attention to my dev, being in the focus of your attention means a lot to me. Secondly, now I want even more to tell and show you 4IFIR, and its unique capabilities, which you might have missed at a cursory acquaintance. Don't get me wrong, I'm not asking for additional content :) I just want to share with you the achievements, tell you about the breakthrough killer features, the significance of which for the community - you will appreciate like no one else. I guarantee that you will not regret the time spent. If you have time, and you are ready to learn/see - what 4IFIR is capable of in its potential, please, write me your contact. I would be happy to give you a tour of both the existing capabilities and the capabilities, the release of which I plan to carry out in the near future. (I hope this doesn't look like self-promotion. 4IFIR is distributed with open source code and is not monetized in any way). Thank you for reading. If you don't find time for this, don't worry, I understand that you have a very busy schedule. With best wishes, Cooler3D and the project community

[@mrsco006]

while using 4IFIR, status monitor won't open in game. when launched tesla overlay disappears and if you try to bring it back up, it doesn't. then if you go home, the switch locks up. if status monitor is launched before game is launched, it works ok. is this a known issue?

[@mrsco006]

i figured it out. just deleted atmosphere and bootloader and saltysd folders and started over. working ok now. sorry to bother

[@Lachesis3D]

@@mrsco006 No problem. Don't forget to try the Stages. If Stage 7 (or even 7+) turns out to be stable on your hardware, consider that you did not lose the silicon lottery, and won an even more significant increase in performance and energy efficiency compared to the base 4IFIR. Good luck!

[@JerryWn12]

I've used 4IFIR ST7+ on my Mariko for several days, the performance and power efficiency is so good ! thanks for your development !

[@Lachesis3D]

@@JerryWn12 You are welcome

[@KellsKats]

I would love a revisit of Link’s Awakening with these new tools to see if they fix the issues in that game as well

[@Matanumi]

Yup

[@jacobasnodgrass5853]

i think the art style of link's awakening made up for the occasional fps drops. it didn't feel as immediately obvious at it is in ToTK when going into ultra hand mode, or when walking into certain areas with lots of effects.

[@Levelplaneproductions]

Like the shadows fr needs to be fixed. Cant even enjoy the best areas lkke forests because shadows flicker so much

[@otozinclus3593]

People alread did that and it changed nothing. Links awakenings problem seems to be somewhere else and has to do with the loading of new tile Moving the game from your SD card to internal storage seems to slightly improve this issue

[@kooperPM64]

@@jacobasnodgrass5853 Honestly the frame dips in Link's Awakening felt much worse for me than what I've seen in TotK so far

[@Pro720HyperMaster720]

Thanks for pointing this out I was overclocking my switch but didn’t try over 1600mhz on RAM I heard was possible with other tools, and 2000mhz is even possible but that requires adjusting timings, so for anyone wondering those 1862mhz seen in this video is the max overclock that doesn’t usually require more foddering around anything beyond that and you may need to do way more difficult stuff to get there

[@max_the_german4989]

I hoped for a Switch firmware update which allows 1600 MHz RAM clocks for handheld mode. This would make handheld gaming much smoother with only minor impact on fan noise and battery life.

[@whitefata104]

Nope they wont, cuase v1 switch has optimal clock at 1600, some bad sillicon lotery might not able stable beyond that

[@TerranigmaQuintet]

Only they have no way of knowing if every individual Switch out there can handle those overclocks on memory. And they liek to err on the side of caution here, they don't want overheating systems out there because they OCed memory too high.

[@max_the_german4989]

@@TerranigmaQuintet 1600 MHz is default for docked play, so it would also work for handheld play without issues (the extra power draw should be less than 1 W).

[@yellowblanka6058]

Eh, if it was so minor they would have done it already I think. They wouldn’t leave free performance on the table.

[@max_the_german4989]

@@yellowblanka6058 The problem is, that then games could run much better in handheld mode than in docked mode because of the lower resolution. The basic idea of Nintendo is right: Lower resolution requires less bandwidth. But obviously the step down from 1600 MHz to 1333 MHz was to big. Maybe something like 1450 MHz would be good to achieve the same performance in handheld and docked play, but Switch does not allow values between 1333 and 1600 MHz AFAIN.

[@Dare1C]

Hey I also overclocked TOTK and had great results! The switch is so useful when you can increase the CPU, GPU, or RAM depending on what game or application you are using. Jailbreaking this thing has really been so worth it in so many ways. Its an amazing device!

[@legros731]

Lol amazing device with a obsolete 8 year old soc and crap performance

[@Dare1C]

@@legros731 If thats the closed-minded approach you want to take. Despite that, it is capable of plenty of great things even if its obsolete by todays standard. But you'll never know because you only think of things in 1 way.

[@phattjohnson]

@@legros731 Yet here you are spending time talking about it :P

[@legros731]

@@Dare1C no i am realistic contrary to you lol the switch can do nothing good when everything is a compromise in this children toy crap The thing is not even able to run the tegra 1 at full speed and this crap was obsolete even before the switch originally released

[@Dare1C]

@@legros731 lol "realistic". Nobody here was being unrealistic in the first place, you goof. Nobody was saying its the greatest hardware ever created or some nonsense like that, so I dont get where you thought anything I said wasnt realistic. Honestly, you sound ignorant and pretty block-headed. The switch can run the Tegra at full speed. However, Nintendo made the conscious effort to lower some clockrate and other things for improved battery life. And when you jailbreak the system, you can choose how you want the device to operate. Again, you are just using one measurement to determine the system's value when the Switch and all of its accompanying software and applications are fantastic esp with free-range. But you'll just never know because you are stubborn and closed-minded. Anyways, have fun replying cause I aint wasting my time reading any more from you.

[@jonnathanaponte5892]

I work as a game developer, the way one programs the link's ability. It is creating a Sphere Ray-cast and a ray-cast hit array. To determine when objects are within the radius. Then in an update or tick you have to frame by frame determine if that object can be used with the link's ability, if so that particular object access the shader and turns it that bright color. If the object cannot be used as a skill, use the shader, which is like the red wave effect. The problem is that it also has a ray-cast in the center of the screen to interact with the object and that is why objects turn green. when you access those shaders. Every second the ray-cast/sphere ray-cast is running 28 to 30 times when you activate the ability and without counting the environment you lose performance in resources. Remember that visually it looks simple on the screen, but there are several processes that go from the CPU to the GPU when you see an object that shines on the screen. You have to store the vertices in a 3D object matrix, then pass it from the Vertex Shader to the Fragment Shader and GPU determine to create the final render. To improve performance don't make a skill of it looking for all those objects, just let it know which are the objects you can interact with per skill

[@GraveUypo]

that is kinda irrelevant, this is just a memory bandwidth bottleneck. too many alpha texture overlays for the narrow bandwidth of the switch

[@silver1407]

i was actually just listening to the MVP podcast recently and remember you talking about being apprehensive in regards to making switch overclocking content, I'm glad you found a way to cover it

[@sethlikepie]

I just really hope this videos brings back the homebrew community around ram overclocking, so this can spread and everyone can play Zelda the way it was meant too. All the tools for this are years old and there are no guide anywhere to get to get ti working simply. PLEASE bring this stuff back to life.

[@4R8YnTH3CH33F]

I've found that like a lot of games, alpha effects filling the screen absolutely murders performance. I climbed a tree on the tutorial sky Island thing and as soon as you get to the top and the canopy is semi transparent you drop to like 20fps. Don't remember it being quite this bad in BOTW, but it has been a while.

[@CaptSoban]

Transparency requires the correct draw order when rendering, they should have spent more time optimizing that area

[@mrcraggle]

I played Ravenlok on my Series S and the alpha effects on explosions absolutely tanked performance. I'm surprised when it's a small indie game when much more demanding games don't have the same issues.

[@yellowblanka6058]

@@mrcraggle Not surprising, an indie developer doesn’t have the financial, manpower or tech resources of a AAA developer.

[@leadcreekmusic]

It was at launch. The great plateau and kakariko village specifically at launch murdered framerate but it got fixed over time to where there are basically no frame drops in BOTW. the same will probably happen here

[@AngryApple]

@@CaptSoban alpha sorting can be more taxing than just to deal with overdraw, especially if you dont have any free performance to use

[@wile123456]

It's not that it fixes itself with drops. It's because it uses a double buffer vsync like most switch games. So if the game drops 2 fps to 28 fps, the vsync means it will go down to 20 fps. It's super annoying that all switch games use it. The benefit is that there is much less input lack compared to triple buffered vsync, but honestly an adaptive vsync would be best. Turning on at 30, but turning off when dropping

[@wijons522]

At least the controls remain snappy with a double frame buffer.

[@VexAcer]

Not all Switch games use a double buffer, it's mainly BOTW, TOTK, & Link's Awakening as far as what comes to my mind. Mario Odyssey doesn't for example. In New Donk City it'll drop into the 50s sometimes. If it were double-buffered it'd be crashing hard to a straight 30. That said I do believe normal V-Sync is forced onto all Switch games. I've never seen a single game with a torn frame in my years of playing the system.

[@wile123456]

@@VexAcer Well every singel switch game ive seen DF cover that uses vsync its double buffer, There are a few games that dont use Vsync at all, but ive never ever seen an adaptive sync or triple buffered game. Honestly im starting to believe its a driver/API limitation.

[@VexAcer]

@@wile123456 What are some games that don't use V-Sync? If that's the case then those should have tearing, which I've never seen on the Switch.

[@wile123456]

@@VexAcer again they are very rare, but i think some thrid party/indie games had it but i cant remember. Again double buffer vsync seems to be the norm like the early PS3 days

[@BMR86]

I love how you left the open ended question... I'm curious to see now what will Nintendo do about it, if they do anything at all 😂

[@jesusarmandoholguinsaenz7171]

I feel like doing this would absolutely tank battery, hell it already does, Totk in it's current setting already has the switch crying for mercy

[@Vendigo6666]

With 4IFIR overclocking you can get x2-x3 performance gain with the same power consumption.

[@dragofand]

This is one of the reasons I hope the switch 2 is backwards compatible. At this point, I just hope they keep incrementing on the switch, and each generation is backwards compatible (like a pc). It won't fix performance in all games, but with the increased clocks (especially with memory) it should help old switch titles like these run even better in the future.

[@AngelHerrera-et6pn]

Backwards compatibility is out of the scope for security reasons bynintendo (every single console that had this, had exploits from day zero thanks to it), so don't get your hopes up :(

[@GANONdork123]

​@Wasif Ahsan Nah, "cloud gaming" has pretty much already peaked. It'll remain a niche until US internet providers decide to bring US internet infrastructure up to modern standards, which will probably never happen. It's something that publishers and console manufacturers would love to happen, but jumping solely to streaming would cost them nearly their entire US customer base since internet speeds aren't up to snuff for game streaming for most people in the US.

[@nick15684]

@@AngelHerrera-et6pn I mean, it wouldn't be impossible or even unlikely. Every one of Nintendo's consoles in recent memory has been backward compatible except the Switch, which makes sense given that it's an entirely different form factor and had to use cartridges because it's mobile, so it's pretty likely that it could happen. Backward compatibility has nothing to do with security and has never deterred Nintendo from implementing it.

[@elctwenty1328]

@@AngelHerrera-et6pn That's because all the previous gen consoles had already been hacked at that point, and it was easy to break in through there. If we still haven't figured out a software exploit for the original switch by the time the switch 2 comes out, it being backwards compatible isn't going to make things any harder or easier.

[@dragofand]

@@elctwenty1328 Exactly. The only switches that have been cracked are the OG switch. They did something in the newer ones to prevent pirates.

[@SamuraiMerrick]

So why doesn’t Nintendo just over lock the memory for us? It can’t be that dangerous or risky.

[@kodemasterx]

I think Kakariko Village has to have coding issues, when the original 60+FPS patch dropped for CEMU, this was the only place where performance would tank any GPU.

[@totidoki05]

it's mainly a design issue, all interiors are loaded in, lots of effects and lots of places where you can see most of the houses in one shot which is a nightmare for any game, that's why places like hateno or rito village run way better, you never see the whole thing at once. And while they may have optimized the game a bit more in those areas, they have also added caves, sky islands, and the fact that most objects are physics and have the capacity to fuse together, that must be a lot more demanding for memory bandwith than original botw. they also upgraded the LOD render distance which is nice but is too much too handle in those expansive areas. I didn't go to the korogu forest though and i must admit i'm looking forward to see how that one fairs in totk

[@voicemxil]

@@totidoki05 korok forest runs much much closer to 30 in totk, only issue is the frame pacing gets a little inconsistent

[@EbefrenRevo]

Absolutely, is not a Cemu fault. Sure.

[@oranjesus49]

I think that we would have a better experience on Nintendo games if mr Iwata was alive, that man made crazy stuff in terms of coding and performance for Nintendo consoles and games, rest in peace legend.

[@goose5654]

I ended up grabbing a series s for emulation after your video on the new Xbox and homebrew. I dumped twilight princess and booted into dolphin. Consistent 30 fps makes it feel totally different from before, and the 4k upscaling isn’t bad either.

[@Procamade]

I would prefer 1080p 60fps at that point honestly

[@theEndermanMGS]

@@ProcamadeUnfortunately, there is no way to get Twilight Princess to do 60. The whole game is built around 30, so somebody would need to tear up the whole game to get it going at 60. We just got lucky with BotW since it already accommodated for dynamic frame rates.

[@Procamade]

@@theEndermanMGS Ah I see, I never tried emulating it, I just downloaded the HD version and played it on the Wii U. Still, 30 fps is perfectly playable and enjoyable

[@TheJediBendu]

Great video - I've been playing ToTK and have been a bit frustrated at the framerate issues. Otherwise it's a great game. Nice to see that overlocking can solve these issues, I am hoping that Nintendo will release an update that optimizes a few things though and will help these issues for all users.

[@SwitchUpYt]

7:55 I think ironically it did dip below 30 fps right there at the turn. It’s still incredibly impressive though. Such a small change for such drastic results!

[@cheerydownylox56]

Who’s using the switch up channel on their lunch break 😆

[@Luke-cp9cb]

No it didn’t he just paused momentarily and then moved again. You can see the FPS given by the system in the top left corner

[@ParadoxalDream]

The worst performance I got in the game is in the new place near the Zora Domain (where you first meet Sidon) When I played the 1.0 version of the game it literally froze for 2-3 seconds at a time in that area without even using Ultrahand, I was simply gliding over the area and rotating the camera.

[@SafeRemain]

Never got that bad for me

[@Alakadoof]

I had a 5+ second freeze while diving from the sky on 1.0, but haven't seen something like that after the update.

[@SafeRemain]

@@Alakadoof great signs, hopefully they'll try to improve it up to a consistent 30 fps.

[@JaidynReiman]

I had that happen at Hyrule Castle Chasm. I feel like it thought I was going down into the chasm so it started loading that, but then I went back up by climbing the side of the wall and it had to reload the ground level again. Only time I ever had that kind of problem in the game so far.

[@nick15684]

This game is practically unplayable in the 1.0 version, don't let anyone play that version, always patch to the latest version.

[@focuswest2736]

Thr fact this game has so much and It's basically running on phone hardware I give the devs huge props!

[@avasam06]

Just climb literally any tree. Idk why, there's something about having those transparent leaves right up the camera that tanks the framerate. Or scroll rapidly in your compendium. Rain is also a very bad one, but that's kindof classic particles framedrop in a lot of games.

[@Lofzy1]

I wouldn't be at all surprised if we see TOTK on Nintendo's next console. Also surprised they didn't go for a newer version of FSR. Still enjoying the game massively though.

[@bbbbbbbb429]

Doesn't Breath of the Wild also overclock the CPU and downclock the GPU during loading? Fairly certain it was added in one of the games updates, same with Super Mario Odyssey. The games use the nnSdk function "nn::apm::SetCpuBoostMode(1)".

[@ThibautMahringer]

It does

[@bubmario]

Exciting to think what a moderate spec-bump on a Switch successor can do for backwards compatible games like this - if they support it.

[@mechanicalmonk2020]

The performance problems and a broken joycon were the reasons I decided to emulate this one. Spent a whole day learning how to dump my game cart and switch keys and firmware. Good decision honestly. The game is something else entirely at a higher resolution and framerate.

[@darkwing5458]

You think anyone cares you dumped your own keys and game? You are a pirate...😂

[@officialeggland7477]

​@@darkwing5458 ah yes a pirate despite them owning the game Shut up you clown

[@aguilerajohn]

@@darkwing5458 lol emulating is a far superior experience than playing on the switch. My cart is basically a decoration at this point. I paid Nintendo, I can do whatever the hell I want. Stay pressed.

[@joesterling4299]

@@darkwing5458 Not if he dumped his own purchased game, and is using that in the emulator. No piracy there. Of course, what someone claims and what they actually do are often different things. 😉

[@nkw1985]

@@darkwing5458 - I think it's awesome, clever, and justified so speak for yourself.

[@Brekicc]

Thanks the video! I always like to watch your content, because its are simple and easy to understand them.

[@JC-qu5lv]

I was waiting specifically for this video! Thanks for doing it! I was hoping Nintendo would do some magic to bring up the specs of the chipset a little since stock it's a little under utilized still. Personally I'd be happy to trade off some battery life to lock this in a little better. Have you run any tests on the battery with it overclocked especially the memory portion? I don't need 4.5-9 hours undocked (although 3-5 is still nice).

[@MattAkiyama1]

I get 2 hours and 40 mins in handheld with ToTK on an original switch, RIP (Without overclocking that is)

[@JC-qu5lv]

@@MattAkiyama1 Yea that OG Switch battery life is rooough now....

[@cozygameplayz]

Thank you for the upload, MUG. I think it covers a rage of issues that needed to see the light of day.

[@mikeclark4480]

Awesome video ! Thanks again MVG

[@Daysleaf]

The fact that Nintendo made a 2023 huge game work on practically a mobile phone hardware from 2017 is impressive . But what's more impressive is how they didn't drop the price tag of the switch since day one .

[@Maxi006]

Man nintendo should just really enable this via a software update or something, seems like a great improvement.

[@TerranigmaQuintet]

Until someone's Switch just happens to have poor binning and overheats, and they end up getting the heat for it (pun very intended)

[@robmoye7373]

@@TerranigmaQuintet Wouldnt be any worse than the joycon drift fiasco.

[@Hansengineering]

And get murdered for battery consumption

[@blarghblargh]

@@robmoye7373 it would by definition be worse, as they don't currently have a known widespread overheating problem. you don't increase risk unless there is a benefit. they will see 0 more money from doing this overclock, but might see some cost in induced hardware problems. it would be a dumb move from a big company like nintendo, who doesn't build their brand around performance obsession or appeasing tech nerds

[@robmoye7373]

@@blarghblargh sure

[@Vayaii]

Exactly the video i was looking for since the game was relased, thanks man !

[@nathanlamaire]

Overclocking memory could be a very interesting scenario because now it doesn't get tightly gripped on the processor's fan anymore but rather the need to properly apply thermal conductors on memory chips. This type of problem exists in so early days since first AMD APUs came out, and indeed increasing memory bandwidth helped on performance the most.

[@Vendigo6666]

Overclocking memory speed and timings with the same voltage does not increase power consumption. What are you talking about?

[@AmanBhimani]

Does overlocking memory have any downsides or risk of harm to the actual board?

[@nathanlamaire]

@@Vendigo6666 did I say that overclocking memory increases power consumption? Memory chips produce heat, it's a fact for every single computer. More or less depends on the design. But if you say that increasing memory clock speed has more risks of data corruption than the contribution of heat, then it's going to be another argument.

[@nathanlamaire]

@@AmanBhimani if too much it increases the risk of data corruption and affect system stability. It also increases heat production on the chips but not much. So many of high clock DIMM RAMs will also come with heat conductor installed. The thing you see isn't just for decoration.

[@Omega_2]

The switch has 3 'profiles', if I recall, a shame we can't have a 4th one specifically for memory overclock. As always, the main risk of any OC is heat. You're gonna want to help guide cooler air to your Switch so it doesn't become BBQ, but that dock doesn't exactly help. (Thermal taco?) They should've revised the dock to include improved passive (more vent holes) & active cooling (a fan) that kicks in when it needs to bump up the mem clock. You have an entire plate of aluminum shielding inside that acts as a bit of passive heatsink, but helping that with better airflow could mitigate some of the increased thermal load from an OC (As could implementing appropriate thickness thermal pads directly onto the memory chips themselves to pass their heat to the aluminum shielding? The memory chips & shielding don't directly contact the aluminum shielding under normal circumstances) Of course, the Switch can tell when it's docked, perhaps through some future system updates it could also be able to tell if the dock would have such a thing installed(seems to know if the dock firmware can be updated or not), or if it picks it up as an older model dock, then decide if it should load that mem boost profile or not

[@joserodall7321]

At the top of temple of the wind, post-patch, the frame rate starts to tank as well. I guess it has to do with all the storm effects, the flying boats, the bird companion and the draw distances rendered at that altitude of the map

[@Koboldfunnywow]

I can't stop seeing the word MUG in your new icon. I'm havin' a real mug moment here lads.

[@Wesker3107]

Nintendo should definitely tweak the effects when activating Link's different powers. It's pretty horrid how the fps drop when using Ultra hand for example. Nonetheless, I am having fun with the game although I haven't played much yet.

[@nodros1]

I don't think they could just 'tweak' it to fix it. The powers are very demanding, grabbing and modifying physics data on potentially hundreds of objects

[@schoonerthedog]

@@nodros1 SMH, nobody reads anymore, they just want to speak… they said tweak the effects when activating. Making a pulsing wave, color filter and glowing light emitting from Links hand is a lot of effects. Honestly just the glowing hand would be enough

[@TheOfficalAndI]

@@nodros1 the fps drops even without you moving around any objects.... So it's likely the graphical effects causing frame drops.

[@ging3rbreadtiger618]

I cant believe it took me this long to finally subscribe after seeing you so much on the spawn cast. Great video. now its time to check out your back catalogue .

[@BrianJones-wk8cx]

Great investigation, didn’t realize Sys-clk allowed for higher memory clocks now, will check it out!

[@joshd108]

For my first 20 hours or so I noticed the dips every time I used any abilities, but I’m so enthralled and invested Imin the game that I don’t care or notice anymore. But if any games on my PC dip below 30 stop playing until I fix it

[@kaluimoku2467]

ABSOLUTE GAMECHANGER. Thank you for this video, because of you I bought and hacked a switch and now I can play TOTK happily. The chugs on the stock Switch really bother me and give me motion sickness or headaches so the stable base fps with your OCs are incredible!!

[@takeoh]

Love these kind of videos! Thanks MVG !

[@PoopinAndScoopin]

How were you able to crank the memory speed past 1600mhz? Even on the newest sys-clk version I only see 1600 as the max. Did you have to edit the config manually and/or train the memory for the clock increase?

[@alexbenh]

Im wondering that as well. I just installed the latest version of sys-clk and it caps out at 1600MHz for mem

[@NicolasSilvaVasault]

really pisses me off how we didn't get a next gen console with the release of totk, would have been such a success, and a proper way to play this game

[@DDT-lr3zz]

If we have longer development time of games then we should have longer lifecycle of consoles. Overwise devs shouldn't complain if a console is dragged for too long if they can't reduce the development time of their games

[@wile123456]

It's impressive that a midrange smartphone from 2015 can run a game so pretty like this

[@PurushNahiMahaPurush]

And that too with a power consumption of about 10-15W! Although ARM chips have advanced significantly since then. Nintendo really needs new hardware. This game would have looked so much better with some AA and slightly higher resolution along with better and consistent performance.

[@ollienovak1524]

What a nice & well constructed video ! Ty ❤

[@mikestockdale808]

Is this a separate plugin needed for the memory overclock? I do not think SykCLK has the ability to do memory overclock on its own.

[@bloomingtails]

RAM is the issue? That was unexpected yet I'm not surprised, the game engine has to record the last 30 seconds of every items nearby that can be interacted with Recall: positions, rotations, vectors... the RAM is constantly called and I had this theory where this was in fact the issue in a certain area of the game with 50+ apples on screen, the framerate dips yet the Korok Forest known for low framerate back in the BotW days runs without a hitch.

[@trinitybingham2406]

After seeing this and all the performance issues with so many games, it makes me really wonder why nintendo is waiting so long to release their next gen console. It seems like they've gone beyond the limitations of the machine a lot...

[@yellowblanka6058]

They’re going to wait until they’ve sold the last Zelda OLED/special console bundle they can before announcing their new console. Which, given their descending sales shouldn’t be too long.

[@trinitybingham2406]

@@yellowblanka6058 rofl you're not wrong. Push it til it breaks, and it's damn near there.

[@kzed]

@@yellowblanka6058 They've been really secretive so far, we haven't even gotten a codename yet (NX was revealed mid 2015 IIRC). I guess they don't have to tell investors that they're working on a new system because the Switch is selling just fine (although down 20% YOY), unlike the Wii U era.

[@yellowblanka6058]

@@kzed They must see the writing on the wall with the new consoles releasing a few years ago, the inevitable end of cross-gen releases coming up and their slumping hardware sales. I think ToTK is probably the last first-party “hurrah” for the Switch.

[@ilbroducciore]

If you have a 100+MM hardware userbase with the active user population actually increasing, most of your revenue being made out of the software on this platform (probably their platform with the biggest number of published titles to date), and this population clearly not being performance-oriented (otherwise they wouldn’t be playing on a Switch), why would you want to rush the process of developing another platform and risk alienating your userbase?

[@Paradigmfusion]

The Deku Tree in the Korok Forest comes to mind, youll get single digits there,

[@krum1985]

This is interesting. I think a 200MHz overclock on the memory should be fine, at least in docked mode... I think I'll look into that myself, as I play more or less exclusively in docked mode =)

[@muhammadamohsin]

Has no correlation for docked or handheld. If anything it’s a bigger benefit on handheld.

[@krum1985]

@@muhammadamohsin I was thinking of the battery drain =) But I agree that aside from the extra battery drain, which might be under 1 minute for all I know, overclocking the memory would be even more noticeable on the 720p screen.

[@Fuchsfeuer]

I don't understand why nintendo doesn't set the switch to normal operation when it's in docked mode. What a lot of people don't know is that the switch was downclocked by the house. Even in docked mode it still runs downclocked. Especially when Nintendo releases a new model, it should be more able to deliver the normal clock rate of the Tegra X1 chip. There are no heat problems either, as you can see with the cfm switches that run 'overclocked'.

[@SlartiMarvinbartfast]

Great stuff, but what happened to the large fps overlay in the latter half of the video? We can't see a nice graph of the numbers without it. You used it earlier in the video so why not use it later on too? Many people won't notice that tiny, dim fps in the top left corner. Not complaining, love your videos, but this one wasn't clear enough with the fps figures.

[@GamingRobioto]

Top left

[@kiwischolz9811]

I would have preferred the graph overlay for the whole video too. I was wondering for half of the video what I was supposed to look at until I noticed that small fps counter in the top left corner near the end. In the gameplay footage alone, I didn't even notice a before/after difference 😅 Edit: fixed typo

[@SlartiMarvinbartfast]

@@GamingRobioto I know, but I was referring to the large graphical overlay at the base of the screen which was absent in the latter half of the video.

[@picolete]

If the successor to the Switch is similar to it(being a portable able to be connected to a TV), they really need to focus on higher bandwidth, to make a real difference when the device gets energy and doesn't rely on the battery

[@RobUttley]

If the performance bottleneck is effectively in memory, does this mean that there could be software-based improvements they can possibly make, over time, to eke out better performance? Like a more optimised load schedule, or different compression techniques? It just feels like the fact that it's memory bandwidth constrained more than CPU or GPU seems like in some ways it might be a bit more 'addressable' (pun entirely intended).

[@whitefata104]

Nope lol, the software optimization already reach the limit, looks botw and totk 6yr different but yet still same perfomance issue

[@yellowblanka6058]

I would think, given 6 years of dev time, if it were something they could address in code, they would have. The Switch has always been badly memory bandwidth and to a lesser degree, CPU constrained.

[@alexbrookner5331]

Can some please explain why MVG can change the memory bandwidth to improve performance but Nintendo can’t. Am I missing something?

[@dobrozner7784]

@@alexbrookner5331 Heating and battery life concerns. The Switch is significantly underclocked compared to what the chip can do safely, but they went with lower speeds to preserve hardware integrity and so that the battery would last for more than an hour.

[@neopiru7904]

The plastic chassis would probably start to melt or memory start leaking or being corrupted after a certain time. There is a good reason the memory bandwidth is still locked. While it's doable, Nintendo would also have to change cooling and chassis for that to work, which is not gonna happen and remember every Switch iteration we had until now has different chassis.

[@cloudcultdev]

@MVG, I'm wondering if you can try running some tests on the draw distance as well? I would imagine that Nintendo is doing some interesting CPU/GPU tweaks for draw distance (like when Link is falling from the sky near the beginning of the game)? At any rate, Nintendo has put a lot of really good programming work into delivering this game....this is such a rare thing these days. Hats off to Nintendo for giving all the other studios a masterclass in how to release a game (even older generation hardware).

[@jayluck8047]

Since the Christmas morning I found my parents playing Space Invaders (they’d been up all night) on my Atari 2600 that they never got to wrapping, I’ve found all video games to be modern miracles. The only time I’ve ever complained is when I built a much needed new PC with the goal of playing GTA IV. $800 later it still didn’t perform as well as the XBOX 360 I ended up buying as well. PCs great; Consoles rock.

[@micheledelmoro5898]

gta 4 was just really bad optimized.

[@Groobl]

Running handheld mode at docked clock speeds resulted, personally, in a complete elimination of any dips. Console never got uncomfortably hot.

[@drac.96]

I'm probably going to play this on PC when I get around to it.

[@XSlimSxadyX]

Steam deck! I have a switch but I need to try out switch emulation sometime 😂

[@bobbysgirls1]

Anyone can show u a video game "review/let's play", but when a developer/enthusiast can explain how things "play-out" for multiple different players in many different experiences,that separates the content I'm ALL in for.Thank You again MVG for all you do to explain things we can all digest in a fair and honest way before spending money that sometimes can be tight right now! 🙉🙊🙈💪

[@NotoriousRawDogger]

Nintendo needs to patch this game. Dropping to low 20s with the over clock is unacceptable

[@perpetualcollapse]

This is the patched game. 1.1.0 doesn’t really fix anything lol.

[@mikeuk666]

Doesn't effect playing

[@mykal2803]

I was loving that game until I watched this video, and now the experience is ruined. 0/10 worst game all year. Thank you for saving the day.

[@JimmyMarrow]

If you have an LG OLED turn on "truemotion" Its mindblowing how much better it runs. The small input lag it causes is a non issue for me.

[@GO-tq6hs]

bro...

[@JimmyMarrow]

@@GO-tq6hs yes bro?

[@adriellnascimento528]

Your logo looks awesome now! ^_^ I would recommend tho (the animation in the video) being a little smaller. It's looking a little weird that big. Awesome video btw+

[@Pak3nuh]

Is it possible for Nintendo to release a Firmware version that has specific clock speeds for specific games? It's always preferable to optimize the game, but I guest this is already pretty well optimized.

[@illustratum42]

If they can modify the cpu clocks and gpu clocks for loading screens, stands to reason they could do the same for memory. Will they, probably not

[@Pak3nuh]

​@@illustratum42 Yeah didn't remember that. Yet I'm also sure they won't. Underclocking is safe for the device. Now overclocking is different. A conservative company would never risk the chance of having to replace devices because of this and Nintendo is not known to be unorthodox lol

[@DefineOutside]

@@illustratum42 CPU clocks are still in spec for the chip. Going beyond 1600 MHz is beyond factory spec.

[@NathanDrake5]

BoTW got the CPU boost loading with a patch, so it's not that. It's further optimization...

[@jakthebomb]

I wonder, is there harm for Nintendo to push out a system firmware + game patch that allows this Memory Overclock? If it smooths out the performance this much, I am surprised they haven't considered this as an option. Memory Overclock wouldn't kill the battery life, only issue I can see is instability and Memory Quality vs which could be overclocked vs which couldn't.

[@yellowblanka6058]

The fact that some Switches might become unstable due to the “silicon lottery” is likely why they hold off, they don’t want to have to deal with more repairs. That and the increased heat and battery usage.

[@imamalox]

It's actually possible to get 60fps on Mariko (Switch V2, Lite or OLED) hardware nowadays with the following setup: (modchip required) 1. 4IFIR overclocking suite (also shown in the video, not a big fan of it because the developers are assholes and refuse to release it on its own without adding their name and logo EVERYWHERE, but admittedly it does work really well) 2. DynamicFPS patch for ToTK, I've installed the exefs patch version 1.5.5, works with ToTK 1.2.0 but not with 1.2.1 as of right now. 3. FPSLocker target FPS set to 60, window sync set to semi. 4. In sys-clk memory set to max speed, CPU and GPU can be a bit below the 4IFIR max even (to save some power draw and lower temps) Works absolutely wonderful! The game is much more enjoyable when it runs this smooth imo. Admittedly I haven't reached Kakariko Village yet so maybe it will require all overclock settings to be maxed out when I get there, but for most of the game this setup seems to hold 60fps. I believe DynamicFPS also makes it so the game still runs normally at

[@ricolasbest6861]

Does your game run from the cartridge or digital version installed on internal flash? But I guess it won't make a difference during gameplay, it'll only affect loading time between scenes, since all game assets are in the memory.

[@street_sharq]

Great coverage

[@evedigga]

Great video MVG! I can honestly say that this is a sign of things to come with the new Switch on the horizon. Thank you sir!

[@dece870717]

It would be great if Nintendo could just come up with a patch for the game that gave you an option in the menu to allow for higher clock speeds, only allowing it while docked, and the feature could turn off if the switch reached a certain designated temperature threshold. Slap a disclaimer on it and allow the ones who want to use it to use it. But of course theres probably all sorts of reasons why they probably would never do anything like that.

[@3lH4ck3rC0mf0r7]

Whenever TotK dips in framerate, several adjustments are made. LoD is dropped, dynamic resolution and FSR kick in, and the handheld quality preset is applied. They were pretty desperate to ensure the game quickly restored its framerate. And when the waiting for vsync takes long enough, meaning the game has enough headroom, these graphical sacrifices are undone.

[@migueldelag]

I expected you to explain why nintendo doesn't just bump mem clock, i know thermals and batt life but it would be interesting to see it tested! great video

[@oranjesus49]

probably the reason why my og GC and NDS are still working, they care too much about making long life products, we live on a world of buying and discarding to get something new every few months. Nintendo maybe should change that and make better performance and shortest life consoles to match the latest hardware benchmarks.

[@ChiekoGamers]

A custom firmware is a MUST on every handheld device

[@Ex3LTheRaPiD]

need more fps in tears of the kingdom? download more memory today!

[@Xibyth]

Imagine if Nintendo would actually push a memory clock update

[@beardalaxy]

Since when could you overclock the memory? This wasn't a thing like 2 weeks ago lol. Pretty cool! I knew it was going to be a memory issue. It's pretty crazy how much 200mhz will change things. I upgraded from 2166mhz to 2666mhz on my PC recently and my frame rate literally doubled in some games lol.

[@a3rkt]

About half year with 4ifir. Then on v2, lite and oled was possible overclock mem to 1996 mhz, now my oled running on 2666 mhz and can handle Tears of the Kingdom in 1080p.

[@rkitchen69]

I've been holding out for a better powered Switch for this very reason. We really need new hardware.

[@The_Ostrich]

​@@BlackSun90 Yeah I agree, there will never be a successor to the Switch.

[@jeremyn2626]

Is this maybe something that the developers could work on for a patch? Maybe more efficient funneling of stuff through the memory? It's interesting that the Switch's memory is so "slow" and a bottleneck in a lot of cases.

[@sylverrez]

This is pretty neat stuff. I've seen that there's a 60fps patch going around now for TOTK.

[@s2601d]

Yeah and its works flawlessly docked with overclock or with original charger plugged in!

[@beardalaxy]

I'm guessing it drops resolution pretty heavily. I'm good with 900p or even 720p but any lower than that and I would rather take the 30fps.

[@TheXeroLink]

From what I've seen with no clip is that BOTW and TOTK both as re rendering the inside of the houses in the villages

[@zyxyuv1650]

I've been playing in 4K at 60 FPS with Yuzu emulator and the 60 FPS patch. No framerate drops consistent 60 fps all across the game. Sorry for keeping it real but I didn't want to ruin the experience by playing on old laggy Switch hardware. The 60 FPS patch is almost perfect just has a small bug with UI in a few places that will be fixed soon. Also the game looks WAY better on emulator in 4K. And the controls and motion feels better when it's super smooth at 60 fps.

[@2Bleicher]

Thanks that a famous KZbinr speaks about 4IFIR !!!!!! In my OLED I reach with the RAM at 2666Mhz complete table. You have several stages in the mod, so can go even higher overclock of all the components You only have to try till what stage your Switch is stable. With CPU you can reach 2397Mhz & GPU at 1305Mhz and 2666Mhz. If you alse have activated the Gobernor he regulates the frequency when needed. You also have to know that the new Zelda have already graphic mods to improve quality and a 60fps that is quite stabe, because they have disabled the double buffer...

[@Kiyuja]

TOTK seems to be one of those games where hardware power actually makes a difference and I did not expect that. Age of Calamity suffered from massive over draw, Links Awakening had streaming issues and Pokémon Scarlet has just a terrible engine. None of these games would've been fixed on a "Switch Pro"...I'm all the more curious as to what the Sucessor of the Switch can do and wether we see upgraded Switch games like maybe 1080p60 BOTW or something

[@jeveritt8398]

I hope the next Nintendo console allows for backwards compatiblilty with enhancements as digital became a much bigger focus so people have much larger libraries. I don't see it going down well if there's no option to play switch games on it. Given both the ps5 and xbox series consoles have back compat

[@Kiyuja]

@@jeveritt8398 there is actually a good MVG video from 2 months ago explaining the problem. Back Compat wont be that easy. The compiled code wont be compatible period. You'd need patches or some way of hacking into the graphics driver during calls to "enhance" games. Things like resolution and stuff are hard written into source code and even if Nintendo went for an Orin based SoC rather than Xavier, its questionable if they could emulate a full blown Switch and then increase fidelity on top, yes there are some emulators forcing Switch games to run at their highest resolution possible but that'd mean the new Switch could only go up to 1080p internally for the handful of games that had this as their target on the Switch, the rest would be some kind of upscaling solution, at worst with a filter. The whole topic is highly complex and we can only guess. Keep in mind that since 2014 Nintendo is mostly governed by financial suits rather than senior devs so its questionable wether Nintendo A: will offer hardware level back compat and B: offer it for free in the first place. They may just polish up first party titles, throw it on the eShop again for full price and call it a day, you may not even see discounts for pre owners like in the WiiU era

[@Psychx_]

Dynamically reducing the rendering resolution to counteract memory bandwidth bottlenecking is actually pretty smart. Nintendo used every trick in the book the get most out of their console. This goes as far as them having written their own GPU microcode to reconfigure parts of the fixed-function pipeline and have it perform custom blending operations… I'm still baffled that a tiny GPU with an old architecture, 2x128 shaders and no async compute can hold 30fps most of the time, considering that the game has a high geometry&terrain draw distance, transparency effects, grass, some dynamic lights and shadows, aswell as GI.

[@undinism69]

Every decent game channel, starts their video with "So, I've been playing a lot of ToTK lately". so have I! :) Fantastic game

[@RobReynolds]

Thing with over clocking is there's always a downside. I remember that God of War: Ghost of Sparta looked great on the PSP. But battery life took a real hit. Be interested to see if you've done a comparison of battery life on your standard vs overclocked Switch.

[@Jemi08]

Thing is if you dock the switch battery really isnt a concern, so they should overclock memory only on docked mode and leave handheld as is so we can at least have the option to have a smooth experience... the switch is really tarnishing nintendos reputation bc of horrible game performance

[@Jemi08]

*overclocked only to the point that it doesnt explode internally obviously

[@pengu6335]

@@Jemi08 Nintendo hasn't had good performance since the GameCube days... just saying. Also, there's plenty of well performing games out there for the Switch.

[@Jemi08]

@Pengu oh but those old games at least didnt take you out of the experience. The switch cant handle stable frames without horrid stutter on alot of third party titles (and some main ones like pkmn and zelda..) the ones that run fine, lets be honest, are either mario titles or just so niche to the point of sucking for 90% of ppl who own the switch

[@pengu6335]

@@Jemi08 I'm not defending the Switch, I'm just telling you like it is. I don't play third party games on my Switch & I play it docked 99% of the time.

[@qwoper3189]

At this point, why not just run the game on an emulator?

[@SupGuysItsFaulkFilms]

Because it’s illegal?

[@RvEllorquez]

Lol

[@Ch4nKyy]

I assume they set the clocks in a sunny and humid 35 degree celsius environment, because that is what they promised would still work.

[@TechnologistAtWork]

Please check out the Water Temple boss fight. The frames tank HEAVILY in that location.

[@rtyuik7]

on the one hand, i only noticed a few "slow-down moments" so far with my playthrough-- Kakariko and Goron City as mentioned, as well as the Korok Forest (which also had noticeable-to-me issues in BotW) will get a bit 'jittery' for about half a second, as the framerate spikes downward and bounces right back to 30... on the other hand, since the 'floor' seems to be 20FPS, which is what OoT(N64) ran, the game likely has more dips that im not even aware of... its kinda like hearing superhigh-frequency noises-- some people can hear them, some people are bothered by them...and others remain blissfully unaware

[@AcidDotDrop]

Ironcially, if Nintendo would just unlock the downclocks they've put into place (what is being reversed by these overclocking hacks) and add a slightly more capabale cooling solution, they pretty much could sell the exact same hardware as a "Switch Pro" before moving on to their new hardware. The Tegra has enough juice left to smooth out pretty much all the games in the librabry

[@alexbolt5]

Thats the the thing the switches cooling system holds the system back. As it is now its manageable but after a couple years any switch will become a toaster. Had an og switch and it would get really hot after 15 min of play but never shut off and fans stayed at regular speed. Guess I had a faulty one until I replaced it and it was the same situation the switches just seemed to run hotter back then before the chip changed. The oled holds much better but again still gets a bit warm to my liking. So the reason they haven’t really unlock the full potential of the tegra chip is due to it probably making thermal management a nightmare.

[@creatorsfreedom6734]

why is there a clock inside the nintendoe ?

[@ransacked]

LOL ain't no way you're saying using a cellphone chip that's almost a decade old now can be fixed with better cooling and higher clock speeds. Only tendies can come up with this.

[@anonony9081]

@@ransacked did you not watch the video? Overclocking gives you a decent performance boost so I have no idea what you're trying to say

[@AcidDotDrop]

@@ransacked Dude, it's literally proven in this video. Again. Time and time again MVG and many others show how the overclock to the stock levels of the tegra and some actual overclcoking of components fixes pretty much all performance issues. And if you'd look into the techncial aspects instead of acting like a console war kiddy plagued by dunning krueger, you'd even understand how an increase in clock speeds will not just have aperformance increase but affect thermals as well. I know, 1+1 is tough nowadays.

[@imSrslySerious]

I don't really mind/care about the frame drops, (although I hope they patch/fix them if possible). The only problem I have is just really an "me problem". I recently bought a new Switch, (yes, the new Zelda OLED). I transferred my profile and everything without any problems. However, now when I play in docked mode, the TV screen will go black for about 1-3 sec, and then return to normal. This happens on average 1-2 times per hour. And yes, losing about 5-6 sec of gameplay every hour is not that much, but it's still annoying. I've tried everything to fix this. * Looking in the Switch settings and changing Resolution from Automatic to 1080p. * Change RGB Range from Automatic to Full Range or Limited Range. * Having a look at all the cables. To make sure no one is bent or stuck. Also making sure they're all all the way in. * Reconnect the AC adapter & HDMI cable and restart the console. * Looking in TV settings to see if there's anything there but nothing. I have no idea why this is happening. Does it have anything to do with this being an OLED? My old normal Switch (got on release back in 2017), never had this problem. I do have two other consoles connected, (PS4 & Xbox One), as well as the Switch, but that never bothered the old Switch. The TV I have is an LG 4K 55'' Smart TV from around 2015. If anyone have had this problem and could help, please let me know! I know a comment like this is annoying and all, but I really don't know what to do here. (Also sorry for such a long text.)

[@doodlebob1144]

Breath of the wild is also overclocking its cpu for faster load times and Mario odyssey has it too!

[@marcuspatzer2392]

Nice Video 👍 Greetings from Germany ❤