Nintendo Switch Overclocking Test Reveals Huge Memory Bottleneck, as Overclocked RAM Brings Significant Performance Improvements

The Nintendo Switch console could never keep up with the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles, but a recent overclocking test conducted with a modded console highlights exactly what has held back the system the most.

YouTube user naga, who showcased in an earlier video how a modded OLED model with 8 GB of RAM runs games like Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Mortal Kombat 1, performed an extreme overclocking test using another modded OLED model with 8GB Hynix NEI RAM, highlighting how it's most definitely the RAM that is really holding back the system. Zelda: Breath of the Wild, for example, manages to run at close to 60 FPS by overclocking the RAM to 3050 Mhz. Other games, such as Hogwarts Legacy and The Witcher 3, show significant performance improvement with overclocked RAM, managing to run at higher than 30 FPS in most scenarios comfortably.

Related Story Nintendo Switch OLED Modded With 8GB of RAM Can Run Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom At 4K Resolution

Seeing how the Nintendo Switch has a massive RAM bottleneck, hopefully, Nintendo will have taken note of the issue for its yet-to-be-revealed successor. According to rumors, the console should come with 12 GB of RAM, which is a considerable upgrade over its predecessor's 4GB, although, in conjunction with the rest of the system specifications, they may not be enough to achieve performance on par with the other current generation systems. NVIDIA DLSS support, however, although likely limited to Super Resolution and Ray Reconstruction, should allow the Nintendo Switch 2 to deliver smooth 1080p gaming with ray tracing.