Nintendo Switch 2 Shows Power Edge in Engadget Steam Deck Comparison
An Engadget comparison finds the Switch 2 generally outperforms the Steam Deck, especially docked, while the Steam Deck offers a faster CPU and more memory.
In handheld mode, the two systems' GPU performance is closely matched: the Switch 2 tops out at about 1.71 TFLOPS, compared with the Steam Deck's 1.6 TFLOPS. When placed in its dock, the Switch 2's GPU can draw up to 3.7 TFLOPS, enough to output 4K gameplay on a TV. The Steam Deck does not gain extra performance when docked.
The Steam Deck, however, has a CPU clock speed of up to 3.5GHz for its AMD Zen 2 chip, far ahead of the 1.1GHz clock on the Switch 2's ARM Cortex-A78C processor. The Switch 2's CPU has eight cores, twice as many as the Steam Deck's four. The Steam Deck also has 16GB of unified memory versus the Switch 2's 12GB, but the Switch 2's more modern ARM architecture helps it remain competitive.
Engadget says Switch 2 games are generally better optimized because developers can target a fixed platform, while the Steam Deck must handle PC games designed without its hardware in mind. Nvidia's DLSS upscaling gives the Switch 2 a major edge, enabling titles like Cyberpunk 2077 to reach 1080p when docked and supporting ray tracing in games such as Star Wars Outlaws. The Steam Deck lacks dedicated ray-tracing cores, making the feature severely hurt performance.
On price, the Switch 2 costs $499. After Valve increased Steam Deck prices by as much as $300, a 512GB OLED Steam Deck now sells for $789, and the 1TB model costs $949, more than a PS5 Pro. Frequent Steam sales may partially offset the hardware cost over time.