Soon after the release of Nintendo Switch 2, word got out that some motherboards from the production line are up for sale on Chinese sites like Goofish. These boards are priced at about $120, as noted by HXL on X (used to be Twitter).
Photos from sellers show a big Printed Circuit Board (PCB) made up of many smaller PCBs. This setup is normal in making lots of PCBs on one big board before makers like Foxconn split them up and put together the Switch 2.
The PCBs for sale look just like the ones in the official units, with the same markers likely used in checks. The main change is that some of the metal covers over parts are missing in the ones being sold.
This situation might open up new choices for fixing. For a PCB fix or swap, Nintendo Japan asks for $175 if it's out of warranty. This makes the $120 boards from sellers a cheaper pick for those fixing their stuff not via Nintendo.
Yet, it's not clear if Nintendo checks the parts on each PCB, which might stop these third-party fixes.
The Switch 2's motherboard uses a Nvidia chip, the Tegra T239. It has 8 Arm Cortex-A78C cores and a GPU based on Ampere with 1,536 CUDA cores, possibly from the GB10. The chip uses a mix of Samsung's 8nm and 10nm tech, dated from 2020, so its making cost may not be too high.
While it’s fun to think about, putting together a working Switch 2 from these parts isn't easy due to the lack of other needed parts so soon after its launch.
Also, recent tests show the Switch 2's screen can take a lot of hits. Yet, iFixit rates its ease of repair at just 3/10, lower than the first Switch. This trend makes it hard to fix after the warranty ends or if Nintendo says no to fixing it.
