How to Overclock Your Switch: Ultimate Guide

Though Nintendo has made upgrades to the system time and again by releasing more of the console’s power, its internal Tegra X1 chip still isn’t fully optimized. This makes it harder to play some power-hungry games. As a result, gamers have found a solution. By overclocking the system, they have found a way to draw more performance out of the already amazing gaming console. So, how do you do that? In this article, we talk about how to Overclock Your Switch.

There is a homebrew tool on the internet called Sys-Click. You can find the details of the software here. Originally, its purpose was to evaluate the frequencies of the Nintendo processor. But with time, users found another function of the software. It could effectively be used to overclock the system of Nintendo Switch. It tops out the stock clocks of the Tegra X1 chips. The frequency of the GPU could be increased by 20% and the CPU by 75%.

If you are upgrading your handheld game and looking into getting a Steam Deck, we also have an overclocking guide on how to overclock that device. Not only that, but we also have a detailed comparison of which model you should buy!

Is it Safe to Overclock Your Switch?

Is it Safe to Overclock Your Switch?

In general, yes. If you follow the procedure and the steps to overclock your switch safely, then you overclocking the system is safe. You should keep in mind that as you do with overclocking your PC, a moderate overclock is best. If you push the system too far, you can experience crashes and errors, even to the point of bricking your console.

Responsibly overclock your Switch. We can show you how to overclock your Switch but we cannot prevent it from breaking or becoming useless. As with anything else you overclock, keep the throttles at a responsible rate and always keep a backup plan and back up your data before starting the process. As long as you follow the process, you should have nothing to worry about.

How to Overclock Your Switch

  1. Install Atmosphere on your Nintendo Switch. Here is the guide to downloading atmosphere.
  2. Download the Sys-click Zip file.
  3. Download the Tesla Menu and NX Ovlloader.
  4. Download the config.ini files that have preloaded clock speed settings for many switch games. As you’d want to refrain from technical stuff.
  5. Insert your Switch’s micro sd card into your pc and copy all the downloaded files to the card. While copying, keep in mind that you must copy the config.ini file inside the Sys-click folder in your switch sd card.
  6. Insert the sd card back into your switch and open it. You’ll be booted to the atmosphere. From here, any game you open will load with the set profiles from the config file. You are good to go from this point.

Additional Tips

If you want to change the app profiles and manually underclock or overclock some games, press the L button + D-pad down+ Right Joystick. This will open the menu overlay and you can find various options for the CPU and GPU speed. Also, make sure to keep your overclocking endeavors at a conservative rate. Similar to overclocking your Desktop CPU or your Mac, overclock with caution.

Conclusion

Even though the method is pretty convenient to increase the clock speed to play some demanding games like Rocket League, it still has a slight drawback. Our main concern is the battery life which seems to drain a lot faster when the GPU and CPU are clocked to their maximum speeds. However, many users have used this technique to enjoy some heavy games on the platform with some great results.

Always keep your expectation in check. You won’t be getting PS5 or Xbox One level results and frame rates, but you can expect fewer frame drops or stutters in some of your games. This could void any warranty and depend on how much you push your system, it may shorten the life of your console, but considering there are consoles still running well that were made in the 80s, we say, don’t sweat it.