NVIDIA SHIELD Teardown

A fan? really? Is this why there are no tegra 4 cell phones? Call my a pessimist but shield just has fail written all over it.
 
Well how many core can you really fit into a die with out having heat issues. Having a fan I would imagine would extend the life of the product?
 
Not to mention how sweaty your hands would get holding a hot controller for hours.
 
I don't see how this...

Dawill said:
A fan? really? Is this why there are no tegra 4 cell phones?
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...leads to this.

Call my a pessimist but shield just has fail written all over it.
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Did you see the big wonkin' battery? Did you read the part about how it's said to have really good battery life? Who cares if it's got a fan if it's got the battery to keep it running?
 
Parja said:
I don't see how this...



...leads to this.



Did you see the big wonkin' battery? Did you read the part about how it's said to have really good battery life? Who cares if it's got a fan if it's got the battery to keep it running?
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Think about all the successful tablets with fans. Nobody wants a portable device that requires active cooling. I know I'm probably talking to the wrong crowd here about it, but oh well. Sure laptops right now have fans, but even those are starting to go away as things get smaller. The fan on it's own doesn't lead to the device being a failure, but I'm willing to bet this thing doesn't sell 1million units. It might break 100k, but that even might be pushing it.

Even if it didn't have a fan, I just don't see much of a market for Nvidia in this, but I could be wrong.
 
I'll repeat it again, this is the technology that should have been used for the 'steambox'. Let you bring the video, audio, and controls of your PC into the living room while leaving you gaming machine where it is. The steambox aspect is decoupled from the PC so you don't have to compromise your PC or pay through the nose for a living room friendly box. And you can upgrade your PC at your own pace to your own level of interest.
 
I don't take any particular issue with it having a fan. It's a consequence of the materials used for the enclosure and a consequence of NVIDIA not wanting to shut down the device for overheating. Most phones and tablets don't have fans, but most phones and tablets will also throw themselves into a forced idle state when they overheat. Then you're playing a waiting game for it to cool down.

When you have something that's going to be used almost exclusively for running high-end games, active cooling is a sensible thing if it's required. I find it unlikely that it's some sort of flaw in Tegra 4.
 
Dawill said:
Think about all the successful tablets with fans. Nobody wants a portable device that requires active cooling. I know I'm probably talking to the wrong crowd here about it, but oh well. Sure laptops right now have fans, but even those are starting to go away as things get smaller. The fan on it's own doesn't lead to the device being a failure, but I'm willing to bet this thing doesn't sell 1million units. It might break 100k, but that even might be pushing it.

Even if it didn't have a fan, I just don't see much of a market for Nvidia in this, but I could be wrong.
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What, specifically, about having a fan affects its potential market share?
 
This is such a gimmicky way to dump all those Tegra4 chips nobody wants.
 
I always like to see new tech dismantled. It's good info to have in case you ever need to do a repair to the same device.

As hot as my smartphone can get while running some 3d games/apps, I can't say a fan is a bad idea. It's a portable gaming device, I don't think anyone will care, as long as it's not jet engine loud :D

I do agree this would have been a very cool "steambox" device, if they would have pushed it that way, it would have probably been a great success.

The success or failure of shield is yet to be seen. I hope it does well. With future revisions and updates this could be a pretty nifty device.
 
Parja said:
What, specifically, about having a fan affects its potential market share?
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Most of the time it should be blowing air away from the user, but there are some cases where it could be annoying. Say you have your feet kicked up and your propping this thing up with your legs partially. Nice hot air blowing on you then. Or maybe I want to half bury this thing with a pillow in bed, it will overheat without proper exhaust. Who knows, it's portable handheld, I think a fan limits it. Maybe i'm a minority, but I just don't want something with a fan if it's a hand held device. Be that this, a cell phone, tablet, or otherwise.
 
SHIELD is not happy about this

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Dawill said:
A fan? really? Is this why there are no tegra 4 cell phones? Call my a pessimist but shield just has fail written all over it.
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They had the room for it. The fan allows them to do a few things here, A) keep the core cooler (thus less likely to fail) and B) overclock if necessary and use lower-bin'd chips. Not all chips will reach specified clocks, so a fan can alleviate that issue.

Now on to the thing itself. I like the fact they crammed it all into a controller.
 
I'm curious how such an obviously bad and useless device gets so much coverage.
 
Dawill said:
Most of the time it should be blowing air away from the user, but there are some cases where it could be annoying. Say you have your feet kicked up and your propping this thing up with your legs partially. Nice hot air blowing on you then.
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I think you either vastly overestimate the amount of airflow there will be coming out or you're just incredibly sensitive to the slightest air movement.

Either way, much ado about nothing.
 
These guys remind me of the stuff I used to do as a kid. Problem was I could never put the shit back together.
 
Haha that's my problem. I love taking stuff apart but I always end up destroying it, even if it appears I put it back together correctly.
 
Super-D said:
I'm curious how such an obviously bad and useless device gets so much coverage.
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Speak for yourself. I like the idea of being able to play my Skyrim with a billion mods from the couch if I feel like it. Something I certainly couldn't do with a mere console version of the game.
 
DPI said:
Speak for yourself. I like the idea of being able to play my Skyrim with a billion mods from the couch if I feel like it. Something I certainly couldn't do with a mere console version of the game.
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I would say that puts you in the small minority that is willing to waste a couple hundred dollars for such a narrowly useful gimmick. Most people would probably rather play on that nice desktop with the big monitor, better controls, and better sound system that's just in the next room.
 
Super-D said:
I would say that puts you in the small minority that is willing to waste a couple hundred dollars for such a narrowly useful gimmick. Most people would probably rather play on that nice desktop with the big monitor, better controls, and better sound system that's just in the next room.
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I have to agree with this
 
I can't believe there's a fan on this either... :eek: Even with space, adding a fan is quite an expense for manufacturing.

Even funnier to think about Nvidia trying to sell this as a cell phone chip... Can just imagine engineers reviewing the chip specs for power & cooling and going WTF?

Gotta go, my phone fan came on, can't hear you....
 
i would rather have some software from nvidia that can stream my game from desktop to laptop or tablet/ipad without a lot of lag/response time. throw this shield thing in the gutter.
 
I don't get it, what is the big deal about a fan that is off most of the time? All mobile devices generate heat upon heavy load, and most of them became uncomfortable to hold as the heat stays within the device. It is a smart thing to do to put in a small fan to keep the device cool to hold for a long period of time. How is this a fail feature?

I say the only down side in terms of build is the screen itself, they should make it detachable. I found having 2 screens displaying the same stuff distracting, waste of battery, and pointless to carry its weight when using a 60" TV as the main display. Unless games utilizes the small screen as a offscreen, it would be a downside. Another thing is gaming resolution, which has nothing to the physical build. It seems like game res are stuck with 720p on shield, which to me is a show stopper, if true.
 
ive watched the video of him moving the joystick like 200 times... it just keeps repeating and i cant look away
 
DPI said:
Speak for yourself. I like the idea of being able to play my Skyrim with a billion mods from the couch if I feel like it. Something I certainly couldn't do with a mere console version of the game.
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Yes. Why play on your desktop when you can play on a 'retinal quality' 5" screen! :rolleyes:

It looks like a cool handheld gaming device, if I were a kid I'd probably want one instead of a Gameboy or tablet. The game streaming feature seems like a waste of R&D money though.
 
I can think of a whole list of reasons this thing is going to Fail...the Fan is not even on that list. I am a little surprised to see so many people making such a big fuss over something pointless when this product has far bigger and more glaring issues.
 
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