Nvidia geforce now review and gaming experience, is it better than stadia?

Do you think that in a few years we will all play through streaming ? We hope not, but there are more and more platforms of this type, it is no longer just about consuming music or video content but also games of all kinds. So we have tried Nvidia GeForce Now, a new platform where you can play with almost any type of computer or mobile as long as you have an Internet connection.

We will tell you what our experience has been on PC, although we have also tested it on Android, being available also for SHIELD TV.

What is GeForce Now

Nvidia GeForce Now is the new streaming game platform. With it we will not need to have the game installed on our system, but we will connect to a server through an application where the game will run without using the resources of our team whatever.

This means that what we will receive is the video signal for our connection, while the server hardware located in the cloud will be in charge of everything. We just have to create an account that can be paid or free, install the application and choose the title we want to play. Obviously we must have these games previously purchased, either on Uplay, Epic Games or on Steam.

Currently we will be able to play in 1080p resolution maximum and 720p minimum.

Platforms available and what each includes

At this point you will wonder what we are really paying for with a GeForce Now account. Well, nothing more and nothing less than the rental, so to speak, of a hardware that we do not have and the possibility of playing not only on our equipment, but on any other that has a connection to the network.

The game is at our expense, and we will have to acquire it on the platform in question. From the server we will link to this platform and the game will be downloaded and installed instantly on the server that will run it.

GeForce Now is available for Windows PC, Mac, Android and also Nvidia SHIELD TV, although the latter is somewhat different from the rest since we have our own account on the platform to enjoy the content on our television. Linking the platform we will have a certain series of games available in which more and more are coming. Many of them we can buy directly in the SHIELD store as you already know those who have it.

For the rest of the platforms we will have any title that belongs to us on Steam, Uplay or Epic, or Google Play for Android, with two types of subscription:

• Free: it does not cost anything per month and will offer us standard access (we suspect that in less favorable conditions) and each game session will last one hour. Payment or founders: currently on sale it costs 5.49 euros per month the first year and we will have priority access, without limit in the game session and with Nvidia RTX activated in compatible games.

Requirements of our equipment and hardware on which we play

Although it is not our team that runs the game we still need a minimum of resources on each of the platforms:

As we see the requirements are nothing out of the ordinary, and even any CPU with integrated graphics should have no major problems as long as it delivers the agreed resolution and FPS. Likewise, Internet connection is quite affordable for most, as long as it is stable and with low latency.

In the case of Android phones and devices, the game will ask or recommend the use of a controller, although the application has a simulation of the DualShock directly on the screen. The ideal will be to play it with gaming phones that have triggers on the sides, ASUS ROG Phone style , Red Magic, Razer Phone and others. Thus the experience and control will be more satisfactory.

We also find it interesting to know what is the hardware of the computer or cloud that runs the game in GeForce Now. This we will be able to know as soon as we log in to Steam once connected to the server. We go to "Help" and on the option "System information ".

As we mentioned in a news story, these servers surely, virtualized by hardware, have a peculiar Intel CC150 CPU, presumably with 8C / 16T working at 3.5 GHz, which would be an equivalent to the 9th generation Intel Core i9. To this we add 8 GB of RAM and a storage of 200 GB. The GPU in charge of dealing with the game is nothing less than a 24 GB Nvidia Tesla RTX T10-8 GDDR6 with a Turing architecture TU106 chipset with 4608 cores at 1750 MHz equivalent to an RTX 2080 Ti or so.

GeForce Now experience

After seeing the notions of how GeForce Now works, it is time to tell you about our gaming experience on both Windows and Android, so we started by installing the application, which we can download from its website. Of course the Android version will be on Google Play itself, and the SHIELD version is directly installed on the platform.

GeForce Now installation and application

As of today this application is quite brief in options, since it only has a main page where we will have our list of games that we have previously added using the search engine at the top.

The distribution is fine if we have only a few games, but we think that a distribution by categories or something like that in the library would be better for accessibility.

In addition to the account section and the form for sending comments, we find a cogwheel that corresponds to the configuration. A single page for where you can touch very few things, and all related to the network connection. Something very interesting is that we have a performance test for our connection, which will determine if we meet the requirements. Whether we meet them or not, we can play without major problems and that is what the Lord wants.

We hope that over time this application will include more options and more direct integration with other platforms. Since for now it is not possible to migrate our entire list of games from Steam, Uplay or Epic directly to it, which would be quite useful.

Windows gaming experience

After installation it is time to search for the games and add them. Obviously they must be either free games or that we have previously purchased on the specifications platforms previously. Clicking on one will take us directly to the server through a full screen connection where we will be asked for the credentials of our Steam account, Uplay or whatever.

We have tested with DOOM 2016 among others with a connection of about 48 Mbps and through Wi-Fi to complicate matters. The experience in both 768p and 1080p has been totally satisfactory, and it seems that it is indeed one or two steps ahead of Google Stadia in both game fluidity and stability. We understand that there will not be many users connected to the platform for now, but it still promises a lot.

In a capture made playing 1080p we can see that we would be getting about 120-140 FPS which is not bad, worthy even of the use of 144 Hz gaming monitors. The graphic configuration can be changed at all times in terms of quality, being in this case Ultra and under OpenGL, although the resolution will always be limited to 1080p even if we have a 4K monitor, at least it is so for now.

At no time have we seen crashes in the connection or serious lag, although we did have some slight scratches because our connection has a somewhat high latency of more than 40 ms. But the truth is that the experience is practically as if we were playing on our PC with a GTX 1060 or higher graphics card with those rates and quality.

Android experience

The Android application is similar to that of Windows although it offers a somewhat different distribution of games, although in essence it is the same and also with the option of checking our connection before running the game.

From it we can enjoy our own PC games in addition to the typical paid or free Android, since GeForce Now will link to Google Play. The system will be similar, although we will manage the interface with a virtual command superimposed on the screen or with a rather awkward, television-like mouse arrow.

In games like Fornite, which are for Android, the experience will be exactly the same as if we had the game installed on our Smartphone, handling it in the same way. While games like DOOM we do recommend playing it with a remote control or a Smartphone that has triggers on the sides to have a freer screen and be more comfortable. In any case we also have guaranteed the experience at 60 FPS or 90 FPS if our mobile supports it, without major problems with a decent connection.

Final words and conclusion about Nvidia GeForce Now

The green brand has taken a big step forward with GeForce Now, a promising streaming gaming platform.

At least that's how it is in these first bars where we have experienced correct performance and almost as if we were running the game on our own computer. Both in 720p and 1080p we have obtained a perfectly fluid image experience at 60 FPS with hardly any lag and no jerks with a 40 Mbps connection, surpassing, we believe, the Google Stadia experience.

This service does not include games, we are hiring a hardware to run the game that we have previously purchased on Steam, Uplay, Epic or other possible platforms that are added. 5.49 the first year as a launch offer is a very attractive price if we play a lot and do not have a PC with too much power. Includes priority access and unlimited sessions with 90 days of testing.

We recommend our guide to the best graphics cards on the market

There are still questions to answer, such as whether a platform of this type is a viable solution to enforce the claim that " the next generation of consoles will be the last ." We believe that networks are not yet ready to support millions of players playing simultaneously and servers running such games.

We think that the application is still too basic both in options and in integration with other platforms, being something that should be polished over time. But in summary, it is a very successful bet available for SHIELD TV, Windows, Mac and even Android. We hope it will remain as stable and smooth even after the arrival of thousands of gamers from all over the world, we trust Nvidia. Better than Google Stadia? At the moment we see that yes, the game is fluid and the graphic power is superior. It only takes time to see how these types of applications evolve.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ Stable and low lag connection	Somewhat basic applications
+ You need few resources	Games are not included in the rate, it would be good to pay a little more to have the entire catalog
+ Affordable price
+ Compatibility with quite a few platforms
+ Very easy to install
+ Surely it will be the way to play in the future anywhere in the world

Nvidia GeForce Now

GAMING EXPERIENCE

PRICE

The best alternative to Google Stadia, the big difference is that Nvidia Geforce Now works perfectly.