Nvidia’s cloud gaming service GeForce Now offers two subscription models and a free version – Depending on the selection, you not only have less playing time, but also less power and graphic details available. As Nvidia had already announced, more computing power is now also included in Germany for the Ultimate version, as the RTX 3080 rigs are gradually being upgraded to RTX 4080 rigs. “Rig” means that the corresponding servers offer the graphics power of an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 as well as its DLSS3 features. Technically, however, these are not normal GeForce RTX 4080 graphics cards, but special server GPUs.
RTX 4080 rigs available on Frankfurt servers
how also Golem reported, this conversion has now begun – RTX 4080 rigs are already in use at the Frankfurt server hub. Nvidia currently only guarantees an RTX 3080 rig on the GeForce Now website, but promises an RTX 4080 rig if available. The Ultimate subscription costs 19.99 euros for one month – if you book 6 months directly, you pay 99.99 euros and get almost a free month (savings: 19.95 euros). With the Ultimate version, sessions of 8 hours are possible and 4K can be used as the resolution, with up to 120 FPS being offered.
For 4K at 120 FPS, you need a stable 45 Mbit/s for your internet connection. Since latency also plays an important role – see also our special on cloud gaming from last August – if you are interested, you should try the free version (session duration: 1 hour) or the priority version for one month 9.99 euros per month (or 49.99 euros for 6 months). The priority rigs offer up to full HD resolution with a maximum of 60 FPS and a session duration of 6 hours.
How does GeForce Now work?
GeForce Now is a cloud gaming service. You rent the hardware power of a server, which then runs your game. Your control commands are sent to the server via the app, the image comes as a video stream to your PC – so the latency of your internet connection is very important. Because if your command only arrives at the server 50 milliseconds later and its sent image is also delayed by 50 milliseconds at your PC, then you have a visual delay of a whole tenth of a second in the game.
In the case of GeForce Now the subscription offers the hardware and support for over 1500 games. You must own these games unless they are free-to-play titles. For example, by verifying your Steam account, GeForce Now knows that you own the game and then lists it on the server. The games are already installed on the servers. The advantages of such a cloud gaming offer are that you no longer need a gaming PC to play or storage space for the games, and the sometimes tedious installation of games and waiting for an update download before the game starts are no longer necessary.
