Nvidia GeForce Now Ultimate Review
A mighty damn fine way to stream games, albeit with a few caveats
Verdict
Nvidia GeForce Now Ultimate streaming capabilities are some of the best on the market. If your internet speed can handle it and you’re happy playing what’s available, it’s pretty much the cheapest way to experience PC games at the best performance.
Pros
- Lightning-fast streaming at 4K or 120fps
- A cheaper way to gain access to RTX 4080s
- No downloads or updates
- Works just as well on mobile as it does on PC
Cons
- A lot of recommendations/requirements to get the most out of it
- Some bugs need ironing out
- No free games outside of free-to-play
Key Features
- Support for over 1500 gamesOver 1500 games supported with new additions every Thursday
- Support for multiple platformsPlay across PC, laptop, mobile and select TVs
- Real-time ray tracing via RTX Alows you to play games with the best possible visuals, with ray tracing supported advanced lighting effects
Introduction
Nvidia, one of the best graphic card makers on the planet, entered the cloud-gaming industry in February 2020 with GeForce Now.
Made up of three tiers – Free, Priority and Ultimate – the service lets subscribers access a virtual desktop that streams directly from the US tech firm’s servers. Most notably, those on Nvidia GeForce Now Ultimate can stream from RTX 4080 gaming rigs across North America and Europe.
Made up of a library of more than 1500 games, players access games via their own library on external digital platforms, such as Steam. These can then be accessed across Windows, Mac, laptops, Chromebook, Shield TV, certain Samsung and LG TVs, iPhone, iPad, and Android devices.
It’s a wickedly fast way to play PC games at some of the highest specs, but does come with a few caveats that will prevent it from reaching the masses for the time being.
Pricing
- GeForce Now Ultimate costs £19.99/$25.99 per month
- The Priority tier is cheaper at £9.99/$13.99 per month
Nvidia GeForce Now Ultimate is available for £19.99/$25.99 per month or £99.99/$139.99 per six months, which equates to £16.67/$23.33 per month for anyone looking to save a bit of cash.
It’s certainly not the cheapest, but if you are a bonafide PC player without a souped-up rig, this could be a great option over investing thousands into your own kit. A Free tier is also available alongside a Priority tier at £9.99/$13.99 per month or £49.99/$69.99 per six months.
Games
- You need to buy games before using them on GeForce Now
- Supports more than 1500 games so far
- New games added every Thursday
An important distinction between Nvidia GeForce Now Ultimate and other services such as Xbox Game Pass, is that subscribing to the former does not grant you access to a library of games. You only get the capability to stream your already purchased games through the cloud by signing up to GeForce Now.
Sadly, GeForce Now won’t work with every single game in our library. However, at the time of writing, it supports more than 1500 games (100 of which are free-to-play like Apex Legends, Fortnite, Rocket League etc.) with new titles added every Thursday. Nvidia GeForce Now utilises your game library across Steam, the Epic Games Store and Ubisoft.
A lot of major releases are included but not all of them, so it’s best to check when purchasing a game if you want to take advantage. The full list can be found on Nvidia’s website.
It’s also rare for a brand new game to become available on GeForce Now. That said, the likes of Baldur’s Gate 3 and Starfield are already supported, which is very impressive.
Performance
- Supports up to 4K at 60fps
- Requires at least 45Mbps for best performance
- Cloud performance is fantastic
Capable of 4K resolution at 60 frames per second or 1440p at 120fps, GeForce Now Ultimate packs one hell of a punch. In general, I’m mighty impressed by its capabilities. It’s lightning-fast, and able to load into a game within 30 seconds flat. I never experienced any queues during my playtime either.
Having tested it out on the likes of Apex Legends among others, the fast-paced battle royale shooter coped seamlessly over the cloud, never feeling inadequate to keep up with the game’s competitive requirements.
There are plenty of options to customise your needs and data usage, something that will no doubt be the biggest hurdle for many.
This is split into Balanced, Data Saver, Competitive and Custom with Nvidia aiming to use approximately 10GB per hour. There are resolution upscaling options too.
GeForce NOW Ultimate requires at least 45Mbps for 4K at 120fps with a recommended hardwired Ethernet connection or a 5GHz wireless router. Many people, like me, are fully wireless with a standard router, so this doesn’t apply.
My internet speed is 67.9 Mbps (about the UK’s average) and I found no hitches. It was smooth sailing, a rare occurrence for cloud streaming from my experience. Playing on Android was similarly great, being able to pick up with my save for Atlas Fallen in all its open-world glory without any issues
Software
- Limited to 8-hour game sessions
- Will be logged off after 8 minutes of inactivity
- A few bugs when syncing games from storefront libraries
Nvidia GeForce Now Ultimate’s software is a bit disjointed. Once everything is set up, it’s better but it does have some minor frustrations. People who like to play extended sessions will need to be aware that sessions are limited to eight hours before being booted out, though a timer does appear to forewarn (more importantly so you don’t forget to save). Logging you out after eight minutes of inactivity is also a bit ridiculous.
The syncing process lets you connect to your game library across various storefronts. When I did this for Steam it would not recognise my account and due to being connected to a previous storefront for the account I was using, it would not desync.
A quick Google search revealed this to be a bug that can only be fixed by jumping into a game you don’t own. You then log out of your Steam account and sync. This again didn’t take until about half a dozen tries. I also experienced a blank screen quite frequently when exiting a game, only able to get out by opening the Task Manager and ending it there. I noted these to the Nvidia support team that is found within the application, but didn’t hear back before publication. Going off others’ comments online, I could be waiting a while.
Aside from that, the storefront does have a slick, modern layout. It just would be better if there was a way to enable downloads via the store and be clearer about what licences for games you own. A good few times I jumped into games thinking I owned them only to find out I don’t, only to leave me on a blank storefront and having to restart the software over again.
Latest deals
Should you buy it?
If you want to get the most out of PC gaming on a budget
GeForce Now Ultimate offers 4K at 120fps without the need to spend upwards of £1000/$1000, giving subscribers exclusive access to the power behind RTX 4080s.
You need to play all games on launch
With only specific games available as part of the subscription (and you need to buy them too), GeForce Now Ultimate is not for anyone who likes to play the latest releases on day one.
Final Thoughts
Nvidia GeForce Now Ultimate is a technological marvel for cloud gaming. The ability to stream in 4K effortlessly either at home or on the go has never been easier, as long as you have the internet capability and specific games ready to play.
If Nvidia can nail down a few of the software bugs and offer a little more incentive for those on a budget then this could be a real competitor to the general PC gaming landscape. I’m genuinely impressed by how uncompromised of a gameplay experience this is and would definitely consider Nvidia GeForce Now Ultimate before investing in a rig that will become outdated in a few years.
How we test
We test every video game streaming service we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Played multiple games on the service.
Tested the cloud streaming feature on average UK broadband connection.
Tested all available settings.
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FAQs
GeForce Now Ultimate offers a subscription-based plan at either £19.99/$25.99 per month or £99.99/$139.99 per six months.
GeForce Now supports over 1500 games, however, they need to be pre-purchased through your own digital library on Steam, Epic and/or Ubisoft. Certain free-to-play games like Fortnite and Rocket League are included.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
