NVIDIA GeForce Now RTX 3080: We tried the new subscription tier for streaming gaming

NVIDIA GeForce Now RTX 3080

If we were to imagine a future, this would be in the shape of a cloud. Despite the many problems that cloud technology can have, there is no doubt that with the passing of the months and the improvement of the various services that exploit it, some immense advantages over traditional video games are emerging with increasing determination. Of course, there are still limits in connections and in the availability of titles, but the road is now cleared and the sector is undoubtedly growing.

With this we do not mean that the traditional video game will be supplanted, but only that the cloud gaming will join it taking up more and more space, gradually overcoming the resistance of the skeptics. One of the prerequisites for this to be affirmed is the quality of the games, which is why the step that is about to take NVIDIA is really important, which will soon add the RTX 3080 range to its GeForce Now service, which we tested in preview. Could this be the turning point for the perception of these services?

NVIDIA GeForce Now, how it works

The GeForce Now client NVIDIA GeForce Now is a subscription service that allows you to play in the cloud some of the titles owned on Steam, GOG, Origin, Ubisoft Connect or Epic Games Store. What does it mean? Basically, the NVIDIA client connects to those of the aforementioned stores and searches for the games in its catalog, adding them to the library. From that moment it becomes possible to play it through the NVIDIA servers regardless of whether the selected titles are installed on your hard-disk or not.

The advantages of cloud gaming are many, but they are worth remembering. Meanwhile, it allows you to play very heavy titles even on systems that are not really high end, such as office laptops or desktop PCs that are now obsolete, in addition to Macs and mobile systems. Just install the client or use a compatible browser and that's it, since basically all the system has to manage is the video stream.

Another advantage is the ability to play games on the go with unwanted titles for this area. Do you want to take Watch Dogs Legion to the bathroom? You can do this on your smartphone, suitably equipped with a dedicated controller. You don't want to be in front of the PC but want to play on the TV? You can do this too.

Playing anywhere, this is the promise of cloud gaming. In short, cloud gaming (not only that of GeForce Now, it must be said) allows for a versatility that traditional gaming systems dream of.

Finally, not to be underestimated, the fact of having immediate access to hundreds of titles without necessarily having to install them. Trust me, this is a great way to rediscover titles from the past or to experience things that were gathering dust in our accounts. Being just a click away from the game is a very strong incentive and the convenience is really great.

The GeForce Now client is very simple to use: after installation, you have to log in with your user account, then connect the stores giving access to the data. After a few seconds of synchronization, you can play. Note that even if you don't own games, GeForce Now allows you to launch some very popular free-to-play games, such as Warframe, Fortnite or World of Tanks. You can also test it even if you don't intend to subscribe, as there is a free subscription range that still gives you access to most of the basic features.

To download GeForce Now, just go to its official website and follow the instructions.

Subscription ranges

Free Priority RTX 3080 Price 0 € 9.99 € per month / 49.99 € semiannual 99.99 € semiannual Priority Standard Access to gaming servers Exclusive to RTX 3080 servers Session 1 hour 6 hours 8 hours Resolution 1080p 1080p 1440p (PC and Mac) / 4k (Shield ) Frame rate 60 FPS 60 FPS 120 FPS (1440p) / 60 FPS (4k) Adaptive Sync Yes Yes Yes Ray tracing No Yes Yes

The power of the GeForce RTX 3080

GeForce Now matters already more than a thousand titles in its public database The new range of the GeForce Now subscription, the one we had the opportunity to preview for a few days, is called RTX 3080 for a very simple reason: it allows you to play on servers equipped with video cards GeForce RTX 3080, which offer higher performance than those of other subscription ranges, also giving access to esc advantages lusivi.

In the meantime you will understand that being able to use such capable video cards, the quality of the games turns out to be much higher than the other bands: all the games run at 1440p for a maximum of 120 FPS (where possible: games with fixed resolution and framerate, like some 2D titles, of course not). Using NVIDIA Shield they can even be pushed up to 4K.

Gaming sessions can last eight hours, instead of six in the Priority range and only one hour in the free range. Plus, you get priority access to RTX 3080 servers and also a free game, which never hurts: Crysis Remastered.

The price to have all this is € 99.99 for 6 months (so € 200 per year approximately), against € 49.99 for the Priority range. We are not talking about a very cheap service, but for some types of users it could be worth up to the last euro of what it costs. In particular, those who have no plans to switch PCs soon but want to play some key titles at very high quality, which would never run properly on their system, should give it a thought. Access to RTX 3080 servers is very simple: once the subscription is activated, the system automatically selects the best server among those available. Basically there is not much else to do, apart from playing.

For our test we have chosen to focus in particular on four titles, which seemed indicative to us to verify the quality of the service, given the possibility of using them with active RTX technologies. The connection used was a TIM fiber with FTTC technology with EVDSL with speedtest results of 95 Mbps in download and 19 Mbps in upload. The PC was connected via ethernet cable.

Metro Exodus

Metro Exodus turned out to be great on GeForce Now Played on NVIDIA GeForce Now Metro Exodus turned out to be a satisfying and qualitatively superior experience . Initially we expected the 4A Games title to suffer more from the effects of streaming, instead we not only managed to play without problems, but for long stretches we almost forgot that the game was not running locally on our PC, so much the experience turned out to be fluid in every situation, including shootings.

Also, while shooting in 1440p at maximum detail, Metro Exodus never showed any sagging relative to the framerate. A note of merit also for the uploads, much faster than those of an installation on normal hard disks (on SSD, a lot depends on the model). Ergo, if you don't have a high-performance PC, GeForce Now is a really great way to enjoy this gem.

Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077 has excellent quality in the RTX 3080 range. Cyberpunk 2077 pretty much the same considerations made for Metro Exodus apply, including uploads that are much faster here. The version tested on GeForce Now is the latest in terms of content updates. The 1.31, by the way. Put bluntly, the experience proved to be flawless, with a rocky framerate, near-perfect control response and almost imperceptible input lag.

Again, streaming didn't create any graphical artifacts during more agitated situations, car races or shootings that were, allowing total immersion in the adventure. Having said that, the graphics quality of the RTX 3080 range proved to be very high, making us not regret the version installed locally, run with a 3070. In short, even with the title of CD Projekt Red we were very satisfied with what we experienced.

Bright Memory

Bright Memory is the game that gave us the most problems Of the group of titles tested with tier 3080, Bright Memory was the worst performing. It's hard to say if the reason was some drop in our connection, NVIDIA server overload during that time frame, or some inherent issue with the FYQD-Studio title, but it was the only game in which we experienced any graphical artifacts of too much, seasoned with a not excessive, but still perceptible, input lag, especially in the most agitated situations.

We still managed to play very well, in the sense that we didn't have any major problems to go on in the adventure. Unlike the other titles, however, there was a greater disclosure here that we weren't running the game locally, but in the cloud. That said, Bright Memory still turned out to be a very satisfying experience from a technical point of view, with a stable framerate and all the graphic effects activated. Despite the reported problems, GeForce Now still seemed like a great way to play it, especially if you don't have an adequate system to handle it.

Crysis Trilogy Remastered

Not even Crysis could do anything against the cloud Is Crysis running on us? Yes, it turns us on, and also very well. Indeed, they spin us, since we have tested all the games in the remastered trilogy and in all cases we were amazed by the fluidity and quality of the image, which has never betrayed us. It should be noted that Crysis 2 did not exhibit some of the problems we had detected with the locally installed version used for the review, ie it did not shoot at any time.

It would almost seem like the experience was better with Nvidia's cloud than with the game installed on the hard drive. We add that even with the Crysis the uploads were very fast, there were no graphic artifacts and the test was generally excellent, despite having the highest possible visual quality.

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