NVIDIA GeForce NOW just received its biggest upgrade ever. After teasing from NVIDIA and a preview post by the company, NVIDIA announced the rollout of RTX 5080-class SuperPODs. Those SuperPODs are AI supercomputing solutions that can scale to thousands of GPUs.
To play with RTX 5080-class performance, you’ll need to be an NVIDIA GeForce NOW Ultimate member. The price of the membership remains $19.99 despite the significant performance improvements.
The jump to Blackwell graphics brings significant improvements, including gameplay at up to 5K resolution at 120 FPS. It also adds support for NVIDIA DLSS 4 Multi-Frame Generation and AI enhancements. A new high-performance mode delivers up to 360 FPS gameplay and 240 FPS at sub-30-millisecond low latency.
Cinematic-Quality Streaming mode is also made possible by the RTX 5080-class servers that power NVIDIA GeForce NOW. That mode makes text sharper, colors richer, and scenes clearer. It utilizes AI sharpening as well.
The NVIDIA Blackwell RTX servers raise the performance ceiling on several devices, including PCs, Macs, and Chromebooks. NVIDIA specified that LG TVs will be able to stream games at 4K at 120Hz. Those using NVIDIA GeForce NOW on a Steam Deck will hit frame rates of up to 90 FPS.
Install-to-Play
Install-to-Play is a new feature that expands the cloud library of NVIDIA GeForce NOW by an additional 2,200 Steam titles, bringing the total count to over 4,500. Install-to-Play uses cloud storage to allow games to be installed directly through the cloud.
After linking your Steam account to NVIDIA GeForce NOW, your supported games will sync automatically.
Ultimate and Performance members will have 100GB of single-session storage included with their memberships. Persistent storage can be added through add-ons:
- 200GB for $2.99 per month
- 500GB for $4.99 per month
- 1TB for $7.99 per month
When the games are installed on the cloud, they can launch right away without a player needing to download or reinstall the game. If you use single-session cloud storage, you’ll need to download the game each session.
As a reminder, GeForce NOW already supported Ready-to-Play games that can launch instantly. The new Install-to-Play feature relates to games from your Steam library.
Hands-on with NVIDIA GeForce NOW
Our colleagues over at TechRadar went hands-on with the new RTX 5080-class upgrade to NVIDIA GeForce NOW. Thanks to the upgraded servers, streamed gameplay approaches that of natively rendered titles on powerful PCs.
“In short, GeForce Now feels as close to native gameplay as you could imagine, with very little latency and input lag disrupting gaming fluidity,” said TechRadar’s Isaiah Williams.
“The same applies when enabling Frame Generation in-game, and I was concerned this could be problematic – but thanks to the high base frame rates of the RTX 5080, using the frame rate boosting tech isn’t an issue.”
Using NVIDIA GeForce NOW on one of the best gaming handhelds also has the benefit of longer battery life. Since the heavy lifting is done on a server, it saves your handheld from carrying a power-hungry load.
Tom’s Guide also went hands-on with the upgraded NVIDIA GeForce NOW and specifically focused on the experience when using a variety of internet connections.
“RTX 5080-class performance”
The main takeaway from today’s news is that NVIDIA GeForce NOW can hit new levels of performance, visual clarity, and latency. How NVIDIA improved the experience is interesting as well.
If you read through NVIDIA’s blog post, you’ll see the phrase “RTX 5080-class performance” several times. What you won’t see is NVIDIA claim there is an RTX 5080 sitting around waiting for you to connect to the streaming service. Rather than having a building full of consumer RTX 5080 graphics cards, NVIDIA has Blackwell RTX servers in several countries to power the experience.
The end result is still dramatically improved gameplay and an expanded feature set for NVIDIA GeForce NOW.
