Nvidia’s top-end GPU might cost you over $1000 but now the graphics giant is loading RTX ray-tracing tech to its GeForce Now streaming service for $5 per month.
Forget the top one percent of the PC master race, Nvidia has thrown open the doors of top tier graphics for the masses today. The beta test for this online game streaming service has been active for some time, with around 300,000 gamers already involved. Now a full launch announcement means Nvidia is set to take on the market with an offering starting at $0. Anybody feeling flush can also add RTX tech to their package for $5 per month, via a premium service tier.
This isn’t all there is to the free and paid GeForce Now options. In a blog post over on Nvidia’s website, the hardware manufacturer detailed more about the differences
The free membership provides one-hour sessions with standard access to GeForce NOW servers. There’s no limit to the number of sessions you can play. All GeForce NOW beta members automatically have had their beta accounts converted to this free plan. Simply sign in and continue gaming.
Gamers can also upgrade to a no-wait, longer session-length premium experience. These members will enjoy priority access to GeForce NOW servers ahead of free members and extended session lengths of up to six hours. They’ll also have exclusive access to RTX content on GeForce NOW.
Nvidia’s GeForce Now service isn’t quite the same beast as Google’s Stadia. Instead of piping selections from a private library down the internet and into homes, this service allows gamers to access their own steam library. While the selection of games that run on the GeForce Now service is far from infinite, gamers who already own a title that appears on the platform can play it without having to repurchase. Anybody with an old PC, Mac, Nvidia Shield, or Android phone an get in right now and experience ray tracing for the first time. Nvidia is even adding Chromebook compatibility later this year.
We’re incredibly impressed with this offering, whether it turns out that Nvidia pull a price hike at the end of this year is another matter. The ability to add a p[owerful GPU to the gaming experience for such a low price is tempting. Still, this doesn’t give gamers access to everything they own using RTX, like Shadow’s cloud gaming desktop and it is still dependant on a decent internet connection. You can check out more about the news over at the official NVidia blog now.
