Nvidia Capping Monthly GeForce NOW Playtime at 100 Hours

[Unity451]

...so instead you sit in a gray office 8.5h/6 days a week instead, drive a Subaru station waggon?

False on both accounts.
I work a job that not only supports my family well but also contributes well to my community and the society at large. I'm actively involved with my church and several other non-profits in town. I spend time with my family, and I frequently meet with friends over coffee and meals. So, no, I don't have time to sink 100+ hours a month doing something imaginary.

 

[ProbablyDylan]

False on both accounts.
I work a job that not only supports my family well but also contributes well to my community and the society at large. I'm actively involved with my church and several other non-profits in town. I spend time with my family, and I frequently meet with friends over coffee and meals. So, no, I don't have time to sink 100+ hours a month doing something imaginary.

Wow, all of that and you still have time to belittle other people's hobbies on online forums! What's your time management secret?

 

[btrach144]

This kills game streaming and has caused people to lose faith in it. The streaming company has too much power over you.

 

[redheeler]

Now you can get gaming laptops and nice ones too like the Asus rog zephyrus g16 it has a nividia GTX 4060 or better graphics card and OLED screen and is thinner than a MBP , no need to build a PC.

Gaming laptops are horrible. They're loud, heavy, the battery life is trash, and they won't be as good as a mid- to high-end gaming desktop. But if someone is spending 100+ hours per month gaming and travels enough that a desktop doesn't work, you do you.

I'm pretty happy with my recent build RTX 4070 desktop when it comes to the few demanding games I've tried to run on it (I'm not a 100+ hour hardcore gamer). They look really crisp on my modified iMac 5K display too. Stray was running smoothly at full 5120x2880 on there. Good luck getting that out of a gaming laptop or streaming service.

 

[FattiesGoneWild]

Andddd they just killed the service with this announcement. These greedy pigs have no shame or care. It was already a very niche service as it is. They can’t have that many subscribers….. 🤷🏼‍♂️ Mr. CEO needs another new black jacket being Xmas time and all.

 

[Unity451]

Wow, all of that and you still have time to belittle other people's hobbies on online forums! What's your time management secret?

It's all about priorities.

 

[macfacts]

Gaming laptops are horrible. They're loud, heavy, the battery life is trash, and they won't be as good as a mid- to high-end gaming desktop. But if someone is spending 100+ hours per month gaming and travels enough that a desktop doesn't work, you do you.

I'm pretty happy with my recent build RTX 4070 desktop when it comes to the few demanding games I've tried to run on it (I'm not a 100+ hour hardcore gamer). They look really crisp on my modified iMac 5K display too. Stray was running smoothly at full 5120x2880 on there. Good luck getting that out of a gaming laptop or streaming service.

I only spoke of a gaming laptop because not everyone is confident in building a desktop gaming PC and the model I spoke of is 4 lbs, not very heavy about the same as a MBP and thinner.

 

[holmesf]

I don't think I will ever get close to 100hrs but the general direction they seem to be going is a little concerning.

I am huge fan of game streaming services. does anyone know how much it costs in energy to run a comparable gaming rig for 100hrs a month?

GeForce Now Ultimate typically puts you on a RTX 4080 equivalent (in reality it's server equipment that is slightly different, but if anything slightly better). The CPU tends to be something like AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5955WX. The total system probably uses about 750 watts. At 20 cents per kilowatt hour 100 hours would consume $15 worth of electricity.

This is why I do not blame Nvidia for capping the service. This is not like Netflix where it is possible to deliver a stream using a fraction of a watt and service hundreds of streams from one single server. There is a huge cost of electricity and equipment to delivering this service. Moreover, the data usage is higher also, up to 75mbps compared to 3 - 16mbps for streaming video.

 

[boss.king]

Those 6% of users are using a lot more than 6% of the resources

Yeah, I get that, but as it’s time-based I don’t get how this fixes it. It’s not like they’re running twice as many games per second.

 

[Spock]

Valve only has about 336 employees, surely apple can hire their own people Todo that work.

It’s not only the about the talent, it’s also the name.

 

[frogslapper]

Nvidia says that limiting playtime will allow it to provide exceptional quality and speed profit.

 

[v0lume4]

Aging out of teenage years, does not necessarily make one an adult. Don't know your specific case, but I see it all the time. That is people in their 20s, 30s and even 40s who never became an adult.

That's very kind of you to say.

 

[v0lume4]

Yeah but at that point and for this price it would make more sense to just get a PC and stream from that. It's not saving that much more, especially if you could finance it at 0% interest for a year. After that you're saving money.

I don't see this change having any substantial effect aside from making sure the service stays profitable for them from the small percentage of people making heavy use of the service.

Oh, totally. I'm not a big cloud gaming guy myself (though I've used it before and it's a great companion service when local hardware isn't available). I was just attacking the "adults don't play video games" argument.

 

[Jemorama]

Nvidia is a bit greedy on this, I do not think this is a good idea.

 

[c3dw]

Honestly if you're playing that much you have a problem and probably should be paying more. It's a fantastic platform and well worth the subscription price.

 

[MacBH928]

They work much better now, especially if you live near one of the data centers (most heavily populated regions will be near one).

On GeForce now I get about 16ms latency. That’s about 1 frame of lag. You may notice that compared to playing the game on a high end PC locally but it may actually feel more responsive than a lower end PC which could be generating frames in 30ms or more anyway.

The image quality is fantastic as they use latest AV1 codec at high bitrates and Up to 120fps.

In my opinion: game streaming is the future. The big issue they need to improve is how clunky it is to link all these game services together and to resume gaming sessions.

One thing I learned is that there is indeed data lines congestion, as more people stream 4K video+games I wonder what that means for ISP and Datacenter

 

[larrylaffer]

Yeah, I get that, but as it’s time-based I don’t get how this fixes it. It’s not like they’re running twice as many games per second.

Because the longer one person spends on the service, presumably that's one less slot that can be taken up by someone else. Assuming their internal costs to run the service are also time-based, and their revenue based on a number of people paying the monthly fee, having fewer people on average using the service at any given moment equals less internal expense and greater net profit.

 

[ds2000]

I can't fathom spending that much time every month gaming, but then again I'm an adult.

Given some games are $80+ I can understand it. I don't get much time to play these days so generally find one and stick to it, but for hardcore gamers, maybe its not a bad deal?

 

[Downhilltenago]

I can't fathom spending that much time every month gaming, but then again I'm an adult.

I agree with the adult part but a young teen or young adult could easily hit that mark.

 

[foliovision]

I agree with the adult part but a young teen or young adult could easily hit that mark.

All you can eat is not good for waist lines. All you can drink is not good for brain cells. Unlimited gaming is in the same category. 100 hours/month is a very safe limit. That would allow a student to play 20 hours per weekend, along with 5 odd hours during the week. That's plenty.

Anyone who wants to play more than that can build their own rig or pay for two accounts.

Thanks to everyone for the electricity calculations. I don't see why Nvidia should be forced to fund other people's gaming/addictions. The limit is totally reasonable, even generous (people at max are still money losers but won't sink the service).