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$6.2B in profit wasn't enough: Nvidia hikes GeForce Now prices for Canada and Europe
(www.theregister.com)
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this post was submitted on 19 Oct 2023
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I haven't done the math, but I'm actually not sure what's more expensive: Maintaining a performant desktop PC, including paying power bills, or subscribing to GeForce Now. PC parts and electricity are both pretty expensive in my country.
I'm pretty happy with the service. Can play Cyberpunk at 4k, 120 fps on a Mac Mini without noticeable lag. Only major problem is the limited amount of games supported.
Guess the cost tradeoff depends on how much you play and how updated you keep your PC. My PC can't play Cyberpunk at 4k 120fps. You must have good Internet though.
Owning a computer, especially if a desktop, makes more sense, in my understanding.
In my country, a gaming laptop is about €2500, while a decent gaming desktop starting on the €800.
Even when factoring in the energy, unless running a 1KW+ machine, 7 days a week, non stop, it still makes sense. You have your data in your machine, in your home.
These machines are a bit above decent, though. Nvidia claims gtx 4080-equivalent performance on their subscription 'ultimate' tier. Those cards alone start at the equivalent of around 1400 euros in my country (Denmark). You'd still need CPU, motherboard, storage, ram and PSU. I'm not sure exactly how the 'ultimate' servers perform in benchmarks, though. I hear their processors are relatively underpowered.
A top of the line gaming desktop here (Hello from Portugal!) and I do mean top of the line, competitive esports gaming, will cost about €3000.
But when you decompose the machine, a good deal of money goes towards fluff like rgb, rgb components, glass panel box, etc - yes, I'm judging here - that if swapped out for non flashy items can shave off €200 or more off the top.
Plus, a gaming desktop can be assembled incrementally and will usually last longer and components can be used from one machine to the next.
Given you are playing for entertainment and not prpfessionally, a machine can give you years of joy.
Sure, I get that. Also, you'll still need some sort of machine in your home to handle the streamning. And if you want to enjoy that 4k 120 fps, you'll need a monitor with at least those capabilities, as well as other peripherals. I came from an older gaming PC with a 1080 and a 4 year old Kabylake processor that MS decided wouldn't officially be supported for their latest OS anymore. Jumped on the Apple Sillicon-wagon with the Mini M1. For now, streaming works out well.
I have personally done the math for myself, and it is ultimately cheaper to subscribe to the middle tier of GFN. That was before any price hikes though, I am yet to pay or calculate the new prices, not sure when they start, but I am fairly sure it’s still cheaper at least here where I live.
In addition, it relieves a lot of stress and time spent on buying, fetching, installing and changing the thermal pastes and keeping it clean etc, as well as doesn’t contribute to the already barely tolerable heat in the summer, which high-end GPUs tend to do under stress.
All around it’s much more convenient for me, since I only need those high-end specs for gaming, and have a good light laptop setup for work and other uses.
But YMMV, of course.
Edit: We do have very affordable and fast internet here though, so that’s probably a thing not available everywhere, which would make this much less convenient. In my country, it’s not a concern even traveling.