GeForce NOW RTX Blackwell Update Enhances Cloud Gaming Experience While Latency Issues Persist

NVIDIA Enhances GeForce NOW Experience Ahead of Gamescom 2025

As Gamescom 2025 approaches, NVIDIA has made waves by announcing a significant upgrade to its GeForce NOW cloud gaming service. Starting today, Ultimate subscribers can access this latest improvement, which features new server hardware powered by the advanced RTX 5080-class Blackwell GPU and the AMD Zen 5 8-core CPU. This upgrade is now available in key locations, including San Jose, Los Angeles, Chicago, Newark, Frankfurt, Germany, and Paris, France, with plans for future expansions into more cities. You can monitor updates on these upgrades here.

Performance Boost and Enhanced Features

This hardware overhaul significantly enhances game performance, especially for titles that utilize the new RTX 50 exclusive DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation feature. A total of 23 PC games have been optimized to leverage the improved GeForce NOW capabilities, which include:

Apex Legends
Assassin’s Creed Shadows
Baldur’s Gate 3
Black Myth: Wukong
Borderlands 4
Chiaroscuro: Expedition 33
Counter-Strike 2
Cronos: The New Dawn
Cyberpunk 2077
Diablo 4
Doom: The Dark Ages
Dune: Awakening
Dying Light: The Beast
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
Grounded 2
Hell Is Us
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Mafia: The Old Country
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024
Overwatch 2
Titan Quest II
Warframe
The Witcher 3

This upgrade equates to a leap from the RTX 4080 to the RTX 5080 in desktop graphics power, and best of all, it comes at no additional cost. However, as highlighted in my coverage from Gamescom 2025, this enhancement goes beyond just hardware improvements.

Advanced Streaming Capabilities with Cinematic Quality Streaming

NVIDIA has rolled out a new Cinematic Quality Streaming (CQS) feature that allows for streaming at up to 5K@120FPS, 1440P@240FPS, or 1080P@360FPS, assuming device compatibility. CQS introduces advanced capabilities like:

YUV 4:4:4 chroma sampling
10-bit HDR
AV1 support with Reference Picture Resampling (RPR)
AI-driven sharpness filters to reduce noise and enhance clarity, particularly for in-game HUDs
DPI awareness for better user interaction

The aim of the CQS is to reduce the compression artifacts often associated with streaming. NVIDIA showcased its effectiveness during Gamescom, particularly in visually demanding titles like Black Myth: Wukong, highlighting its ability to enhance detailed elements like hair and foliage.

Testing the New GeForce NOW Features

After testing the upgraded GeForce NOW service at home, it’s clear that while CQS enhances visual fidelity, there are limitations regarding frame rates. The complete suite of CQS features is only accessible on the Cinematic streaming setting, which is capped at 60 frames per second. Users opting for Custom Mode can achieve higher resolutions and frame rates, but with a trade-off in visual quality and streaming performance, as noted by NVIDIA.

GeForce NOW settings screen showing Resolution 1920 x 1080 (16:9) and Frame rate 360 FPS.

GeForce NOW settings screen showing gameplay options with a resolution of 3840 x 2160 (16:9) 4K and a frame rate of 60 FPS.

Gameplay Experience and Latency Concerns

Despite the advancements, the experience of playing on GeForce NOW still lacks the responsiveness of local gaming setups, particularly in fast-paced titles. During testing with a display running at 120Hz or higher, while Custom Mode was preferable, it didn’t deliver a definitive edge in sharpness compared to the Cinematic setting—especially since YouTube limits its output to 4K@60FPS.

Using my 55″LG G5 OLED TV, I compared cloud gaming against local gaming on a high-end setup with a GeForce RTX 5090. Although the visual quality of CQS and the Blackwell upgrade impressively closes the gap, some softening was noticeable when gaming on the cloud. Nevertheless, the convenience of GeForce NOW stands out as a clear advantage.

Networking and Responsiveness: A Critical Examination

Latency improvements have been observed with the introduction of Rivermax-powered hardware packet pacing. However, the control responsiveness during gameplay revealed noticeable lag. My testing setup, with the nearest server located in Frankfurt—over 1250 km away—demonstrated typical network scores. Despite maintaining an impressive ping of 22 to 29ms using a wired connection, the perceived latency could be detrimental, particularly in competitive scenarios. Wireless setups would likely exacerbate these issues.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows diagnostic report on GeForce NOW shows perfect scores except 97 for Cloud Rig.

Overwatch 2 game session diagnostic report on GeForce NOW shows scores for device, uplink, network lag, packet loss, and cloud rig.

Final Thoughts

With the RTX 5080 server upgrade, NVIDIA’s GeForce NOW reinforces its position as a leader in the cloud gaming arena, accentuating its visual quality that rivals local gaming. However, challenges regarding responsiveness remain a concern, particularly for competitive gamers. While the potential benefits of the L4S protocol could reduce latency perceptions, its limited adoption means that many gamers will continue to grapple with these unavoidable physics-based hurdles. For the majority of players, especially casual gamers, the latency may not significantly detract from the experience. Additionally, GeForce NOW presents an eco-friendly alternative, minimizing both noise and energy consumption when compared to traditional gaming setups.

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