GeForce Now Ultimate: Ditching Your Gaming PC For Cloud RTX 4080 Power?
Cloud gaming's crown jewel – Overhyped Hurdle – A 2025 reality check on NVIDIA's GeForce Now Ultimate.
Hardware by Katmin on May 29, 2025
We've all heard the buzz about GeForce Now for the past few years—people have been shouting that it is the best cloud gaming service available, maybe even better than native hardware play. But like any live service with a subscription fee, things change quickly. Views from even one year ago about a live service can be grossly outdated.
The question then becomes: Should you think twice before buying GeForce Now in 2025?
Native-Like Performance
If we're just talking performance, it's easy to see where the narrative of "the best cloud gaming service" comes from. Even on the free tier, you get 1080p 60 fps gameplay that feels native.
The service automatically scales to fill your screen—whether it's a 16:10 tablet, a 19.5:9 phone, or any tall or wide laptop display—unlike other platforms that only support 16:9.
When you upgrade, things get even better. At the top end, you can enjoy 4K visuals at 120 fps (depending on the game), leveraging RTX 4080 graphics for incredible visuals, particle effects, and lighting.
Exclusive rigs should never make you queue to play. Regardless of tier, gameplay generally feels smooth and responsive—basically how you expect a game to work and feel.
The Reality of Cloud Gaming
That "most of the time" caveat matters. GeForce Now is still cloud gaming, and every negative you've heard—failures to start games, input issues, frame hitching, crashes, pixelation, artifacting, audio problems—is, unfortunately, true for some portion of users.
Even if only 1% of GFN's 20 million+ player base is affected, that's over 200,000 people experiencing those issues.
You may find games that refuse to launch due to graphics API errors, others that demand sign-in methods the platform doesn't support, or free titles that force you to navigate Steam on a touchscreen.
You might encounter full-game or service crashes, input latency, poor resolution, and more—even on gigabit broadband with sub-25 ms ping.
Pricing and Tiers Overview
GeForce Now offers an entirely free tier, but it's now ad-supported and includes queue times. You watch outdated, poorly targeted adverts, wait in line, and then enjoy a capped one-hour session (which counts adverts and queues toward your limited playtime). Above free access, there are two paid options:
Performance (£9.99/mo)
1440p @ 60 fps, RTX 2080 (sometimes RTX 3060), Ray tracing (but you'll likely switch it off), Six-hour sessions, shorter queues, no ads, 5.1 surround
Ultimate (£19.99/mo)
Up to 4K or 1080p @ 240 fps, RTX 4080 with DLSS and Reflex, HDR, 7.1 surround, eight-hour sessions, Cloud G-Sync, near-zero queues
All playtime across tiers is capped at 100 hours monthly, counting failed sessions and queues against your allowance. You can pre-purchase additional hours (15 hours for £2.99 on Performance; £5.99 on Ultimate), and up to 15 unused hours roll over to the next month.
Hidden Costs: Game Purchases and Compatibility
No games are included with any subscription. You must buy every title separately—and from the correct store. Even free-to-play games require manual installation steps. Some platforms (GOG, EA, Battle.net) have spotty compatibility; Xbox titles often require a separate Game.
Pass subscription, adding another £10/month if you want those games. In practice, you could be spending £30/month (or more) just to access specific libraries.
Service Limitations and User Experience
Beyond costs, the overall service experience presents barriers: You log in to external accounts (Bethesda, Ubisoft, Microsoft, etc.) every time you launch a game. Horizontal UI navigation can be clunky with controllers, remotes, or touchscreens.
Store compatibility is uneven—free claims on Epic, old GOG purchases, and many more remain inaccessible. NVIDIA often sells out tiers, preventing new sign-ups altogether—even for the free option.
Since 2020, access fees have jumped from £3.99 to £20/month, and NVIDIA hints at further increases, potentially reaching £50/month by 2027. All of this can undermine what might otherwise be a compelling cloud-gaming proposition.
Who Should Consider GeForce Now?
If you don't own a powerful PC (for example, if a new RTX 5090 costing £2,200 is out of reach), GeForce Now can give you access to PC gaming on devices you already own or renew your old hardware.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution, and this service might irritate you if you need seamless compatibility, guaranteed availability, and hassle-free play.
Final Recommendation
With every positive, there are multiple negatives that detract from the experience. Minor but impactful annoyances—such as queues when paying, repeated logins, store restrictions, and sold-out tiers—undermine the positives of high-end performance. If you're not already a subscriber, you cannot test for yourself right now, and if the service remains sold out, you can't even try.
When GeForce Now's free tier becomes available again, you should test it yourself. Otherwise, think twice before paying for GeForce Now in 2025—your money and time can likely be better spent elsewhere. GeForce Now is loud and in your face until you pay, but loudest doesn't always mean best.
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