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$6.2B in profit wasn't enough: Nvidia hikes GeForce Now prices for Canada and Europe
(www.theregister.com)
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
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.
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.