author: Bart Swiatek
GeForce NOW - 30% Less Delay in Competitive Mode Than in Stadia
When Competitive mode is enabled, GeForce NOW streaming service offers lower latency than Google Stadia. Even with normal settings, Nvidia's solution is better than the competition. The test was conducted by the editors of GameStar.
IN A NUTSHELL:
- GeForce NOW offers lower latency than Stadia;
- Performance of Nvidia's platform is better even in Balanced mode, but when the Competitive setting is activated it leaves the competition far behind;
- The latency is low, although higher than when playing locally.
GameStar editors conducted a latency test of Google Stadia and GeForce NOW streaming services. It turns out that Nvidia's proposal can boast significantly better parameters - provided that we use the so-called Competitive mode.
Lags were measured in two games - Destiny 2 and Metro Exodus - using the modern Olympus TG-6 camera, which is capable of shooting 480 frames per second. The experts also used... a Makey Makey board, which acted as a 'controller' - due to the fact that a red light appears after it registers a user action, making is easier to see exactly when it happened. You will find the results in the table below.
Destiny 2 | Metro Exodus | |
PC (locally) | 39.5 ms | 41.3 ms |
Google Stadia (Balanced) | 95.4 ms | 100.5 ms |
Google Stadia (Restricted Data Usage) | 93.4 ms | 97.1 ms |
GeForce NOW (Balanced) | 97.8 ms | 81.1 ms |
GeForce NOW (Competitive) | 69 ms | 68.6 ms |
As you can see, Nvidia's Balanced mode performs marginally worse than Google's solution in Destiny 2 and noticeably better in Metro Exodus. However, after changing the settings to Competitive GeForce NOW leaves the competitor far behind, even if by playing on Stadia we reduce the amount of data used (which in fact does not change much in terms of recorded delay). The difference is up to 30%.
It's really impressive. It's still not the local PC level, but the difference is not great and you probably wouldn't notice it playing normally. Unfortunately, the editors also note that both platforms are unable to offer the delay presented in the table consistently. You have to be prepared for some variation. The price for high responsiveness is also image quality - in Competitive GeForce NOW mode it streams only at 720p (normally 1080p). The same is true for setting the Restricte Data Usage on Google Stadia, with Nvidia's solution offering twice the fps (120 vs 60).