TECH NEWS – Ahead of Gamescom, Nvidia showcased how its cloud service migrated to the new Blackwell architecture, promising a major leap in performance.

The foundation of these upgrades is the Blackwell architecture, which had previously been introduced with GeForce RTX 5000 GPUs. The Ultimate subscription tier has been updated to server GPUs equivalent to RTX 5080 hardware, paired with AMD Zen 5 CPUs. This setup delivers 62 TFLOPS of computing power, a 48 GB frame buffer, and up to 2.8x performance compared to the previous generation, partly thanks to Nvidia DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation.

One of the key new features is Cinematic Quality Streaming (CQS), a suite of improvements that includes YUV 4:4:4 chroma sampling, 10-bit HDR, AV1 support with Reference Picture Resampling (RPR), and new AI-driven sharpness filters to reduce noise and artifacts, clarify HUDs, and improve DPI sensitivity. The latter is important, as GeForce Now sometimes failed to recognize the native resolution of devices (especially laptops), launching games at a lower resolution and resulting in blurrier images.

CQS makes a striking difference when enabled, particularly in highly detailed games such as Black Myth: Wukong, which supports full path tracing. Finer details like foliage and character hair are noticeably sharper, reducing one of cloud gaming’s long-standing drawbacks compared to local gaming: compression artifacts. This difference is especially visible on large 4K displays. Except for the first two CQS features, the rest will also be available on non-Blackwell servers.

Nvidia compared its service to the PlayStation 5 Pro using Cyberpunk 2077. The upgraded Ultimate tier easily handles path tracing and 4K streaming at 120 FPS. By contrast, the PS5 Pro with ray tracing struggles at 40 FPS and delivers weaker visuals. With hardware three times more powerful than Sony’s console, Nvidia boasts that its enhanced cloud service now delivers the best console-like gaming experience.

Latency, another common challenge in cloud gaming, is also seeing improvements. Nvidia servers already supported Reflex, but are now enhanced with Rivermax hardware packet control, which enables direct data transfer to and from the GPU. According to Nvidia, this ensures the best transfer speeds and lowest latency with minimal CPU usage. In recent years, Nvidia has also collaborated with ISPs to push adoption of L4S (low latency, low loss, scalable throughput), a protocol that further reduces delays in data transmission—though it requires compatible routers.

On local devices, Nvidia ensures 90 FPS streaming on the native Steam Deck app, up to 120 FPS on the Lenovo Legion Go S, and 120 FPS on LG TVs via the native app. On LG OLED monitors, resolutions of 5K@120 FPS, 1440P@240 FPS, and 1080P@360 FPS are supported. Nvidia demonstrated 360 FPS streaming with end-to-end latency below 30 ms (15–17 ms peaks), making competitive shooters viable on GeForce Now.

Support is also expanding to games with steering wheel peripherals, alongside 2,200 additional Steam titles benefiting from the new Install-to-Play feature. A limited-time trial is also available, allowing Fortnite to be streamed directly through Discord.

Nvidia already delivers the best cloud gaming experience available, and these improvements bring it even closer to traditional local play. The rollout begins next month with support for 20 games initially.

Source: WCCFTech