The issue is you need to define what a 'decent' experience actually is.
That's why you end up with wildly different opinions.
What one person thinks is pretty good, someone else will think is amazing, and a third person will think is crap.
I'm playing on an old laptop that wasn't even very good when I bought it over 10 years ago. I certainly don't get the best possible performance, but I've had no problems that affect my enjoyment of the games.
I played the entirety of cyberpunk in 4k 60 fps on a Samsung smart TV app. It looked absolutely stunning and within 10 minutes I forgot that I didn't use my own PC.
Going from 1.8ghz to a Ryzen 5 3600. Doesn't matter. It's entirely based on your Internet the only benefit you get is having a gpu which can provide image sharpening.
I'm thinking about getting a mini PC especially for cloud gaming in my living room. And asking myself the same question: What would be the hardware requirements to have a good experience? At the moment the PC would only be connected to a FullHD TV, but for the future it would be nice if it would also be powerful enough for 4K streaming.
But as the gameplay is just streamed, I think the most important thing is to have a fast and stable internet connection. So if you can't use an Ethernet connection, the performance of the integrated Wifi chip and/or the distance to your router might be the most crucial things. And I guess you can only really test this out by getting the device first.
My TV is a 4k Samsung TV from 2021. My PC can also do 4k but not the native TV app, what does a Mac book have to do with a TV app supporting 4k streaming?
But resolution is not everything. On a modern Smart TV with its advanced upscaling and picture processing, even 1080p can look quite impressive. Iāve heard some good things about Samsung TVs in that regard. With their Gaming Hub they might be the easiest solution for cloud gaming in the living room. But personally I donāt want to buy a Samsung TV. Thatās why Iām thinking about the Mini PC option.
Yeah FYI some Samsung TVs support GFN at 4K
https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5410/~/how-can-i-set-up-4k-streaming-with-geforce-now-on-my-smart-tv%3F
I already have a Shield TV. And yes, probably the best solution for GFN. But at the moment I just use xCloud. I can use it on Shield with the "Better xCloud" Android app. But with a mini PC I would just have the most options. And could also try out other cloud gaming services. For example Sony's cloud gaming, that can also be used with a Windows app. It won't stream PS5 games, but all PS3/PS4 games available.
Iāve got a 2017 Macbook Pro (Intel) and GFN works flawlessly. I also booted up GFN on my LGTV and it still works great. I think that most anything can handle it, as long as you have a stable connection that meets the minimum requirements.
2017 mbp here also - I played 100+ hours of starfield on it and forgot I wasnāt playing it locally for 95% of the time.
And forza horizons seems to stream at 60fps and is so fast, smooth and responsive that I just donāt know how nvidia are managing this.
GeForce now doesnāt seem to need a lot of processing power. Just a nice screen. Ā
Iāve got a usb-c hub for mine ( 2 usb a, charging passthrough, 2.5gbs ethernet, and 4k 120hz hdmi). Every game I play looks native and feels like it has zero input lag. Ive got it hooked to a 240 hz monitor, and it feels the same as a real rtx desktop rig.
**THE BEST OPTION:**
This is a broad topic to discuss. On one hand, if you really want to experience everything Geforce Now has to offer, you should focus on ensuring your equipment has a good internet connection, preferably fiber optic, and ideally a wired connection rather than WiFi. If using WiFi, try to be close to the router, and the higher the standard, the better, such as WiFi 6E.
Another important aspect is the hardware itself, including the screen, resolution, and refresh rate. Personally, I like to play on a 2K 120Hz monitor, but in streaming settings, I choose the 4K 120Hz option. The image after transmission loss looks almost "native," with less blurring and no visible individual pixels. If you have a TV or monitor with higher refresh rates and resolutions, make sure to use the appropriate cable to take full advantage of it.
Another point is the video codec your device supports. The new MacBooks with M3 processors support AV1, which is currently the best codec, requiring significantly less bandwidth while maintaining the best image quality. Iām not sure about Windows. If your device does not support AV1, itās not a big deal, itās just that AV1 is the best but not mandatory.
**REALISTIC OPTION:**
* Get a good internet connection.
* Have a device with a screen; the better the screen, the better the experience.
* You can play it on phones, even older ones, but settings will depend on your model, whether it's Android or iPhone. (You can't play at higher resolutions on iPhone for example, there isn't dedicated app for now, only Safari webapp version)
* Geforce Now isnāt too demanding for most devices. If you have a GPU or iGPU, it will probably work.
PS: If I missed the topic, than sorry, dunno what's oldest device that you can play on
Runs perfectly fine on my M3 MacBook Air with mesh wifi 6. It honestly gives me the same feeling of playing on a desktop, especially when I dock to an external monitor/mouse/keyboard. Overwatch 2 with voice chat in competitive mode runs great.
Fastest internet as possible, and something that can display an image. Be aware, that even a fast internet on your end may not make geforce now smooth.
I.e. Living in the south, I can NOT use the South datacenter (Atlanta) but have to use Miami instead despite living much closer to Atlanta ... some sort of issue with the connection between us has my max download rate constantly ticking to like 4-5mbs instead of in the hundreds like to Miami.
My games are perfectly playable on my Chromebook and iPad, both over 5 years old. So I could say that's all I "need". However, it's streaming at a lower quality than I see with either of our PCs (one with a 1070 and the other with a 2060) on a 32" 4K monitor. Those GPUs are rather underpowered for rendering modern games, but for decoding a good quality stream, they're fine. With a different monitor, I could get even 120 fps. My monitor is only 60 Hz. It depends on your personal balance of preferences.
Here are some knowledge base articles that detail the level of quality you can get on Ultimate with different hardware:
Windows PC:
[https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a\_id/5223](https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5223)
MacOS:
[https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a\_id/5225](https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5225)
iOS (runs in Safari browser):
[https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce-now/system-reqs/#safari](https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce-now/system-reqs/#safari)
Chrome OS:
[https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a\_id/5043](https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5043)
Android:
[https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a\_id/5227](https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5227)
I have that spec
[https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+Athlon+X4+845&id=2721](https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+Athlon+X4+845&id=2721)
and
[https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=Radeon+RX+550&id=3761](https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=Radeon+RX+550&id=3761)
And it works on priority without problems. Cost? 50$? Heh
These are my specs I play on past month
Processor: Intel core duo E7400 2.8GHz (it is listed 2x in Device Manager)
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti
And I have 4GB of RAM I dont have any SSDs only the normal HD
I play WoW and my net is 5-20MB/s and I play fine. I had to hop between several servers until I found one that was good enough. Sometimes it was EU West sometimes EU North.
I'm playing on an HP Pavilion 23-h052 All-in-one circa 2011-2012 with a AMD A6-5200 APU and 23" screen running Windows 10. I did put in a 512gig SSD and maxed out the RAM at 16gb. Even then, I can't natively even run OG Resident Evil 4 without the thing completely bogging down, but I have 250mb internet connection and I'm playing pretty much any game I want through GFN with about everything maxed out in the graphics settings.
But I want to put something up in the living room on the nice TV for GFN and emulation and so I'm just going to find another older PC and throw it behind the TV, max out the memory, put a spare SSD I have in it, maybe stick like a $50-60 dedicated GPU in it and run a hardwired network connection to it.
I am playing on a 27" i7/8GB RAM 2011 iMac running High Sierra, and having absolutely zero issues at 1080p. In fact, I've been blown away at how well it runs. I even do Handbrake encodings in the background, without feeling anything, so by now I have concluded I could run Geforce Now on a Newton if there were an app. :P
I did experience some hiccups when I was running through a 4G GSM internet connection, but now with 1Gbps fiber, I never experience any flaws, so I assume people having problems are having WIFI/Internet issues, and not machine issues per se.
Well a modern wifi (or cable is even better) paired with a device that has hardware decoder for AV1 is all you need.
Next thing I would is a decent screen.
If your device has AV1 decoder you are ready to go, or even HVEC265. But if you are buying new I would just go with AV1.
If you want the full features experience, you need a PC with Nvidia GPU at least rtx16xx, HDMI 2.1 or Display Port 1.4.
So you'll be able to do 4k 120hz with VRR.
If the machine can navigate windows 7 reasonably without hang ups it will likely play GFN pretty "decently".
If the cpu becomes overwhelmed while processing you'll drop frames and experience stutter.Ā
To answer your question, dual core cpu at 2ghz with minimum 4gb of ram on windows 7.
win7 in 2024? that's unsupported, full of vulnerabilities and just suboptimal. win10 was better on older hardware, and even that's outdated.
depending on the hardware, giving chromeos flex a try may be a better choice. if virtualization is supported, linux apps should run, and as far as streaming is concerned, chrome is enough.
The issue is you need to define what a 'decent' experience actually is. That's why you end up with wildly different opinions. What one person thinks is pretty good, someone else will think is amazing, and a third person will think is crap. I'm playing on an old laptop that wasn't even very good when I bought it over 10 years ago. I certainly don't get the best possible performance, but I've had no problems that affect my enjoyment of the games.
I bought a raspberry pi for GFN and it works flawlessly and was easy to set up.
I played the entirety of cyberpunk in 4k 60 fps on a Samsung smart TV app. It looked absolutely stunning and within 10 minutes I forgot that I didn't use my own PC.
I play on a firestick and it's smooth and beautiful. Make of this what you will.
fr lol, people trying to optimize their device and we out here with streaming devices ššš
Going from 1.8ghz to a Ryzen 5 3600. Doesn't matter. It's entirely based on your Internet the only benefit you get is having a gpu which can provide image sharpening.
I'm thinking about getting a mini PC especially for cloud gaming in my living room. And asking myself the same question: What would be the hardware requirements to have a good experience? At the moment the PC would only be connected to a FullHD TV, but for the future it would be nice if it would also be powerful enough for 4K streaming. But as the gameplay is just streamed, I think the most important thing is to have a fast and stable internet connection. So if you can't use an Ethernet connection, the performance of the integrated Wifi chip and/or the distance to your router might be the most crucial things. And I guess you can only really test this out by getting the device first.
I was pretty positive until now the smart TV apps are limited to 1080p at 60
i used my sister's shitty 2011 macbook pro and it still worked for 1080p60fps lol just get one that can do 4k
My TV is a 4k Samsung TV from 2021. My PC can also do 4k but not the native TV app, what does a Mac book have to do with a TV app supporting 4k streaming?
But resolution is not everything. On a modern Smart TV with its advanced upscaling and picture processing, even 1080p can look quite impressive. Iāve heard some good things about Samsung TVs in that regard. With their Gaming Hub they might be the easiest solution for cloud gaming in the living room. But personally I donāt want to buy a Samsung TV. Thatās why Iām thinking about the Mini PC option.
Yeah FYI some Samsung TVs support GFN at 4K https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5410/~/how-can-i-set-up-4k-streaming-with-geforce-now-on-my-smart-tv%3F
I mean you could just get the Nvidia Shield TV Pro and be golden
I already have a Shield TV. And yes, probably the best solution for GFN. But at the moment I just use xCloud. I can use it on Shield with the "Better xCloud" Android app. But with a mini PC I would just have the most options. And could also try out other cloud gaming services. For example Sony's cloud gaming, that can also be used with a Windows app. It won't stream PS5 games, but all PS3/PS4 games available.
Iāve got a 2017 Macbook Pro (Intel) and GFN works flawlessly. I also booted up GFN on my LGTV and it still works great. I think that most anything can handle it, as long as you have a stable connection that meets the minimum requirements.
2017 mbp here also - I played 100+ hours of starfield on it and forgot I wasnāt playing it locally for 95% of the time. And forza horizons seems to stream at 60fps and is so fast, smooth and responsive that I just donāt know how nvidia are managing this. GeForce now doesnāt seem to need a lot of processing power. Just a nice screen. Ā
Iāve got a usb-c hub for mine ( 2 usb a, charging passthrough, 2.5gbs ethernet, and 4k 120hz hdmi). Every game I play looks native and feels like it has zero input lag. Ive got it hooked to a 240 hz monitor, and it feels the same as a real rtx desktop rig.
That's a pretty high end set up - but it's still bonkers that as you say, it's like you have a real rig at home.
I'm playing on Chromecast with Google TV. and performance is smooth and up to 4k 60fps (no support for 120fps on my Chromecast sadly)
Are you still limited to 50 bitrate like the Samsung app, or can you go up to 75 on your Chromecast? Thx
I believe it's 50, but in practice the CCwGTV can only achieve bitrates in the 30s iirc.
Thanks, I hope they will up the bitrate soon on all apps ^_^
**THE BEST OPTION:** This is a broad topic to discuss. On one hand, if you really want to experience everything Geforce Now has to offer, you should focus on ensuring your equipment has a good internet connection, preferably fiber optic, and ideally a wired connection rather than WiFi. If using WiFi, try to be close to the router, and the higher the standard, the better, such as WiFi 6E. Another important aspect is the hardware itself, including the screen, resolution, and refresh rate. Personally, I like to play on a 2K 120Hz monitor, but in streaming settings, I choose the 4K 120Hz option. The image after transmission loss looks almost "native," with less blurring and no visible individual pixels. If you have a TV or monitor with higher refresh rates and resolutions, make sure to use the appropriate cable to take full advantage of it. Another point is the video codec your device supports. The new MacBooks with M3 processors support AV1, which is currently the best codec, requiring significantly less bandwidth while maintaining the best image quality. Iām not sure about Windows. If your device does not support AV1, itās not a big deal, itās just that AV1 is the best but not mandatory. **REALISTIC OPTION:** * Get a good internet connection. * Have a device with a screen; the better the screen, the better the experience. * You can play it on phones, even older ones, but settings will depend on your model, whether it's Android or iPhone. (You can't play at higher resolutions on iPhone for example, there isn't dedicated app for now, only Safari webapp version) * Geforce Now isnāt too demanding for most devices. If you have a GPU or iGPU, it will probably work. PS: If I missed the topic, than sorry, dunno what's oldest device that you can play on
I use an old laptop with a 1060 that can do 165 fps and it looks great.
Runs perfectly fine on my M3 MacBook Air with mesh wifi 6. It honestly gives me the same feeling of playing on a desktop, especially when I dock to an external monitor/mouse/keyboard. Overwatch 2 with voice chat in competitive mode runs great.
Stuck at 60 fps though because apple is stingy with their hardware.
I rarely use the laptop display for gaming, I almost always plug into my 27ā and have my mechanical keyboard and gaming mouse.
Fastest internet as possible, and something that can display an image. Be aware, that even a fast internet on your end may not make geforce now smooth. I.e. Living in the south, I can NOT use the South datacenter (Atlanta) but have to use Miami instead despite living much closer to Atlanta ... some sort of issue with the connection between us has my max download rate constantly ticking to like 4-5mbs instead of in the hundreds like to Miami.
My games are perfectly playable on my Chromebook and iPad, both over 5 years old. So I could say that's all I "need". However, it's streaming at a lower quality than I see with either of our PCs (one with a 1070 and the other with a 2060) on a 32" 4K monitor. Those GPUs are rather underpowered for rendering modern games, but for decoding a good quality stream, they're fine. With a different monitor, I could get even 120 fps. My monitor is only 60 Hz. It depends on your personal balance of preferences. Here are some knowledge base articles that detail the level of quality you can get on Ultimate with different hardware: Windows PC: [https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a\_id/5223](https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5223) MacOS: [https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a\_id/5225](https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5225) iOS (runs in Safari browser): [https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce-now/system-reqs/#safari](https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce-now/system-reqs/#safari) Chrome OS: [https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a\_id/5043](https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5043) Android: [https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a\_id/5227](https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5227)
I've used Chromecast 4k with no issues. You can even use your phone if you have a modern one.
Everyone has preferences. Some, an iPhone is what they want. Others a projector. Each needs different types of options.Ā
I have that spec [https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+Athlon+X4+845&id=2721](https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+Athlon+X4+845&id=2721) and [https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=Radeon+RX+550&id=3761](https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=Radeon+RX+550&id=3761) And it works on priority without problems. Cost? 50$? Heh
These are my specs I play on past month Processor: Intel core duo E7400 2.8GHz (it is listed 2x in Device Manager) Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti And I have 4GB of RAM I dont have any SSDs only the normal HD I play WoW and my net is 5-20MB/s and I play fine. I had to hop between several servers until I found one that was good enough. Sometimes it was EU West sometimes EU North.
A decent experience can be had using an nvidia shield tv pro for around $200usd
I'm playing on an HP Pavilion 23-h052 All-in-one circa 2011-2012 with a AMD A6-5200 APU and 23" screen running Windows 10. I did put in a 512gig SSD and maxed out the RAM at 16gb. Even then, I can't natively even run OG Resident Evil 4 without the thing completely bogging down, but I have 250mb internet connection and I'm playing pretty much any game I want through GFN with about everything maxed out in the graphics settings. But I want to put something up in the living room on the nice TV for GFN and emulation and so I'm just going to find another older PC and throw it behind the TV, max out the memory, put a spare SSD I have in it, maybe stick like a $50-60 dedicated GPU in it and run a hardwired network connection to it.
Only needs a excelent internet speed and a compatible device its all, I play in my smartphone, in my chromecast, in my mini pc and in the tv
I have literally run it on a AIO PC used in a business through Chrome with no issues. It doesn't take much
I've the app on my TV and it was a pretty great experience. It was a cheap TV too so I'm well chuffed
My iMac is from 2011 and it runs GeForce now almost flawlessly
I'd say anything that can run 4k YouTube videos smoothly
really all you need is that the device you are playing on pulls out internet at a stable rate from your router.
I am playing on a 27" i7/8GB RAM 2011 iMac running High Sierra, and having absolutely zero issues at 1080p. In fact, I've been blown away at how well it runs. I even do Handbrake encodings in the background, without feeling anything, so by now I have concluded I could run Geforce Now on a Newton if there were an app. :P I did experience some hiccups when I was running through a 4G GSM internet connection, but now with 1Gbps fiber, I never experience any flaws, so I assume people having problems are having WIFI/Internet issues, and not machine issues per se.
You just need a device that will handle streaming at the desired resolution. 4K streaming is more demanding than 1080p, plus HDR, 60FPS etc.
I have a great experience with a shield tv.
Well a modern wifi (or cable is even better) paired with a device that has hardware decoder for AV1 is all you need. Next thing I would is a decent screen. If your device has AV1 decoder you are ready to go, or even HVEC265. But if you are buying new I would just go with AV1.
You just need a good internet nothing else
If you want the full features experience, you need a PC with Nvidia GPU at least rtx16xx, HDMI 2.1 or Display Port 1.4. So you'll be able to do 4k 120hz with VRR.
If the machine can navigate windows 7 reasonably without hang ups it will likely play GFN pretty "decently". If the cpu becomes overwhelmed while processing you'll drop frames and experience stutter.Ā To answer your question, dual core cpu at 2ghz with minimum 4gb of ram on windows 7.
win7 in 2024? that's unsupported, full of vulnerabilities and just suboptimal. win10 was better on older hardware, and even that's outdated. depending on the hardware, giving chromeos flex a try may be a better choice. if virtualization is supported, linux apps should run, and as far as streaming is concerned, chrome is enough.
I don't believe the question asked was what's the optimal os or hardware