NVIDIA GeForce Now: 6 Device Settings & Network Tips For Best Possible Gameplay

Game streaming services have allowed people without access to expensive gaming PCs to experience high-end PC gaming on much cheaper hardware or to bring their games on the go. One of the best game streaming services is NVIDIA GeForce Now. It offers multiple plans, with an Ultimate tier priced at $20 a month that gives users remote access to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080-class rig with frame rates up to 240 frames per second (FPS). It's not a cheap subscription, but access to premium for around the cost of a Netflix subscription is an eyebrow-raising deal, and even the cheaper $10 tier provides access to decent quality streaming at 1440p.

However, the main weakness of game streamers like GeForce Now is that, since the games are being rendered remotely and transmitted to your device from a data center, gameplay quality can be incredibly unstable. It's common to suddenly encounter game-ruining input lag, lost frames, or decreased resolution, which can ruin the experience of story-based games or cost you the win in a competitive title. It's important to make sure your device settings and network conditions are optimized so that you can play your games with the full quality you're paying for.

In this article, we'll go through some of the most impactful things you can do to make your gaming experience the best it can be when streaming from GeForce Now. From tips to optimizing your internet connection to device settings that will keep everything running smoothly, here are the settings and steps you can take for the best possible GeForce Now gameplay.

Because GeForce Now streams games from a remote gaming PC, it doesn't require the device you use it on to have high-end hardware. Even a Chromebook supports game streaming from GeForce Now and other platforms. The most important computer hardware on your end won't be your processor, RAM, or even your GPU, but rather your display. The factor you'll be most limited by is actually your internet connection.

NVIDIA recommends an internet connection with speeds of at least 15Mbps for 720P resolution at 60 frames per second and 25Mbps for 1080p at 60 FPS. However, for the Ultimate tier described above, which unlocks 4K resolutions at up to 120 FPS or 1080p at 240 FPS, it is recommended to have 45Mbps for 2K resolution at 120 FPS, though, of course, a better connection will lead to even better results.

When it comes to peripherals, like mice, keyboards, or controllers, you should use wired accessories, not Bluetooth. This is because you will already have some level of input lag thanks to the remote nature of the platform, so adding more latency from Bluetooth can make the issue even more apparent.

The monitor you use is the most important component of your streaming hardware because, aside from your internet connection, it's your biggest bottleneck. You need a display that's equipped with the specs you want to stream at. For example, if you're a GeForce Now Ultimate subscriber and want to play games in 4K at 240 FPS with HDR enabled, you'll need a monitor with a 4K resolution, a 240Hz or higher refresh rate, and HDR capabilities.

The most important factor when it comes to games streaming performance is your internet connection. You're playing remotely from a computer in a data center somewhere, which could be thousands of miles away from you. Your input from a keyboard or controller is sent to that remote rig, and then the resulting gameplay footage is sent back to your screen. How long the input takes to reach the remote gaming rig and how long the rig takes to send back footage depends on how robust your connection is.

There are a few things you can do to make sure your connection is suitable, beginning with making sure that the device you're using to stream games is connected to your Wi-Fi's strongest signal band. Most modern Wi-Fi routers have both a 5GHz band and a 2.4GHz band, with the former being the fast connection meant for computers, tablets, and other data-heavy devices, while the latter is slower but has a longer range and is meant for smart home devices and other gadgets that are constantly connected but don't use much data. 5GHz is the preferred option for games streaming on GeForce Now.

Checking which connection you're on is a bit different depending on if you're using Windows, MacOS, Android, or iOS. Generally, the page that displays details about your current network connection will tell you which band you're connected to. You may see your network's 5GHz and 2.4GHz bands listed separately in the list of available Wi-Fi networks.

Another Wi-Fi tip that can help your GeForce Now play sessions go smoothly is to disconnect as many other devices as possible from the network before you play. Think of your household Wi-Fi bandwidth like a pie, with each device connected to it taking a slice. Some devices, such as computers or smart TVs, take big slices of Wi-Fi pie, while others, such as smart light bulbs, take tiny slivers. Your games streaming is taking a big slice, so you want to make sure that other data-hungry devices aren't eating at the same time. You should especially disconnect devices that are far away from your router, since they put more of a strain on the network. Additionally, you can try moving close to your Wi-Fi router, where the signal will be at its strongest since it isn't going through walls or floors.

Of course, there are plenty of situations when this won't be possible, like if you're streaming games over a cafe's public Wi-Fi. However, you can still try to find a cafe with fewer people working in it, which will mean your device has less competition for the bandwidth it needs to stream games in the highest quality. Or, you might have roommates who wouldn't appreciate being told to put their devices away just so you can go flawless in "Marvel Rivals." Another solution could be to stream at odd hours when others aren't using the Wi-Fi. This is an especially effective strategy while staying at a hotel, where you may not be able to adjust your router and are often competing with other guests for a share of the bandwidth.

Even better for games streaming than an optimized Wi-Fi connection is a wired internet connection via an Ethernet cable. Wi-Fi is a wonderful technology, but your signal can get sluggish as it passes through walls or as it interacts with other wireless signals floating around in your environment. A wired connection is the fastest, most reliable form of household internet connection and, therefore, the best choice for streaming games on NVIDIA GeForce Now or other game streaming services.

If you're using GeForce Now on a laptop, there's a good chance you've got an Ethernet port built right into your device. However, many slim and light laptops, such as MacBook Air models, as well as most smartphones, tablets, and handheld gaming PCs, have their Ethernet capabilities folded into the USB-C connector. You will need to find a USB-C to Ethernet cable or use a USB-C dongle that has an Ethernet port. Simply connect the Ethernet cable to your device, and it should automatically prioritize that connection. If, by some fluke, your device doesn't automatically use the Ethernet connection, you can switch off Wi-Fi to try and force it over or try rebooting the device.

With all that said, most modern Wi-Fi connections are fine for game streaming. However, if you experience input lag, dropped frames, or low streaming resolution while using NVIDIA GeForce Now, you should try using a wired connection as it will provide more stability and fewer external factors to control for. If you need more information, check our guide on choosing the right Ethernet cable for your computer.

Even when you have a superb internet connection for streaming games from NVIDIA GeForce Now or other platforms, you need to make sure that it can take full advantage of that connection. Despite the fact that the game is actually being rendered remotely, app performance can increase slightly when GeForce Now has access to more system resources. This can be especially true on less powerful hardware, where simply running the GeForce Now app could be a large burden, especially in tandem with other software. And even on powerful hardware, other apps and programs can slurp up data that would be better used by GeForce Now. In order to facilitate the best experience, it's a good idea to close as many other programs as possible.

Some of the most resource-hungry apps on your device may include internet browsers, photo or video editors and other professional software, communications platforms, and so forth. Apps that use the internet are the most important to close out of. Closing apps gets even more important when you're playing a multiplayer game and chatting with your teammates on Discord, especially if you're using a relatively low-powered device such as a Chromebook.

While NVIDIA GeForce Now allows subscribers to play games on remote rigs with up to a GeForce RTX 4080 GPU, that doesn't mean you should max out all the settings in every game you play. If you're playing on lower-end hardware  — especially if your display has a lower resolution or refresh rate than the game is capable of  — you should turn down the in-game graphics to match the capabilities of your device.

For example, if you're playing on an iPhone 16, which has a display capped at 60 Hz, you don't need to crank refresh rates higher than that in your game (there's some debate as to whether slightly higher frame rates than the display is outputting are good or bad, but these conversations relate to locally rendered games, not streamed titles). To continue with the same example, an iPhone 16 has a 2K resolution, so that's what you should set the game's resolution in line with. However, turning down the settings you don't need will also free up resources on NVIDIA's remote rig, meaning you can devote that computing power to cranking up ray tracing or other settings.

The mobile NVIDIA GeForce Now app has a number of settings that can impact the moment-to-moment experience you have while streaming games. By default, the app claims to provide a balance between connection stability and performance. However, one size does not fit all, and you can dial the settings in further to customize them for your needs.

The most important tool is the bit rate slider, which you can unhide by scrolling down on the main settings page and setting the Max bit rate to Custom. This will affect your overall experience rather than any one spec. A lower bit rate will make everything feel "low quality," while a higher one will make things feel more pristine. However, cranking the bit rate too high for your connection will result in issues like stuttering. You should adjust this slider if you find your connection is too low quality or unstable, using trial and error to figure out which setting enables the best balance of quality and stability for your gameplay.

The app also has resolution and refresh rate settings. You should make sure these are also in line with your device specs by heading into Settings > Streaming Quality, turning all available toggles to Custom, and matching the settings to your device's specifications. On the desktop version, there are extra options if you have a display that can reach high refresh rates or QHD or higher resolution. There is also a toggle that will apply your GeForce Now settings to all your games. If you enable it, you'll lose custom settings from game to game, but it can be useful if you don't want to go through each game to optimize each one individually.

If you're running GeForce Now on a device with hardware that can support it, such as a Windows computer, you'll have access to even more settings that can help you get the best streaming performance. This is where it becomes important to know that GeForce Now works either at 4K or 240 FPS, but not both at once. If your hardware is capable of both, you'll need to choose one. Under the Streaming Quality section of app settings, choose custom, then click Details. If you set the resolution to 1080p or below, you will unlock 240 FPS, and if you choose any resolution above, you will be capped at 120 FPS.

If your monitor supports it, the variable refresh rate setting can be enabled. This requires a GeForce Now Ultimate membership, a G-Sync or G-Sync compatible monitor, as well as an NVIDIA GeForce Graphics card and G-Sync enabled in Nvidia Control Panel. You may also see a toggle for NVIDIA Reflex, a technology that optimizes the graphics pipeline for lower latency and could help boost responsiveness for cloud gaming. Next, the option for HDR will show up in the custom quality settings if you have an HDR monitor with the feature turned on. As for the Color Precision option, 10-bit is best, but you can stick with 8-bit if the higher precision causes lag. Enabling L4S can also help, as this setting helps optimize your network to reduce packet loss.