GeForce NOW Native on Steam Deck: Setup & Efficiency Suggestions

GeForce NOW is now natively out there on Steam Deck and Linux. Right here’s find out how to set up it, optimize efficiency, and unlock its full potential.

Nvidia’s cloud gaming service, GeForce NOW (GFN), is coming natively to Steam Deck and Linux at this time.

On this information, we’ll stroll you thru the setup course of, cowl all of the necessities, and share the very best tweaks to get essentially the most out of your GFN expertise on the Deck.

The longer term seems to be shiny

Again at Gamescom a number of years in the past, I had a personal assembly with an Nvidia rep. I didn’t count on that assembly to flip my entire gaming setup on its head. Cloud gaming wasn’t a lot of a factor but, and the concept that I might at some point ditch my high-end PC, lower energy prices, and skip lengthy downloads felt means too good to be true.

Quick ahead to at this time, and I can say that I haven’t touched a high-end gaming PC for over a 12 months, and I don’t miss it. Positive, I’m fortunate to have a PlayStation 5, a Steam Deck, and some different handhelds, however the truth that I can take pleasure in PC gaming at 4K 120 FPS with the press of a button, assuming the web is quick sufficient, nonetheless amazes me.

Till lately, taking part in Nvidia’s cloud service on the Steam Deck meant utilizing a browser or some third-party app, which was primarily only a wrapper for the net model. That answer wasn’t terrible, nevertheless it capped video games to 1200p and 60 FPS. Plus, it didn’t reap the benefits of the Steam Deck OLED’s key options like HDR or the upper refresh fee. The brand new native GeForce NOW app adjustments all of that, and it’s an enormous improve.

I by no means anticipated GFN’s 120 FPS streaming to work natively on the Deck, because the OLED display screen is capped at 90 Hz. Even when docked to a big 4K show, you’d run into limitations as a result of lack of HDMI 2.1 and help for top refresh charges at full resolutions, to not point out the absence of Variable Refresh Price (VRR). That’s why I used to be so stunned over the previous few weeks to find that you should use GFN’s “Adaptive Sync” to take pleasure in video games capped at 90 FPS on the OLED’s native 90 Hz display screen.

But, Nvidia avoids overhyping its service on Valve’s handheld: Official advertising and marketing solely mentions battery financial savings of round 50 p.c. In actuality, I skilled playtimes reaching shut to 6 or seven hours whereas gaming within the cloud. 

So right here’s my trustworthy take: don’t sleep on this. So long as your web connection holds up and delivers at the very least 25Mbps persistently, GFN has the potential to breathe new life into Valve’s now three-year-old handheld.

Setup of GeForce NOW on Steam Deck

As promised, I’ll get you up and working rapidly and supply an summary of the simplest tweaks to benefit from each the service and the Deck’s capabilities. The set up course of is simple, so first issues first:

1. In Recreation Mode, press the STEAM button, select Energy, and Swap to Desktop
2. In Desktop Mode, open an internet browser (which typically will probably be Firefox) and head to: https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce-now/obtain (this hyperlink continues to be propagating)
3. There, you may both choose “First steps on Steam Deck” or scroll all the way down to the Gaming Handhelds space, and choose Obtain beneath.
4. As soon as downloaded, shut the net browser, open Dolphin, and head into the Downloads listing.y
5. Copy “GeForceNOWSetup” to your Steam Deck’s Desktop, then run it from there by double-clicking on it.
6. As soon as the automated setup course of finishes, you may Return to Gaming Mode by way of the Desktop’s shortcut.
7. In Recreation Mode, hit STEAM, head into your Library, and then you definitely’ll discover the brand new GFN entry below the  NON-STEAM tab.

In idea, try to be good to go, however we wouldn’t name ourselves ‘overkill’ if we didn’t go the additional mile.

Finest Settings for GeForce NOW on Steam Deck

To get essentially the most out of GFN on Deck, we have to apply a handful of tweaks.

First, we have to determine on a goal framerate. Whereas pushing previous 60 FPS is feasible, it’s not precisely set-and-forget, particularly on a handheld that’s continually on the mercy of various web speeds and connection stability.

Begin by ensuring you are linked to a 5GHz WiFi community. With out it, you’ll probably run into larger ping, lag, and rubberbanding. Fortunately, GFN’s efficiency interface makes it straightforward to identify when that occurs, as proven right here:

Once you begin the app for the primary time, after you log in to your NVIDIA GeForce account, open the higher left burger menu after which proceed as follows:

1. Open Settings, then head into Gameplay.
2. Set the Decision to both 1280×800 (16:10) or 1920×1200 (16:10), with the latter providing a sharper total picture.
3. As for the Body fee, both choose 60 or 120 FPS, relying in your connection. Take into accout: 60FPS tends to be extra secure.
4. Change Max bit fee from Auto to Customized and add 5 Mbps to the pre-applied baseline, so at e.g. 800p at 60 FPS, I recommend 25 Mbps.
5. Go away VSync at Adaptive and allow HDR, in the event you like. Vital: The stream tends to finish up a bit darker with HDR enabled.
6. For Colour precision on an OLED Deck, choose 10-bit and depart Regulate for poor community circumstances off, in case your bandwidth permits.
7. It’s additionally extremely really helpful to test “In-game settings” on the backside of this listing, as this may forestall setting overrides.

(All of these settings are accessible by means of GFN’s in-game menu, so don’t fear about evaluating them later throughout gameplay!)

Now alter the Fast Menu to assist cut back enter latency and let NVIDIA’s adaptive VSync do its job. For those who beforehand set the cloud service to 120 FPS, make sure that to pick out both 60 FPS or 90 FPS right here.