Pentanet, fixed 5ghz internet ISP in Perth and also NBN reseller recently listed on ASX and also announced it will run GEForce now cloud gaming for Australia with a Perth and East coast server setup
Now I think rather than buying that 3070 or 3080 I just wait for the service to start and test it
3x boys with 3x gaming rigs. Getting expensive and dad does not have a gaming capable PC anymore… Just an M1 Apple air left ..
Thoughts
Maybe they can just use their phones for entertainment for the meanwhile?
Or maybe outdoor activities?
GeForce Now sucks, it sucked before, and it will suck in the future.
Sure, it's the best in its category. And sure there are some who are happy with it. However, its getting more and more regulated, and questionable. Getting one Home Console is the simplest option. Getting x3 Gaming PCs is the best option.
I think maybe look into buying/organising a mixed environment. Maybe get 1x PS5 with 2x Controllers. You'll need to shell out roughly AUD $50 per year, for PS+ subscription. All up that's $900 right there. And buy 1x Low-Specced Gaming PC for now. Example of a Low-Build; 1080p-level Monitor, AMD r1600, 16GB-3000, 1TB SSD, 2TB HDD, RX 470 (or better). Hopefully it would cost you under $600 price. It will play any game you want, but requires you to adjust the settings. And it can be upgraded, or replaced, in the future as well. Then when prices have settled, buy a second Gaming PC, but this time a Midrange spec. Example of a Mid-Build; 1440p-level Monitors, AMD r5600x, 16GB-3600, 1TB nVme, 4TB HDD, RTX 2070-S (or better). Hopefully this time it only sets you back $1.6k or less in price. Again, it can be upgraded in the future too.
That way the boys can verse each other on either console, or on PC. Sure, they might have to take some turns. But they won't miss out on any cool PC Game, nor miss out on any awesome Console Exclusives. If you are strategic with your parts and prices, all three boxes should retain their value for a decent length of time, and serve them well for the tasks they require. Total cost comes out to be $3,000 but like I said, start with the console first, then the low-PC, then the mid-PC….that will minimise your risk/loss of resale value.
Why are you suggesting buying PC's? Sounds like the boys have 1 each, just needing upgrades of their cards…
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/540048
Youngest boy H, 8 years, wants to play with his older brothers (11 + 10) fortnite (and a few other games) on PC. I don't want to buy another expensive gaming rig till — NAVI/Ampere and AUD/USD and Corona shortages… But him playing on an intel GPU is just excruciating to watch.
Yep, kids have PC's already
I didn't know that. OP made it sound like they wanted to buy 3x Gaming PCs.
I tried to show a way in which to proceed, to get the best bang for buck.
If they have the Dell Optiplex 9020, I'm assuming x3 of them, and they're running them with a GTX 1050 or better… well, I would say they should just stick with it for now. Not worth upgrading the dGPU with the prices this out of line. And not worth wasting time tinkering with Game Streaming, especially since we don't get Gigabit Internet like USA (rarer, more expensive) and we aren't physically located close to Nvidia's servers like USA. Game Streaming is not quite viable yet.
Yeah. 1650, 1070 and 960 OC cards installed and running !
3x PC's
But frames dropping as tech scales… And dad :( does not have a gurnsey anymore (which is rare anyway)
960 is a bit aged but the other two are still capable cards.
@FireRunner: and the PC that runs it is from 2011 build… and just well done back then, with a RAM and GPU upgrade 550 to 960 and proper Hyper DDR3 ram and the addition of a modern SSD over the years from awesome 1:1 USD ozbargain deals… oh, and a PSU replace.
That old silencio case — with its failing USB ports on the front from kids pulling earphones out sideways is a testament to good components lasting longer with good upgrade paths…. but yeah, in 2021, it is well overdue an upgrade.
GeForce Now sucks, it sucked before, and it will suck in the future.
The evidence just simply does not bear this out.
I remember when I first got into high performance computing, the entire idea of "cloud" based services was just a complete joke. Everyone from the major institutions to the smallest prop shops would have their own high performance clusters. However, as much of a joke as cloud computing would have seemed less than a decade ago, it is the de facto standard for all but the biggest institutions now.
Simply put, unless you're an ASX20 company or a university, you're probably just outsourcing your computation to AWS or the like. There are some local providers here as well (e.g. NextDC) who offer products for more latency sensitive applications. Overall, the net result is that most pay less for computation because cloud services can aggregate demand together. If everyone had to own their own servers, you'd be paying for 100% of the hardware to be used maybe 20% of the time, if even, and then, perhaps at around 30% of the capability/capacity.
At the end of the day, it may or may not be GeForce Now who becomes the biggest player in this cloud gaming market. However, they do have a leg up being backed by the largest GPU manufacturer in the world. It's undeniable that the world is moving towards subscription based services and cloud services as opposed to large outlays for assets that spend most of their time under-utilised (see music, movies, TV shows…etc.)
The writing's on the wall for individual workstations for a while now. What you'll probably have in 5 - 10 years time is just a small box stuck to your monitor with, likely, an ARM-based chip, with all complex and demanding computational tasks being outsourced to cloud services.
Again, I don't think your immediate advice is bad, nor do I disagree with the fact that GeForce Now has serious problems at the moment, but to say "it will suck in the future" is simply just a denial of the reality of where things are going.
It will suck in the future. Maybe not in 2030. But around 2025 or earlier, it's gonna suck.
Also the evidence you're basing on is either speculation, or is based on performance in another geographical market. Just try playing a multiplayer game online like Street Fighter, you will lose +80% of the matches if your latency is visually higher than your opponents.
Nvidia having a leg-up on the competition won't mean diddley, unless they have a strong network of servers in Australia for their service. Finally having "Proper NBN" (Gigabit) as it was envisioned in 2008 won't matter either if it's not accessible to your/most households, and its priced uncompetitively. These two things will take years to happen, I wished it was faster, but we are a relatively small and isolated population. I took the liberty of the assumption that the OP is looking for a solution now, and not in 2030 or beyond.
It will suck in the future. Maybe not in 2030. But around 2025 or earlier, it's gonna suck.
My point is, that's exactly what people said about cloud-based HPC just a few years ago. In 2014, AWS accounted for 4.64% of Amazon's yearly revenue. In 2020, just 6 years later, it accounts for 45% of Amazon's yearly revenue.
In other words, AWS makes up a greater market share of Amazon's revenue than their retail business. Guess what people in 2014 said about AWS, that it sucks and that it will suck. Exactly what you are saying about cloud-based gaming right now.
I know this first-hand because I lived it and saw it change how my entire industry operated. Outsourcing computing (which is exactly what gaming is) is not a new phenomena.
Also the evidence you're basing on is either speculation, or is based on performance in another geographical market.
I'm speculating, you're also speculating. Nobody knows what will happen in 2025.
Just try playing a multiplayer game online like Street Fighter, you will lose +80% of the matches if your latency is visually higher than your opponents.
I play fighting games, so I broadly agree with you here. However, you're probably picking the most latency sensitive game to make an example out of. If you're playing story driven games like Tomb Raider, Witcher, Assassin's Creed…etc. or even games like Forza…etc., then latency is no longer a massive issue.
Nvidia having a leg-up on the competition won't mean diddley, unless they have a strong network of servers in Australia for their service.
Which is already happening. NextDC is one of Australia's largest companies with a market cap of 5.31B. They operate data centres locally. You can easily imagine how a company such as this will begin to look into GPU compute as a future business.
FWIW, I'm not trying to argue with you. In many respects, I understand where you are coming from. I've been building my own computers since the 90's and I love nothing more than when it comes time to build a new computer and have my pride and joy sit on my desk. I also agree that this is a moot discussion as we're talking about something that is going to happen in the future, not right now.
However, I do disagree with the bearish view on cloud gaming. Will there be a market for local gaming PCs? Of course, just like there is still a market for powerful compute workstations now. However, the question is not what the top 5% of the market will look like, but what the market will look like at the median.
@p1 ama: Well, I never disagreed with your premise; that computation can be outsourced to servers on a network. I disagree with your assertion that it will be happening this month/years/soon, timescale. That was what you initially replied to, no?
However, I gave you the example of Street Fighter to demonstrate the challenges ahead. You can't take AWS's success, and believe the same results will pan out for another subject, or even in the same timeframe. Apples to Oranges.
On top of that, you failed to grasp the reality of the situation… that these things take time. USA benefits from being the home of these companies, having their resources so close, having a lot of money, a high population and density. In USA, cloud gaming is not mainstream. However, it is coming in the future. We are even further. How the market responds is something we cannot know until it arrives. That is all I said.
Besides, I'm pretty sure OP is not interested in waiting until 2030 to "upgrade" to Cloud Gaming from his GTX 960. They want advice for now.
Got my 3070 through PLE 2 weeks ago, waited for like 2 weeks and only $50 more than the MSRP so it was alright. I'd say get it now.
Didn't what 5G spectrum Pentanet buy the other day, it won't come into effect until the end of the year, so save till then, then buy
Yep, they just got spectrum.
Setting up towers and dealing with the provider of places to fit the towers/spectrum is a doozy (castle hill (?forgot the exact name) was bought by PE fund a few years back and it is a rort to get a few rings of antennas on their towers)
I suspect a 5G roll out - unless they partner! will take some time… If they are allowed to use Huawei - a much simpler config / smaller footprint - they may get going a lot faster.
https://youtu.be/d3dNoCRzbAs
Linus tested only just recently. Worth the watch to get an idea
Though if it's just for the kids? Eh, they can live with it until they save up for new cards…