Nvidia just locked in September 10th as the launch date for its massive GeForce Now upgrade to RTX 5080 GPUs. The cloud gaming service will deliver what amounts to a $1,600 graphics card in the cloud for $19.99 monthly, complete with 48GB of memory and DLSS 4 support that could reshape how gamers access high-end hardware.
Nvidia is about to drop the most significant cloud gaming upgrade in years. The chip giant just confirmed that its GeForce Now service will begin rolling out RTX 5080 GPUs on September 10th, bringing flagship gaming performance to the cloud at a fraction of the hardware cost. The timing couldn't be more strategic as cloud gaming fights for legitimacy against traditional console and PC gaming.
The hardware specs tell the real story here. GeForce Now Ultimate subscribers will essentially rent access to what amounts to a $1,600 RTX 5080 graphics card for $19.99 monthly, according to Nvidia's official blog post. That RTX 5080 comes loaded with 48GB of memory and full DLSS 4 support, delivering performance that most gamers couldn't afford to own outright. Industry analysts are already calling this a potential inflection point for cloud gaming adoption.
"On Wednesday, September 10th, Nvidia Blackwell RTX is coming to GeForce Now," Nvidia announced in its weekly Thursday update. "To celebrate, next week's GeForce Now announcements will come a day earlier to usher in the Blackwell era of GeForce Now." The company is clearly positioning this as more than just a hardware refresh - it's marketing the arrival of its next-generation Blackwell architecture in consumer hands.
The performance numbers are staggering for a cloud service. Users will be able to push games at 5K resolution hitting 60fps and 120fps, while competitive gamers can dial down to 1440p at 240fps or 1080p at an eye-watering 360fps. Full ray-tracing support comes standard, enhanced by Neural Rendering and Multi Frame Generation technologies that were previously reserved for the most expensive gaming rigs. Tom Warren from The Verge noted that these specs far exceed what most consumer PCs can deliver.
This move puts serious pressure on Microsoft Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and Amazon Luna, both of which have struggled to match Nvidia's raw computing power in the cloud. While those services focus on convenience and game libraries, Nvidia is betting that performance-hungry gamers will pay for premium cloud hardware. The $19.99 monthly price point remains unchanged from the current RTX 4080 tier, making this a significant value upgrade.
