Not Dead Yet: Google Stadia 2020 Review & Latency Benchmarks for Game Streaming
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Date: 2020-08-03
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Comments and reviews: 10
Jimster480
The controller setup with a desktop problem is because of the desktop being wired. I had the same issue with pairing while wired. Even if I used my pixelbook and used an Ethernet adapter I would then run into the same problem. If both devices are on the same wifi though; the pairing seems to work first time on any of my devices (I have tried it on 4 devices now).
As far as the 4K support on desktop; I went to go check my Stadia Pro while watching this video and.... 4K only works if you have VP9 decoding support in Chrome. This means you need to have a modern Intel CPU (Kaby Lake or better?) and/or a modern GPU (since my Vega56 doesn't have VP9 and neither does my RX470)..
Also the computer you are playing Stadia on makes a big difference. My pixelbook for example cannot play Stadia without lag even while all other tabs are closed and the Pixelbook is wired in to Ethernet with an adapter.
Over wifi it lags harder (especially after 5 minutes or so) likely due to boost clock and wifi chip heat.
IMHO this defeats alot of the purpose of stadia if it will not actually run properly on lower end devices.
I am set to test it again this week with a new Atom X5 mini PC that I received for testing through Amazon. I will be seeing if I can get a lag-free experience on that mini PC through one of my TV's. As currently the only system to play Stadia without any lag is my Ryzen 9 3900x, 32GB 3600Mhz CL 16, Vega56 (V64 VBIOS & UV & OC) Triple 4K workstation machine...
All my laptops have lagged, and when I tried with the chromecast I couldn't even get it working properly...
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The controller setup with a desktop problem is because of the desktop being wired. I had the same issue with pairing while wired. Even if I used my pixelbook and used an Ethernet adapter I would then run into the same problem. If both devices are on the same wifi though; the pairing seems to work first time on any of my devices (I have tried it on 4 devices now).
As far as the 4K support on desktop; I went to go check my Stadia Pro while watching this video and.... 4K only works if you have VP9 decoding support in Chrome. This means you need to have a modern Intel CPU (Kaby Lake or better?) and/or a modern GPU (since my Vega56 doesn't have VP9 and neither does my RX470)..
Also the computer you are playing Stadia on makes a big difference. My pixelbook for example cannot play Stadia without lag even while all other tabs are closed and the Pixelbook is wired in to Ethernet with an adapter.
Over wifi it lags harder (especially after 5 minutes or so) likely due to boost clock and wifi chip heat.
IMHO this defeats alot of the purpose of stadia if it will not actually run properly on lower end devices.
I am set to test it again this week with a new Atom X5 mini PC that I received for testing through Amazon. I will be seeing if I can get a lag-free experience on that mini PC through one of my TV's. As currently the only system to play Stadia without any lag is my Ryzen 9 3900x, 32GB 3600Mhz CL 16, Vega56 (V64 VBIOS & UV & OC) Triple 4K workstation machine...
All my laptops have lagged, and when I tried with the chromecast I couldn't even get it working properly...
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Muhammad
I am a Stadia founder, when last year Steve made the original video in which he was hating on Stadia and broke open the controller, I kinda considered him a snob and probably left a dislike on that video.
However it's 2020 and last month I just built my first computer! (Ryzen 7 3700X) And yes, I watched a lot of Gamer's Nexus videos before deciding on all the parts.
I intend to start gaming this month (Video editing etc is my priority but gaming is a sweet sweet bonus). No I didn't move over to PC cos I hate Stadia, in fact I wanted one for like more than a decade, just couldn't afford a good one so never got one. Anyway, I guess I'll now finally become a PC gamer again. (used to play games on my father's pc as a kid but for the most part nothing seriously AAA or competitive except for maybe CS 1.6)
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I am a Stadia founder, when last year Steve made the original video in which he was hating on Stadia and broke open the controller, I kinda considered him a snob and probably left a dislike on that video.
However it's 2020 and last month I just built my first computer! (Ryzen 7 3700X) And yes, I watched a lot of Gamer's Nexus videos before deciding on all the parts.
I intend to start gaming this month (Video editing etc is my priority but gaming is a sweet sweet bonus). No I didn't move over to PC cos I hate Stadia, in fact I wanted one for like more than a decade, just couldn't afford a good one so never got one. Anyway, I guess I'll now finally become a PC gamer again. (used to play games on my father's pc as a kid but for the most part nothing seriously AAA or competitive except for maybe CS 1.6)
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Alan
The amount of uneducated comments in every single Stadia article is depressing. I've just come from showing my brother in law Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Destiny 2 running lag free on my Galaxy S20 & Razer Kishi over WiFi and then I see the comments here, smh. Had a good laugh at the comment stating it runs better now that the player base has dropped significantly! Like, seriously? Player base has INCREASED over time, the improvements come from Google as they get a handle on a constantly evolving platform. I dunno, there's always going to be Trolls out there, I know that, but it's still depressing. For anyone in doubt, give it a go, first month of Pro is free and you get a lot of free games with it to try out.
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The amount of uneducated comments in every single Stadia article is depressing. I've just come from showing my brother in law Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Destiny 2 running lag free on my Galaxy S20 & Razer Kishi over WiFi and then I see the comments here, smh. Had a good laugh at the comment stating it runs better now that the player base has dropped significantly! Like, seriously? Player base has INCREASED over time, the improvements come from Google as they get a handle on a constantly evolving platform. I dunno, there's always going to be Trolls out there, I know that, but it's still depressing. For anyone in doubt, give it a go, first month of Pro is free and you get a lot of free games with it to try out.
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Islam
I would believe if a competitive online game claimed having especiall netcode or negative latency which is technically possible using WW time system built in the game. It is possible for the game to send player inputs along with time of it as a data so that game server will go back in time for each player and decide who wins the battle. This will cause strange gameplay behaviour making lost players think that they shooted first. The thing is high ping player will still suffer when others peak on him, but that at least their shoots will be registered by server in time with negative latency. There are many ways to enhance online gaming and reduce lag effect, but sadly developers don't usually take care of this.
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I would believe if a competitive online game claimed having especiall netcode or negative latency which is technically possible using WW time system built in the game. It is possible for the game to send player inputs along with time of it as a data so that game server will go back in time for each player and decide who wins the battle. This will cause strange gameplay behaviour making lost players think that they shooted first. The thing is high ping player will still suffer when others peak on him, but that at least their shoots will be registered by server in time with negative latency. There are many ways to enhance online gaming and reduce lag effect, but sadly developers don't usually take care of this.
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Single
Something I've always been like something's up with this when it comes to stadia is the mooted 10.7tflops of GPU compute, which for some games on the service that's very obviously not true, even slightly. Destiny 2 for example, that runs at 1080p60 even if you're streaming at 4k, and it's using the medium settings preset if you compare it to the steam version. Thing is 10.7tflops of GPU should be enough for like, 4k60 at ultra settings, since it's a fairly light game on the GPU side. So what's up there? I've wanted a journalist to talk to devs with games on stadia and find out what's up there for a while now. Anonymous sources if you have to.
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Something I've always been like something's up with this when it comes to stadia is the mooted 10.7tflops of GPU compute, which for some games on the service that's very obviously not true, even slightly. Destiny 2 for example, that runs at 1080p60 even if you're streaming at 4k, and it's using the medium settings preset if you compare it to the steam version. Thing is 10.7tflops of GPU should be enough for like, 4k60 at ultra settings, since it's a fairly light game on the GPU side. So what's up there? I've wanted a journalist to talk to devs with games on stadia and find out what's up there for a while now. Anonymous sources if you have to.
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Jari
I dont think its the net that has latency but all control routers or security features and governmet survailance thats does the latency and laag on every point - I remember when irak around year 2000 or something in middle east and it was on the news that uk will get surviance of traffic and the Ping to UK went to latency and extra 30 ms ping -Those gaming servers died in uk -who want to play with rockets appearing in middle of nothing . Google cant do nothing unless they buy expensive hardware but I guess they use the cheapest to maximise profit. ( yes they never recovered in about 5 years -then I didnt care and still dont gaming there.
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I dont think its the net that has latency but all control routers or security features and governmet survailance thats does the latency and laag on every point - I remember when irak around year 2000 or something in middle east and it was on the news that uk will get surviance of traffic and the Ping to UK went to latency and extra 30 ms ping -Those gaming servers died in uk -who want to play with rockets appearing in middle of nothing . Google cant do nothing unless they buy expensive hardware but I guess they use the cheapest to maximise profit. ( yes they never recovered in about 5 years -then I didnt care and still dont gaming there.
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lalapeanutbutter
If the pro version of stadia just included all of the offered games in the catalogue for free, like how game pass works, I think it'd be a much better sell. The way it is right now isn't very consumer friendly, and considering how much latency happens during gameplay, it makes it hard to really recommend to anyone. I think as more and more games start implementing full crossplay (looking at Destiny 2) it will become a bit more appealing, but that's on the developers to bring that feature to their games.
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If the pro version of stadia just included all of the offered games in the catalogue for free, like how game pass works, I think it'd be a much better sell. The way it is right now isn't very consumer friendly, and considering how much latency happens during gameplay, it makes it hard to really recommend to anyone. I think as more and more games start implementing full crossplay (looking at Destiny 2) it will become a bit more appealing, but that's on the developers to bring that feature to their games.
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dosduros
Negative latency is like having negative girlfriend.
On the other hand, Stadia is free so long as new users come in and keep buying games. The moment people dont do that, Stadia cant be free because server costs have to be paid for.
And that is most likely the moment Stadia gets shut down.
EDIT: Oh, and how soon will the google servers become obsolete? Too slow to play the new console generation already if you ask me.
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Negative latency is like having negative girlfriend.
On the other hand, Stadia is free so long as new users come in and keep buying games. The moment people dont do that, Stadia cant be free because server costs have to be paid for.
And that is most likely the moment Stadia gets shut down.
EDIT: Oh, and how soon will the google servers become obsolete? Too slow to play the new console generation already if you ask me.
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Jono
Largely a positive review tainted by negative spin. Happy to see more people appreciate how well stadia works and how well the product has come together. Everyone I know who has tried it, including folks dead against it, have come away surprised at how well it plays.
The only true criticism left is that it needs more games. That is a big problem though and something they might struggle to overcome.
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Largely a positive review tainted by negative spin. Happy to see more people appreciate how well stadia works and how well the product has come together. Everyone I know who has tried it, including folks dead against it, have come away surprised at how well it plays.
The only true criticism left is that it needs more games. That is a big problem though and something they might struggle to overcome.
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Mikhail
Of course the controller's latency reduction is very little compared to a gaming mouse on a high-end PC, but I think that on something like a low-end, struggling Chromebook or an old Android phone/tablet (devices where stadia might make sense) the difference might be quite large, especially compared to the Bluetooth controllers, where Bluetooth itself adds a lot of latency on top of everything else.
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Of course the controller's latency reduction is very little compared to a gaming mouse on a high-end PC, but I think that on something like a low-end, struggling Chromebook or an old Android phone/tablet (devices where stadia might make sense) the difference might be quite large, especially compared to the Bluetooth controllers, where Bluetooth itself adds a lot of latency on top of everything else.
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