Geforce Shadowplay

**WileECyte** · 10-28-13, 08:26 AM

Wow. Another big feature released by the folks at nVidia. Now introducing 'Shadowplay'. This is part of the 'Geforce Experience' suite. Basically it lets you record in-game video at 1080p @60fps with no performance hit. It requires a Geforce 600 or 700 series card. It utilizes the H.264 encoder included on all 600 & 700 series cards. One of the coolest features is... you can set it up sorta like a DVR... it can 'cache' gameplay so if you're not recording, you can press a button and it will dump the last X minutes of gameplay (based on what you have it set to).

The beta starts today, and it will be freely released in a couple weeks.

GeForce ShadowPlay Beta Launching October 28th | GeForce

The best part? Twitch will be integrating support for this, so for you streamers, you won't take the massive performance hit when streaming.

Here's some in-game footage from BF3:

**Partyball** · 10-28-13, 08:57 AM

Looks like I need to get one(or two) of those cards.

**Allane** · 10-28-13, 09:16 AM

I like this idea. I think a lot of youtubers, streamers, and competitive players will be happy about Shadowplay. I can't help but wonder what kind of tradeoff this will incur. Encoding 1920x1080@60fps is no simple feat. A good amount of power needs to be redirected to those H.264 encoders on the video card. If your card is currently at max draw, when that power gets siphoned away, you should see a performance hit simply because power is being diverted from stream processors.

I also can't help but think that this is a very niche thing. It's awesome if you use it, but otherwise wouldn't sell to the larger gaming audience. AMD's Mantle is more attractive because it makes things more efficient on the back end, which translates to a smoother user-end experience, and that I think is something more gamers would be willing to get behind.

Regardless of Mantle or Shadowplay, people with AMD cards will continue to stream, and people who don't stream will pick up Nvidia cards for their balance of performance and reliability.

**WileECyte** · 10-28-13, 09:39 AM

I really am skeptical about Mantle. Both Microsoft and Sony have said that they will not support Mantle on the XBox One and PS4. Right now the only developer who has announced they will support Mantle is DICE... I suspect it will end up like another Glide...

**Allane** · 10-28-13, 09:43 AM

Originally Posted by WileECyte

I really am skeptical about Mantle. Both Microsoft and Sony have said that they will not support Mantle on the XBox One and PS4. Right now the only developer who has announced they will support Mantle is DICE... I suspect it will end up like another Glide...

We'll see what happens. It's not terribly unlike AMD to get ahead of itself and plan for the future, then their plans don't really play out. What I'm saying is that the markets for both cards shouldn't change too much, while people should be happier with their purchases for whatever their purpose.

**Kanati** · 10-28-13, 12:26 PM

oh my... need to check out this shadowplay thingy...

**Gumby** · 10-28-13, 01:38 PM

Neither Mantel or Shadowplay or the AMD audio stuff will affect my purchase plans. I only care about bang for the buck in the games I play. Next month I am buying a top end card and right now the price/performance race is clearly being led by the 290x.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

**WileECyte** · 10-28-13, 03:00 PM

I'd wager the 290x won't lead that race soon enough. Once nVidia launches the 780 Ti... I think you'll see price drops across the board on the 700 series Geforce cards.

**HeavyG** · 10-28-13, 03:18 PM

Originally Posted by WileECyte

I'd wager the 290x won't lead that race soon enough. Once nVidia launches the 780 Ti... I think you'll see price drops across the board on the 700 series Geforce cards.

There already were price drops. 780 came down $150 and the 770 is now $339. Two 770s in SLI is probably the way to go vs a single top end card.

Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk 2

**WileECyte** · 10-28-13, 03:24 PM

Originally Posted by HeavyG

There already were price drops. 780 came down $150 and the 770 is now $339. Two 770s in SLI is probably the way to go vs a single top end card.

Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk 2

I'd wager we'll see further tweaks to pricing once the 780 Ti hits the market and now that the 290x is out and available. Most 780's now are $25-50 cheaper than the 290x.