Paperspace’s offer for cloud gaming has some very interesting features for most gamers:
- Almost total freedom: Paperspace gives access to a powerful computer equipped with Windows and graphic cards. You can install all the games you want (you can install your Steam game library, for example) or use applications outside of video games.
- Hourly billing: you only pay for what you use (with the exception of storage, which will always cost you a few euros per month).
The machines that you will be able to run on Paperspace are very good looking and use Quadro graphics cards (GPUs) usually used for high performance computing. They have proven to be very efficient for video games.
By emphasizing freedom of use (no limitation in the games that can be played since you install them yourself) and a price per hour, Paperspace is a particularly interesting offer for the gamer.
Paperspace is actually more than just a cloud gaming solution. Indeed, it is a complete cloud computing service that also offers high-performance computing services.
Registration with 10$ credit (code 29WXD02)
Game streaming on Paperspace
Paperspace’s cloud gaming machines include the Parsec tool. This is a streaming application that is developed precisely to turn any computer into a cloud gaming server.
After running Parsec on your new machine, all you need to do is install it on your local computer, phone or tablet to connect and run the games from your remote computer.
Parsec is available on Windows, MacOS, Android, Linux and Raspberry Pi 3.
No iOS application with Parsec. But if your goal is to play from an iPhone or iPad, it’s not impossible.
Given the freedom left by Paperspace, nothing will prevent you from installing other streaming applications, such as Rainway or Moonlight. Both solutions can be used on iOS.
More than just cloud gaming
One thing to note with Paperspace is that you can do on your computer remotely much more than just play video games.
Indeed, it is a complete Windows machine. So you can install and do whatever you want on it. In particular, it will be worth it if you want to use graphically-intensive applications, even if they are not video games.
Hardware and configurations for cloud gaming
With Paperspace, we have 4 choices of configurations for the game. They offer a GPU (graphics card), an indispensable hardware for video games.
The 4 configurations differ only on the GPU (Quadro 4000, P4000, P5000 or P6000) and price. Don’t be surprised if you don’t recognize the names of graphics cards you might find in a standard desktop computer. At Paperspace, these are “professional” graphics cards, originally designed for high-performance computing. But these cards are just as effective for video games.
For the rest of the configuration, you will still have 8 CPU, 30 GB RAM and SSD storage. This is in any case a very solid configuration for cloud gaming.
- GPU+. This option is actually not available for servers in Europe, which is not a big deal since the following P4000 configuration is at least as powerful for the same price.
- P4000. The entry-level Quadro P4000 for the GPU offers more than adequate performance for a price of $0.51 per hour before tax (just under $0.6 per hour including tax). Don’t hesitate to test this one to get an idea of what it can do, depending on the games you want to launch.
- P5000. For $0.78 per hour (excluding VAT), you’ll get the Quadro P5000, which should allow you to run all your games without any problems.
- P6000 is the top of the line configuration at $1.10 excluding VAT per hour. It will only be useful if you have really big performance needs that previous configurations wouldn’t satisfy.
Namely: apply to use the graphics card machines
Don’t be surprised if you can’t create a machine on your first attempt. Paperspace asks new users to explain why they want to use a GPU-equipped machine before giving them access. This request is probably intended to avoid the abuse of graphics cards for tasks considered too greedy (such as bitcoin mining for example).
Don’t panic, just explain honestly that you want a cloud gaming solution. The simple message below will be more than enough:
Hello, I would like to create a GPU instance for cloud gaming. Thank you.
Unfortunately, it will probably take some time before the request is validated (a few minutes or a few hours) to let you create your 1st machine.
Server location and connection quality
For cloud gaming, an important need is to limit latency as much as possible. To do this, an important criterion is the proximity to the servers.
Paperspace offers 3 slots when creating your machine. The first two are in the United States while the third is in Amsterdam. If you live in Europe, it is naturally the latter option that will be preferred.
Quality of the connection
Will your connection be sufficient to take full advantage of Paperspace?
There is no simple answer to this question, which depends on your connection, but also on your location and your games (a small latency or micro-breaks are quite reasonable in one game, and catastrophic in another).
The best thing is to test the service over a short period of time to get an idea of it. In our case, we were able to play in wifi, as well as in 4G on a phone with good performance.
A few tips are still in order:
- prefer a wired connection to wifi,
- if you are in wifi, prefer a 5GHz configuration rather than 2.4GHz,
- if the performance leaves something to be desired, check the Parsec settings to try to improve the situation.
Additional Features
In addition to running your games remotely, Paperspace offers some additional features that can make a difference:
- Game peripherals such as controllers (wired or wireless) worked well during our tests.
- Paperspace supports multi-screen.
- A drag-and-drop system works to transfer files between your local and remote computer. Another good solution to synchronize files between your computers is of course the online storage.
Rates
To avoid unpleasant surprises, you need to understand how billing for cloud gaming on Paperspace works.
You pay two things when you use a machine on Paperspace :
- The time your virtual computer is on (charged by the hour).
- storage which is permanently reserved and is a fixed charge, to be paid monthly.
Hourly billing: pay for what you use
Billing by the hour has the huge advantage of only charging you for the time you spend on your Paperspace computer. Specifically, you will pay as long as your machine is on. So you can easily test cloud gaming for a few hours of Paperspace with a minimal investment of a few euros.
Please note that the rates posted on Paperspace’s website are in dollars and exclude taxes. You will therefore probably need to add the 20% VAT and convert to euros to find out the real cost. In any case, prices remain very reasonable for such a powerful cloud gaming solution.
Please note. Paperspace also offers monthly billing, but has little interest in cloud gaming. Indeed, it will only save you money if you play at least 20 hours a day or so!
Do not leave your machine on: use Auto-shutdown!
Billing by the hour is risky if you forget to turn off your machine. Imagine the price of the bill going up when you don’t even use it!
To avoid this, fortunately, Paperspace offers an Auto-shutdown feature that is available when you create your machine (and can be modified afterwards). Your machine will shut itself down after a while if it is inactive. By default, the inactivity time for Auto-shutdown is set to 1 day. We advise you to choose 1 hour to avoid problems.
SSD storage price
Storage at Paperspace is not part of the hourly billing. This is because your storage is reserved permanently, not just when your Paperspace machine is turned on.
At a minimum, it will cost you $5 per month for 50 GB. This hard drive size is probably too small for video games.
The capacity of 250 GB at $10 per month is probably the best in terms of quality/price.
Here are the details of the prices for the available stocks:
| 50 GB | 5$ / month |
| 100 GB | 7$ / month |
| 250 GB | 10$ / month |
| 500 GB | 25$ / month |
| 1000 GB | 55$ / month |
| 2000 GB | 120$ / month |
You will be able to increase the storage capacity of your machine at any time (it will still need to be turned off). However, there is no possibility to reduce the storage capacity.
Interface to manage your account and access your computer remotely
Paperspace allows you to access your new computer in several ways:
- From a web browser. Chrome is the preferred solution according to Paperspace.
- A desktop application can also be installed (it is almost identical in its use to the Paperspace website).
- The Android mobile application also provides easy access to your computer.
But then again, don’t forget that you can install yourself all the possible solutions to access your computer as you wish: Chrome Remote Desktop, a VNC server, Teamviewer, etc.
How to configure your Paperspace computer for cloud gaming?
Without making a complete guide, there are some things you should know to be able to enjoy cloud gaming on Paperspace without pulling your hair out.
The first one, do not forget when creating your machine to use the Parsec template in the Public Templates category.
If you choose the classic Windows template, all the necessary tools for cloud gaming (drivers for audio, controllers, Parsec, etc.) will not be installed, and it will take a lot of effort to install them yourself.
A competitor of Shadow
In the world of cloud gaming, Shadow is a competitor that advertises low prices for all-you-can-eat gaming. Unfortunately, Shadow is currently on a break because they are reviewing all their offers and infrastructures until the summer of 2020 at best.
In this context, many players are looking for an alternative to Shadow. Paperspace is an excellent one.
The major difference with Shadow is the billing type:
- Paperspace chooses to charge by the hour. You only pay for what you use (with the exception of storage, which has a fixed price).
- Shadow offers a subscription-based operation (a few dozen euros to be paid each month for unlimited usage.
Opinions on Paperspace for cloud gaming
Paperspace proves to be an excellent solution for cloud gaming, with almost perfect freedom. Paperspace is not a plug-and-play solution like you can find on Vortex, but offers much more freedom, including the freedom to install all the games and applications you want.
Thus, Paperspace will correspond without any problem to a majority of players.
If you already have a library of games (on Steam or by other means) and want to enjoy them in cloud gaming, then Paperspace is a good solution.
Moreover, Paperspace is perfect for those who like to configure their machine and games at will (or use mods). Indeed, there are few limits to how Paperspace works.
The hourly billing format is also a good thing, especially if you have a moderate use of the service or only want to test it.
Test Paperspace with $10 credit
To get a $10 credit, sign up with following this link:
Test Paperspace with $10 credit
The other method is to use the promo code 29WXD02 (only works for new users). On your account page (Account in the user menu), you will need to enter the code 29WXD02 in the Promo Code field and then click Apply.
You should also know that Paperspace offers a referral system that will allow you to get extra credit by inviting your friends to participate (15$ credit per referred user).
