Geforce GT 1030 (GP108) Rumours

[IT Troll]

Rumours of a GT 1030 started to spread yesterday after it made an appearance in an AIDA64 update. It's never going to set the gaming community on fire. But if it is indeed based on a GP108 it should have all the features required for a modern HTPC; 4K, 8K, HEVC, HDR, DP 1.4, HDMI 2.0b, HDCP 2.2

Whilst there are mid-range cards with this feature set, there hasn't been anything in a low profile / passively cooled form factor. Rumoured to go on sale 17th May.

 

[IT Troll]

Similar specs but the RX 550 is looking little chunky so far.

 

[IT Troll]

Is it not just a rebadged GT 930 ?

Nope. New architecture (Pascal) and so new feature set.

 

[IT Troll]

Great to see MSI have passive low profile card with both HDMI and DisplayPort. A perfect HTPC card requiring just 30W.

 

[IT Troll]

Just received my passive, low profile, MSI card. Unfortunately, OcUK don't list this model and so had to order elsewhere. It is rather expensive for such a relatively low performance card, but the feature set for HTPC duties is second to none.

 

[IT Troll]

£68 is a rip off spend an extra £30 and get yourself a second hand r9 290 that'll rip this a new one at most this needs to be £35

All depends what you need. R9 290 is not passively cooled, low profile, or bus powered and only has HDMI 1.4 and DisplayPort 1.2. So would be a complete waste of money for a HTPC.

Closest AMD have for this application is the RX550. But passive versions of this are frigging huge and cost the same.

 

[IT Troll]

Just needs a little more persuading and I'm sure it will fit.

 

[IT Troll]

MSI announced an RX460 Low Profile card months ago. Not actually seen one on sale anywhere yet though. NVidia just beat them to my business.

Ah yes, it was the RX460 I was thinking of, not the RX550 (I don't think there is a passive RX550 yet). XFX released a passive RX460, but it is double width and full height, plus extra heat pipes on top. Costs ~£130.

 

[IT Troll]

Except it is a MIN of £65 everywhere in UK

If only it was available somewhere for less than £60...

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/pali...ddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-043-pl.html

 

[IT Troll]

So I gave up on the passive card appearing after waiting for over a month...

The MSI passive model was available on release day. It arguably also has a better port selection for HTPC use.

 

[IT Troll]

Oh dear, Nvidia is at it again. New models of the 1030 have been released with DDR4 memory rather than DDR5 and a slower GPU clock speed. Whilst these do have a lower power draw, which may be useful in HTPC and SFF scenarios, the differences are significant enough to warrant a different product name. Why not just call it a 1020?

 

[IT Troll]

So you watched Gamers Nexus video as well eh.

Can't see it helping much, the normal card is sub 30W! Maybe in a laptop...

It might help card manufacturers produce a single-slot, low profile, passively cooled card.

I have a 1030... it literally has 0 redeeming features. I so wanted it to be half decent but it isn't

A little harsh. Whilst I wouldn't recommend one to people for gaming, it is probably the best HTPC card available.

 

[IT Troll]

Harsh but fair my friend. I'd take a low profile rx550 over it every single day of the week. It's just got better features for around the same money. I still have the 1030 and occasionally look at it and wonder what the hell I was thinking.

What better features are those? 3D performance is very close between the two and they support the same resolutions, codecs etc. However, the rx550 draws more power and requires active cooling.

 

[IT Troll]

RX550 is about 50W IIRC?

I think the TDP is 50W but the power draw under load is ~65W.