NVIDIA GeForce GT 1030 Retail Card Spotted With Pascal GP108-300 Core And 30W TDP

Hot on the heels of NVIDIA's release of the super-powerful GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (read our review!) comes another release that's on the complete opposite end of the performance spectrum. The new GeForce GT 1030 is for those that need a GPU, but can't stomach an integrated solution.

At face value, the card actually seems like more of a "me-to" response to AMD's just-released Radeon RX 550. Both cards feature similar specs, such as 2 or 4GB of VRAM, 32 TMUs, 16 ROPs, and a price tag of about $79.

Where AMD might gain an edge is with its wider memory bus of 128-bit (vs. 64-bit), and the fact that all RX 550s will include 512 cores, whereas the GT 1030 can be configured in either 384- or 512-core configurations. NVIDIA wins the power draw contest, with its GT 1030 requiring just 30W, versus the RX 550's 50W.

What might stand out most about KFA2's take on the GT 1030 is that this modest card looks good. It might be so small that it will barely be noticed once it's inside of a chassis, but there's something to be said about a modest product that doesn't look outright boring.

The GT 1030 is rumored to launch in the US at some point next month, and if it's the 512 core version that ends up costing $79, it'd be a great competitor at that price point (the GTX 1050 non-Ti sports 640 cores and costs ~$110). Even if not, those looking for decent performance at 1080p in MOBA-esque games should find good value with this GPU.