ASUS Phoenix GeForce GT 1030 OC Edition 2GB GDDR5 Review: Best Settings |GTA 5

ASUS Phoenix GeForce GT 1030 OC Edition 2GB GDDR5 review – GeForce GT 1030 Tested on ASUS Phoenix Fan OC: Acquaintance with the GeForce GT 1030 on the example of the ASUS Phoenix Fan OC video card – NVIDIA has not updated its solutions in the ultra-budget segment for a long time.

Such graphics cards are not at the forefront of progress, but can become the mainstay of ultra-compact PCs. Also, ultra-budget GPUs are often used in mainstream laptops. Therefore, the GeForce GT 1030 video card appeared, which will replace the GeForce GT 730 and revive the market in the lower price segment. We will talk about the features of the new product and its gaming capabilities in this article.

GeForce GT 1030 OC Edition 2GB GDDR5

The new GP108 processor is the smallest chip in the Pascal family. It combines all the capabilities of the new architecture, but has only one GPC cluster, which operates 384 stream processors, 24 texture units and 16 rendering units. Two 32-bit memory controllers are active, which provides data exchange over the 64-bit bus. Not a lot, but the Pascal architecture realizes the most efficient data transfer by compressing color data. Complements the high-performance bus with GDDR5 memory with high operating frequencies.

The novelty resembles the GeForce GT 730. The configuration of the GP108 processor is as close as possible to the GK208, although the number of texture units and ROPs has changed. Frequency growth will provide an important advantage. GeForce GT 1030 supports Boost technology, the base value is 1227 MHz and the average Boost Clock is 1468 MHz. From the experience of other NVIDIA video cards, we can assume that Boost will be higher than the declared average value under the gaming load. Compare this to the fixed 902 MHz of the GeForce GT 730 – the difference is colossal.

At least, up to 63% advantage in the core frequency of the new video card is obtained. Both cards have a 64-bit bus, but in the GeForce GT 1030 the GDDR5 memory chips work at 6000 MHz instead of 5000 MHz in the GeForce GT 730. At the same time, the old model was produced in modifications with DDR3, where the frequencies are much lower. From our comparative testing of different versions of the GeForce GT 730, we can see that memory has a big impact on the final performance. GeForce GT 1030 will be released only in combination with GDDR5, there will be no slower options.

The GP108 processor is manufactured using a progressive 14 nm process technology, which is also used for video cards of the GeForce GTX 1050 series. Therefore, with a significant increase in frequencies, it was possible to keep the TDP within 30 W, and there are many GeForce GT 1030s with passive cooling on the market. Among the nuances, it is worth noting support for PCI-E 3.0 in 4x mode. We saw a similar limitation on the Radeon RX 560.

Specification GeForce GT 1030 ( GeForce GTX 1050 vs GeForce GT 730 )

For clarity, we present the characteristics of the GeForce GT 1030 and GeForce GT 730 in one table. At the same time, let’s add data on the next video adapter in the NVIDIA hierarchy – GeForce GTX 1050.

The GeForce GTX 1050 significantly outperforms the GeForce GT 1030 in terms of the number of computing units, plus a 128-bit bus and higher frequencies. It is immediately clear that these are solutions from different categories, between which there will be an obvious gap.

The GeForce GT 1030 can be safely called an accelerated version of the GeForce GT 730. However, this acceleration is so great that it is absolutely unattainable for an old video adapter. The GeForce GT 1030 is a cut above the GeForce GT 730, and NVIDIA even compares the new product with the GeForce GTX 750. How fair this is, we will find out based on the results of our testing. But first, let’s get acquainted with the live representatives of the new series on the example of the ASUS graphics accelerator.

ASUS GeForce GT 1030 2GB Phoenix Fan OC Edition

The hero of the review will be a video adapter with a long name, which indicates the new cooling of ASUS Phoenix and the presence of factory overclocking. This model is marked as ASUS PH-GT1030-O2G.

Supplied in a small box. Accessory kit is limited to software disc.

The video card is full-size and covered with a dual-slot cooler with a streamlined casing. The total length is about 18 cm.

There is a fan in the center of the cooler. Even with an external examination, one can notice the presence of a simple aluminum radiator without heat pipes.

The printed circuit board is made on a blue PCB. One of the fixing screws on the cooler is traditionally protected by a warranty seal.

ASUS has only two connectors for image output: HDMI and DVI-D. This is a standard set of interfaces for the GeForce GT 1030, which will allow you to connect video cards to any current monitor. An additional DiplayPort would have been nice though.

When dismantling the cooling system, a curious structural element is found – a round plate at the bottom, around the zone of contact with the chip. Such a “visor” does not allow blowing the board directly under the heatsink. It is probably used to create lateral flows and better airflow around the elements of the power unit.

The round radiant radiator is made of solid aluminum with an additional powerful core in the center. The design can be called typical, such radiators are used in many budget video cards. The radiator is blown by an 80 mm Everflow R128015DU fan (the impeller diameter is slightly smaller).

Against the background of the motherboard, the cooling system without a casing seems more compact than it initially looks. But for a chip with a TDP of 30 W this is quite enough.

The board itself is simple in design. The GPU power supply is single-phase, as is the memory power supply. All this could be arranged in a smaller area. It is no coincidence that there are many low-profile GeForce GT 1030s from different manufacturers on sale.

Full marking of the graphics chip GP108-300-A1. Two gigabytes of memory are collected with two Micron 6XA47 D9SXD microcircuits.

The operating frequencies of the processor are higher than the recommended ones. The base frequency is 1253 MHz with a Boost Clock of 1506 MHz, the memory operates at an effective value of 6000 MHz.

In line with expectations, the average Boost frequency turned out to be higher than the declared Boost Clock level. In games, the video card worked at a frequency of about 1700 MHz with small spikes and deviations to the lower side. Peak values ​​up to 1785 MHz. When operating on an open bench with a temperature of 25-26 ° C indoors, the core heating in the game mode was 47-48 ° C. The fan spun at only 1200 rpm, creating minimal noise. This is illustrated below in a screenshot of monitoring parameters during testing of Tom Clancy’s The Division.

For testing the standard version of the GeForce GT 1030, we reduced the base frequency even below the recommended level to ensure that the average Boost frequency drops to about 1671 MHz (1721 MHz peak).

Is it possible to squeeze more out of the video card than it offers at the factory frequencies? Acceleration will answer this. The main limiting factor is the blocked power limit, and even in the nominal value, we observe how power consumption is limited to 100%. This factor will limit the increase in Boost frequencies and under heavy load with an increased base value, Boost can roll back to values ​​close to the initial level. Many GeForce GTX 1050s and the simplest versions of the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti have similar limitations.

As a result of our overclocking experiments, we settled on a base value of 1470 MHz while overclocking the memory to 8000 MHz.

The average Boost frequency was about 1835 MHz, and was maintained at this level even in the heaviest games. In simpler games, the frequency could approach 1850-1860 MHz, short-term peak values ​​up to 1974 MHz. This is a slight overclocking relative to the initial frequencies, but it is there, and it’s not bad. On the positive side, the memory is well overclocked up to 8 GHz. Perhaps GDDR5 chips could work at higher frequencies, but at this point we ran into software restrictions on increasing frequencies.

By raising the fan speed by 2%, we kept the heating at the initial level. That is, overclocking is easy to implement in quiet mode and is not associated with any discomfort.

Characteristics of the tested video cards

The tested video card is comparable to the GeForce GTX 750 and Radeon R7 260, which will allow us to evaluate the capabilities of the new product relative to old budget solutions. All participants are tested at standard frequencies and overclocked.

Detailed technical characteristics of the video cards are given below. The table shows the official data on Boost frequencies for GeForce, the performance graphs show the full frequency range, including the peak short-term values.

Test stand

The test bench configuration is as follows:

• processor: Intel Core i7-6950X (3.0 @ 4.1 GHz);
• cooler: Noctua NH-D15 (two NF-A15 PWM fans, 140 mm, 1300 rpm);
• motherboard: MSI X99S MPower (Intel X99);
• memory: G.Skill F4-3200C14Q-32GTZ (4×8 GB, DDR4-3200, CL14-14-14-35);
• system drive: Intel SSD 520 Series 240GB (240 GB, SATA 6Gb / s);
• additional disk: Hitachi HDS721010CLA332 (1 TB, SATA 3Gb / s, 7200 rpm);
• power supply unit: Seasonic SS-750KM (750 W);

• monitor: ASUS PB278Q (2560×1440, 27 ″);
• operating system: Windows 10 Pro x64;
• GeForce driver: NVIDIA GeForce 382.53.
• Radeon driver: AMD Crimson Edition 17.6.2.

Testing was carried out at a resolution of 1920×1080 using the method described below. The games are listed alphabetically. At the end of the list are tank games and 3DMark results.

Testing methodology

Battlefield 4

Testing was carried out in the first mission after blowing up the wall. Jogging over a small area with dense vegetation was repeated before descending to a large construction site. Frame rates were measured using Fraps.

Graphics settings are High, Antialiasing Post is Medium, and MSAA is completely disabled.

Battlefield 1

Instead of the usual scene in the mission “Cape Helles” with an extreme load, a test scene was used at the beginning of the mission “With all his might”, where the hero participates in an attack on enemy positions, driving a tank.

The selected graphics quality is medium. Tested in DirectX 11 using Fraps.

Dota 2

A recording of one of the tournament games was played; a test segment of 70 seconds was selected. Several repetitions to reduce the error. The maximum quality of graphics is set, in manual mode the maximum quality of shadows is additionally activated. Our settings configuration is reflected below.

The game was launched in DirectX 11 rendering mode by specifying the appropriate attribute in the launch parameters. Empirically revealed that this is the most productive mode. Vulkan was not used due to the lack of proper monitoring tools under this API.

Fallout 4

Testing was done with Fraps right after leaving the hideout at the start of the game. We took a short walk through the surroundings with an abundance of vegetation and rich rays of light. Scenes with this environment will cause the most noticeable performance degradation. The procedure is shown below.

The selected profile is of medium quality graphics. The simpler FXAA is chosen instead of TAA.

Grand Theft Auto 5

The built-in benchmark was used for testing. Five repetitions. For a comprehensive assessment, the average fps was calculated based on the results of all test scenes. The minimum fps was measured using Fraps based on the results of a full run of the backmark.

All graphics settings are limited to “very high”, shadows are “softer”. For most parameters, this is the maximum value, for some it is one level below the maximum. Simple anti-aliasing FXAA selected. Additional settings are not involved.

Mass Effect: Andromeda

A short run was made during the very first landing on the planet. Frame rates were measured by Fraps.

Selected presets of medium quality without any additional edits. In this mode, the game activates scaling at a lower initial render resolution (900p upscaled to Full HD).

Prey (2017)

Performance was measured by Fraps when replaying a specific sequence of actions within the initial game stage, when the hero must break glass.

Selected a profile of medium quality graphics, additionally increased the quality of anisotropic filtering to 8x.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Testing was done using Fraps. Fps was measured during a trip to the village of Bely Sad. Five repetitions.

In the section of the main settings, the average quality is set for all parameters. In the post-processing section, all effects are turned off.

Tom Clancy’s The Division

The built-in benchmark was run at least seven times for each mode.

Selected low quality profile in DirectX 11. Additionally, the settings related to general shadows (shadow quality, shadow resolution) have been increased by one step. It’s worth noting that in Low mode, the game sets the scaling at 85% of the selected resolution, so the actual resolution is less than Full HD.

Warhammer 40000: Dawn of War III

New game in our tests. Has a built-in benchmark, which is used to compare performance. The Fraps utility was used to control the data. Selected the minimum graphics quality at a fixed resolution of 1920×1080.

Watch Dogs 2

In this case, a walk was performed in the Palo Alto area, jogging through the streets and a nearby grove of trees and dense grass.

The selected profile is of medium quality graphics. Additionally, the “Temporary filtering” option is included, which allows you to increase performance with a negligible loss in quality.

War Thunder

The game performance benchmark “Tank Battle” was run seven times. The quality profile “Cinema” is selected.

World of Tanks

For testing, among the replays posted in the public domain, a recording of the battle on a large detailed map of the “Fjords” was selected, a 70-second test segment was selected. Four repetitions, frame rate measured by Fraps.

Selected profile of maximum quality without additional edits of parameters, anti-aliasing FXAA.

3DMark Fire Strike

Fire Strike benchmark from the latest 3DMark benchmark suite, tested in idle mode at 1920×1080.

3DMark Time Spy

New benchmark for DirectX 12, launched with default settings.

Energy consumption

The results are given according to the results of measurements in six appendices:

• Dota 2;
• Grand Theft Auto 5;
• Tom Clancy’s The Division;
• Warhammer 40000: Dawn of War III;
• War Thunder;
• World of Tanks.

The peak values ​​during each run were taken into account, from which the average consumption for each application was calculated, and then the overall average was calculated. The data were taken using a Cost Control 3000 instrument.

Test results

Battlefield 4

The GeForce GT 1030 performs well in Battlefield 4. The newcomer is 9–12% behind the old GeForce GTX 750 and Radeon R7 260. Overclocking provides an acceleration of 16–18%, allowing it to outperform competitors in nominal terms.

Battlefield 1

The shooter Battlefield 1 is more demanding on video memory. Even in a simple test scene, up to 1.7 GB is used, and the potential of the rivals may be held back a little by the low memory capacity. At the same time, we see almost complete equality of GeForce GT 1030 and GeForce GTX 750, a slight lag behind the Radeon R7 260. The difference in results between ASUS and GeForce GT 1030 with standard frequencies is scanty, and manual overclocking provides an acceleration of 15-18%.

Dota 2

At maximum settings, Dota 2 can load budget graphics cards quite well. But the GeForce GT 1030 is able to provide about 60 fps. The results of the new product are higher than those of the Radeon R7 260, but lower than the GeForce GTX 750. Overclocking provides an acceleration of 20%, which is quite a lot against the background of a slight increase in GPU frequencies, therefore, memory overclocking gives the main effect.

Fallout 4

In Fallout 4, the new budget video adapter looks weaker than its old rivals. But there is an important nuance – with 1 GB of video memory, the game does not load detailed textures. It should be noted here that the tests were carried out with active HD textures, although even standard textures required more than 2 GB of video memory. In fact, the GeForce GT 1030 will provide a higher picture quality, albeit at a lower performance relative to its competitors. If you resort to overclocking, then you can catch up with the GeForce GTX 750 and Radeon R7 260.

Grand Theft Auto 5

With graphics settings selected, GTA 5 will load over 2GB of VRAM. However, the GeForce GT 1030 with 2 GB does not have a clear advantage over the GeForce GTX 750 with 1 GB, their results are close. The Radeon R7 260 has lower indicators. The general performance of the GeForce GT 1030 with high quality graphics is not bad, but for a comfortable game it is still better to turn down the settings.

Mass Effect: Andromeda

Andromeda is a demanding game. Medium settings render at 1600×900 with scaling up to 1920×1080. But even in this mode, the GeForce GT 1030 barely produces 30 fps, although with overclocking the performance reaches 35 fps. With small additional adjustments to the settings, it will be possible to play more or less tolerably. Old video adapters in this game demonstrate a clear advantage, although the GeForce GTX 750 in the nominal value shows the same 35 fps.

Prey (2017)

With a slight lag in the average fps, the GeForce GT 1030 has a slight advantage over the GeForce GTX 750 in terms of the minimum indicator. Both NVIDIA video adapters in Prey are faster than AMD’s rivals. Overclocking accelerates the GeForce GT 1030 by 16%.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

The GeForce GT 1030 and GeForce GTX 750 have the closest results, with a slight margin in favor of the beginner. The leader in Witcher 3 is the old accelerator Radeon R7 260, NVIDIA rivals catch up with it when overclocked. Increasing the frequencies provides the GeForce GT 1030 with an 11-16% increase in results.

Tom Clancy’s The Division

Once again, the GeForce GT 1030 and GeForce GTX 750 have similar results, although the old friend retains a tiny advantage. The best results in The Division are demonstrated by the Radeon R7 260. The GeForce GT 1030 shows similar results when overclocked.

Warhammer 40000: Dawn of War III

The new part of Dawn of War is very demanding on PC resources, but with minimal graphics settings, you can play on the GeForce GT 1030. In nominal, the average frequency is only 33 fps, but overclocking brings it to 39 fps. At the initial frequencies, the newcomer loses slightly to the GeForce GTX 750, in overclocking the difference is more significant. Radeon R7 260 with a noticeable lead over NVIDIA rivals.

Watch Dogs 2

And again, the Radeon R7 260 is in the lead, although the gap with NVIDIA solutions in Watch Dogs 2 is small. Minimum lag between GeForce GT 1030 and GeForce GTX 750 with the same results as ASUS. Overclocking accelerates ASUS by another 14%, making it easy to overtake the Radeon R7 260 at par.

War Thunder

Moving on to tests in popular tank MMOs.

The GeForce GT 1030 turns out to be more productive than the Radeon R7 260 in the nominal value, they are equal in overclocking. The GeForce GTX 750 has higher performance. At higher frequencies, the hero of the review provides more than 40 fps with the maximum graphics, which is quite good. For higher fps, it will be enough to lower the settings by one step.

World of Tanks

Similar results in WoT, although the ratio between rivals is slightly different. The GeForce GT 1030 is better than the Radeon R7 260 in terms of minimum fps, but worse in terms of average frame rates. The GeForce GTX 750 is confidently leading, the newcomer catches up with it only through overclocking.

Read about the performance of more powerful video cards in War Thunder and World of Tanks in our special testing.

3DMark Fire Strike

The GeForce GT 1030 has the last place in this test. Lagging behind GeForce GTX 750 at 6%, lagging behind Radeon R7 260 up to 13%. Overclocking speeds up the beginner by 16%.

3DMark Time Spy

The situation changes dramatically in Time Spy under DirectX 12. The GeForce GT 1030 shows the highest result, overtaking the Radeon R7 260 by 18%, and the gap over the GeForce GTX 750 by more than 66%. The gain from overclocking is less than 15%.

Energy consumption

The lowest power consumption figures are for the system with the GeForce GT 1030, the difference with the GeForce GTX 750 at the level of 26 watts. Radeon R7 260 has the maximum consumption, but this video adapter is also the most productive.

conclusions

The new budget graphics card GeForce GT 1030 is the simplest solution in the Pascal family. It is based on the GP108 graphics chip with very modest capabilities – 384 stream processors, 64-bit bus. But combined with high frequencies, this GPU delivers performance on par with older graphics cards with more serious specs.

According to the test results, we see a minimal difference in the results between the GeForce GT 1030 and the GeForce GTX 750. Although the old card is slightly faster in most games, this is compensated by overclocking. At the same time, the GeForce GT 1030 demonstrates extremely low power consumption and puts forward modest requirements for the cooling system. In fact, we have the fastest 64-bit video card, which demonstrates performance on the level of simple 128-bit solutions of the previous generation.

The potential of the GeForce GT 1030 is enough to play many modern games in Full HD at medium or low quality, and in many online games you can count on high-level graphics (Dota 2, World of Tanks). These are very good results against the background of the minimal cost of the video card. It is nice to note that the GeForce GT 1030 is only equipped with GDDR5 memory, so there will be no surprises for the buyers of the cheapest versions. Previously, in the low-end segment, the same video card could be equipped with GDDR5 or DDR3, which seriously affected the overall performance.

GeForce GT 1030 differ only in form factor, type of cooling, presence or absence of factory overclocking. The memory capacity of 2 GB for a video card of this level is optimal. On a budget, the GeForce GT 1030 is a great choice. to play many modern games in Full HD at medium or low quality, and in many online games you can count on high-level graphics (Dota 2, World of Tanks).

These are very good results against the background of the minimal cost of the video card. It is nice to note that the GeForce GT 1030 is only equipped with GDDR5 memory, so there will be no surprises for the buyers of the cheapest versions. Previously, in the low-end segment, the same video card could be equipped with GDDR5 or DDR3, which seriously affected the overall performance. GeForce GT 1030 differ only in form factor, type of cooling, presence or absence of factory overclocking.

The memory capacity of 2 GB for a video card of this level is optimal. On a budget, the GeForce GT 1030 is a great choice. to play many modern games in Full HD at medium or low quality, and in many online games you can count on high-level graphics (Dota 2, World of Tanks).

These are very good results against the background of the minimal cost of the video card. It is nice to note that the GeForce GT 1030 is only equipped with GDDR5 memory, so there will be no surprises for the buyers of the cheapest versions. Previously, in the low-end segment, the same video card could be equipped with GDDR5 or DDR3, which seriously affected the overall performance. GeForce GT 1030 differ only in form factor, type of cooling, presence or absence of factory overclocking.

The memory capacity of 2 GB for a video card of this level is optimal. On a budget, the GeForce GT 1030 is a great choice. and in many online games you can count on high-level graphics (Dota 2, World of Tanks). These are very good results against the background of the minimal cost of the video card.

It is nice to note that the GeForce GT 1030 is only equipped with GDDR5 memory, so there will be no surprises for the buyers of the cheapest versions. Previously, in the low-end segment, the same video card could be equipped with GDDR5 or DDR3, which seriously affected the overall performance. GeForce GT 1030 differ only in form factor, type of cooling, presence or absence of factory overclocking.

The memory capacity of 2 GB for a video card of this level is optimal. On a budget, the GeForce GT 1030 is a great choice. and in many online games you can count on high-level graphics (Dota 2, World of Tanks). These are very good results against the background of the minimal cost of the video card. It is nice to note that the GeForce GT 1030 is only equipped with GDDR5 memory, so there will be no surprises for the buyers of the cheapest versions. Previously, in the low-end segment, the same video card could be equipped with GDDR5 or DDR3, which seriously affected the overall performance. GeForce GT 1030 differ only in form factor, type of cooling, presence or absence of factory overclocking.

The memory capacity of 2 GB for a video card of this level is optimal. On a budget, the GeForce GT 1030 is a great choice. that the GeForce GT 1030 is equipped with only GDDR5 memory, so there will be no surprises for the buyers of the cheapest versions. Previously, in the low-end segment, the same video card could be equipped with GDDR5 or DDR3, which seriously affected the overall performance. GeForce GT 1030 differ only in form factor, type of cooling, presence or absence of factory overclocking.

The memory capacity of 2 GB for a video card of this level is optimal. On a budget, the GeForce GT 1030 is a great choice. that the GeForce GT 1030 is equipped with only GDDR5 memory, so there will be no surprises for the buyers of the cheapest versions.

Previously, in the low-end segment, the same video card could be equipped with GDDR5 or DDR3, which seriously affected the overall performance. GeForce GT 1030 differ only in form factor, type of cooling, presence or absence of factory overclocking.

The memory capacity of 2 GB for a video card of this level is optimal. On a budget, the GeForce GT 1030 is a great choice. The memory capacity of 2 GB for a video card of this level is optimal. On a budget, the GeForce GT 1030 is a great choice. The memory capacity of 2 GB for a video card of this level is optimal. On a budget, the GeForce GT 1030 is a great choice.

The reviewed video card ASUS ASUS PH-GT1030-O2G is a typical representative of the series. Since this is not a low-profile version, it uses a large (by the standards of the series) cooler, which provides extremely low operating temperatures with little noise. Factory overclocking is minimal, and the gain from it is no more than 1%. Manual overclocking can increase productivity by 15–20%. The core potential is limited by a fixed power limit, so the Boost frequencies cannot be increased significantly. But the memory is easily accelerated up to 8 GHz, i.e. by 33%. The best part is that overclocking is easy to implement in quiet mode. Therefore, the ASUS GeForce GT 1030 2GB Phoenix is ​​a worthy purchase candidate.

AMD also introduced a new graphics card in the ultra-budget segment – Radeon RX 550. This new product will be the subject of the next review. And in one of the future materials, we will bring together current solutions of the low-end segment with a veteran of the Fermi generation. Stay tuned, there are many interesting things ahead!

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