Gigabyte Resurrects GeForce GT 1030: Pascal Returns, Again

Gigabyte
(Image credit: Gigabyte)

How badly do people want a standalone graphics card even though modern integrated GPUs offer decent performance and media playback capabilities? Apparently a lot, as discrete GPU vendors are resurrecting their ancient entry-level products and returning them to store shelves. 

CFD (via Hermitage Akihabara), a store in Japan, has restarted selling Gigabyte's Nvidia GeForce GT 1030 (GV-N1030D4-2GL) graphics cards, which were originally launched in 2017 and disappeared from stores in 2019 ~ 2020. A Japanese retailer restarting sales of an outdated product isn't normally too interesting, but along with CFD, some of Amazon's partners also restarted selling the GeForce GT 1030 products recently. 

The GV-N1030D4-2GL AIB is a low-profile, single-slot adapter carrying Nvidia's GP108 GPU (the Pascal architecture, 384 CUDA cores, 14LPP) and 2GB of DDR4 memory with a 64-bit interface. It also has an HDMI 2.0b output for modern 4Kp60 displays and a DVI-D connector for legacy monitors. 

The GT 1030 Low Profile D4 2G card is without any doubt an entry-level product, but it features Gigabyte's Ultra Durable-badged components that are supposed to be long-lasting, something that is required for small form factor systems that can be used for years for various commercial or office purposes.  

Interestingly, Gigabyte's Nvidia GeForce GT 1030 even supports an OC mode that increases its base clock from 1151 MHz to 1177 MHz and its boost clock from 1379 MHz to 1417 MHz. 

From a performance point of view, Gigabyte's GT 1030 Low Profile D4 2G should be significantly behind modern integrated GPUs from AMD and Intel. But it can certainly do the job if someone needs to repair or upgrade a legacy PC or just add another 4Kp60 display output to a modern system. 

Nvidia and its distributors probably have quite a few GP107 and GP10 graphics processors left since the GPU developer never made small entry-level chips based on its Turing architecture. The smallest GPU in the Turing family — the TU117 — has a die size of 200 mm2, which is quite large for low-end AIBs that are supposed to be cheap. By contrast, the GP108 is 70 mm2 or 74 mm2, whereas the GP107 is 132 mm2. That said, expect more entry-level Pascal products to emerge in the coming months.  

CFD sells Gigabyte's Nvidia GeForce GT 1030 (GV-N1030D4-2GL) graphics card for ¥12,100 including tax ($100 without tax). Some of Amazon's partners offer this card in the U.S. for around $200. When launched in 2017, a GeForce GT 1030 board cost around $80.

Anton Shilov
Contributing Writer

Anton Shilov is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. Over the past couple of decades, he has covered everything from CPUs and GPUs to supercomputers and from modern process technologies and latest fab tools to high-tech industry trends.

  • boju
    Are dev's going to start resurrecting old classics too? I wouldn't mind more Wolf3D, Doom and Duke3D episodes :)
    Reply
  • LolaGT
    The DDR4 version is a really bad buy. 😕
    Reply
  • cryoburner
    I don't think the GT 1030 ever actually left. Nvidia didn't have a replacement for it with the 16-series, as the least-expensive and lowest-power card they offered was the 75 watt GTX 1650 for $150, so the 1030 stuck around.

    It should be noted that this appears to be the DDR4 version though, which performs a lot worse than the standard GDDR5 version, getting around half the performance. And even the GDDR5 version only performs a little better than the integrated graphics in AMD's Ryzen APUs, so this card is well below even that level of performance.
    Reply
  • InvalidError
    While it may be slower than IGPs, AMD hasn't released refreshed desktop APUs in two years. People who need Ryzen 5000-series processing power but don't need high-end graphics still need something for video output to boot the system with.
    Reply
  • digitalgriffin
    $200 blah ahahaha
    The desperation reeks.

    A rx 580 8 gig should be considered entry level now. A 6 gb 1060 mayyyybe. Everything else is not worth the msrp money over a modern apu. These should be $200 at most. I paid $130 for my 580.

    I saw someone trying to charge 900 for a 1660. Not even sc or ti. Greed rules the roost apparently.

    Thank your local miner that wants money for nothing.

    I will not touch msi or Asus in the future because if pure greed. I don't care if I have to wait an extra 3 years for a card or they offer top tier for $5. Greed should not be rewarded.
    Reply
  • gorbehnare
    I'm using 1030 for my HTPC right now. I have a MiniITX i7 and an ITX i5. The issue is I got a 4K HDR TV and the older Intel can't output 4K at all (they were fine with 1080p). My only option is 1650, which can fit only in the i5 system, but I can't find one for reasonable price. There are literally no other single slot low profile card that can play 4K at all, so I have to literally throw away both of these systems and buy entirely new system, just to get an APU for 4K HDR playback.
    Reply
  • NightHawkRMX
    The GT1030 isn't completely display adapter territory.

    I have never owned one personally, but I have a 3200g w/ vega8 which is probably slightly worse GPU performance, and it is decent for indy/esports titles in all honestly. Its not a good GPU for $200, but its not horrible if gotten for the right price.
    Reply
  • hannibal
    So gamers can get these new gpus! Good! Problem solved and ddr4 version help the gddr shortage situation ;)
    Reply
  • Third-Eye
    gorbehnare said:
    I'm using 1030 for my HTPC right now. I have a MiniITX i7 and an ITX i5. The issue is I got a 4K HDR TV and the older Intel can't output 4K at all (they were fine with 1080p). My only option is 1650, which can fit only in the i5 system, but I can't find one for reasonable price. There are literally no other single slot low profile card that can play 4K at all, so I have to literally throw away both of these systems and buy entirely new system, just to get an APU for 4K HDR playback.
    This is exactly the use case that had me recommending the GT 1030 to people looking for a GPU for an SFF Office PC or Home Theater PC that has no iGPU or the iGPU is too slow for 4k60. If someone were only going to be using a 1080p display, a GT 710 would have been a sufficient "low cost" solution and I'm not even sure if the GDDR5 version can do 1440p without lagging, but I do know for certain that the GT 710 DDR4 version is very laggy at it's max resolution of 4k30Hz.

    I'm regretting not grabbing a GT 1030 GDDR5 version when they were selling for $100.
    Reply
  • PiranhaTech
    I love that the GT 1030 exists. They are handy cards, and I have one at my place in case of an emergency. Something going on with the PC and I suspect the GPU? GT 1030.

    I don't get them for gaming rigs, and for a while, Intel video drivers really sucked. In another case, I just needed a way to display video on a 4k monitor. Sometimes you can run into all sorts of trouble with Intel GPUs especially, but the GT 1030 can do it.

    They tend to not be power hungry and lots of them are low profile. Even for gaming, if you play older games, they might work just fine. The GT 1030 also uses like 35 Watts and I think they have an integrated video decoder. I especially like them for Linux boxes
    Reply
  • cryoburner
    PiranhaTech said:
    I love that the GT 1030 exists. They are handy cards, and I have one at my place in case of an emergency. Something going on with the PC and I suspect the GPU? GT 1030.
    If it were a cheap $30 card, that might be a reasonable use for it, but with an original MSRP of $80 (and current pricing often upward of double that), it's probably not a particularly good value to just use as a backup display adapter. Even when it was new, there were already lower-end cards like the GT 710 that could fulfill that role fairly well for less than half the price.

    It might not have been a bad option for someone just wanting basic desktop graphics for a CPU lacking them though, and who was willing to pay a little more for something better than those older models. And maybe even for some low-end gaming, for someone trying to upgrade a prebuilt system with something like a 200 watt PSU that might have trouble supporting anything better.
    Reply
  • InvalidError
    cryoburner said:
    If it were a cheap $30 card, that might be a reasonable use for it, but with an original MSRP of $80 (and current pricing often upward of double that), it's probably not a particularly good value to just use as a backup display adapter. Even when it was new, there were already lower-end cards like the GT 710 that could fulfill that role fairly well for less than half the price.
    A GT710 won't have HDMI2 or DP1.4, which can be an issue for someone wanting to run more 4k60 monitors than his main GPU can handle or wants to spare the main GPU the extra 2-4GB/s of memory bandwidth needed to refresh each extra 4k60 output.
    Reply