GeForce GT 430: The HTPC Crowd Gets Fermi On A Diet

Features
By
published

After addressing mainstream gamers with the GF106-based GeForce GTS 450, Nvidia is nudging a new GPU into the desktop space, built onto a card seemingly tailor-made for HTPCs. Does the new $79 GeForce GT 430 taste great, or is it just less filling?

Power, Temperature, And Noise Benchmarks

When it comes to power draw, the GeForce GT 430 fares better than Nvidia's GeForce GT 240 by 25 watts under load. At the same time, it is bested by the GeForce GT 220 by 20 watts.

The Radeons fare a little better than their GeForce counterparts here. The new GeForce GT 430 does boast the lowest idle power usage of the cards tested, but this is hardly significant considering the 9 watt spread between contenders.

When you look at those temps, bear in mind that the Radeon boards employ reference cooling. The Asus GeForce GT 430, Gigabyte GeForce GT 240, and Gigabyte GeForce GT 220 all have custom cooling solutions.

The Asus NGTS430's cooler does a fantastic of keeping the GF108 GPU running tepidly at idle, and it does a fine job under load. We also see that the large Gigabyte cooler completely outclasses the tiny GeForce GT 220 GPU.

We’re used to testing graphics cards with coolers that can reach 60 decibels or more. In comparison, all of these products have a very small noise footprint.

Don Woligroski
71 Comments Comment from the forums
  • nforce4max
    Just as I thought it is slower than a GT240.
    Reply
  • fausto
    Anybody use HTPC state side with a satallite/cable provider? cable card? are you able to decode OnDemand and Premium Channels in the United States?

    Because it seems like HTPC's primary options are services like Hulu and Netflix.
    Reply
  • cknobman
    Not impressed.....at all.

    Its not like Nvidia was racing AMD to the market here so I fail to see why they insist on pushing out a product that is not priced competitively.

    Heck Nvidia's new product isnt even priced appropriately against their last generation cards much less AMDs year old offerings.
    Reply
  • christiangordon
    faustoAnybody use HTPC state side with a satallite/cable provider? cable card? are you able to decode OnDemand and Premium Channels in the United States?Because it seems like HTPC's primary options are services like Hulu and Netflix.
    I have used the HTPC cards and they don't work with Sat/ATT companies for OnDemand. They are basically good for 720p 1080p formats
    Reply
  • tmk221
    imho it's not worth anything close to 79$
    Reply
  • rolli59
    Slots in next to HD5570 low profile for small form factor cases with limited size PSU!
    Reply
  • neilnh
    faustoAnybody use HTPC state side with a satallite/cable provider? cable card? are you able to decode OnDemand and Premium Channels in the United States?Because it seems like HTPC's primary options are services like Hulu and Netflix.
    I use my HTPC for OTA HD networks (Fox, ABC, NBC, etc), Hulu, ESPN3, Blu-ray, and DVD-rips. I get HD on most of the shows I watch, and Hulu doesn't look bad for the others. There are very few gaps, but some would care a lot about them... HBO, NFL network, ESPN content that isn't available on ESPN3. Overall though, no monthly fee for all my TV with HD DVR... I like it. Some people use cable cards, but my whole reason for going the HTPC route was to save money, not pay more.
    Reply
  • rohitbaran
    Priced pretty high for its performance.
    Reply
  • ikefu
    The only reason for this card is if you actually watch 3D Bluray, for anything else the 5670 seems way better.

    I have a 55" 3d TV but hate the glasses so much I can't ever see myself using 3D playback. I'd go for 5670 just for the occasional gaming session.
    Reply
  • Onus
    This just shows how good the HD5670 is. And, with GDDR5 versions of the HD5570 available, there's just no reason for this card at this price. Pass.
    Reply