Nvidia Launches The GeForce GT 1030, A Low-End Budget Graphics Card

Nvidia has released a new low-end graphics card in the GeForce GT 1030 for entry-level and budget-minded users. It's the latest GPU within Nvidia's 10 series (all equipped with the Pascal architecture), and is priced around $75.

The GT 1030 provides a little more power than what an integrated graphics processor (IGP) offers and is targeted to those who mainly play less demanding games such as League of Legends or Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. It's also useful for 4K home theater setups, since many older IGPs cannot do 4K.

The GT 1030 itself has 2GB of VRAM, a 64-bit memory interface, 384 CUDA cores, and includes ports for HDMI, DVI, and DisplayPort. Its small form factor of 4.7 by 6.7 inches makes it easier to fit into compact systems, and the 30 watt power draw means it doesn't need much juice. Reference models have a 1468MHz boost clock speed. However, there are many different SKUs from several manufacturers, some offering fanless passive cooling solutions and higher core clocks.

AMD's low-end graphics card--the Radeon RX 550--is priced around $80 and features 2GB VRAM, a 128-bit memory interface, and a core clock around 1200MHz depending on the SKU.

AMD is also set to reveal the upcoming Vega line of GPUs on May 31 during Computex, so stayed tuned to our coverage on the latest in PC hardware. For now, check out our reviews of the newest graphics cards from AMD (the RX 580 and RX 570) and Nvidia (the GTX 1080 Ti).