Gigabyte GeForce GT 1030 GV-N1030D5-2GL Low Profile 2G Computer Graphics Card

I purchased this to upgrade my older rig- while my "main" PC is in my office, my "old" PC is in my living room- so it does get quite a lot of use. I tend to play fairly easy-to-run games on the PC in question, but even still, the MSI R7 250 2GB DDR3 inside was struggling.Fable Anniversary could barely pull down 30FPS on medium settings. Wolfenstein The New Order/The Old Blood would be at 25-30FPS on low/medium settings. Even Crusader Kings II, Hearts of Iron III/IV, and Stellaris ran at sub-60FPS on low/medium settings.I purchased the GT 1030 to remedy these faults, and boy, was I not disappointed. 60+ FPS on Fable Anniversary on max settings. Steady 55-60FPS on Wolfenstein on max (okay, very close to max) settings. Paradox games went from a 20-25FPS to well over 70. I was quite shocked by the latter.To wrap up my review of its performance- let's talk over clocking. Once (basic) drivers are installed via the included CD, a built in clock control program is also installed. It is easier to use than Afterburner, having safe presets- but does not allow for as much control until specifically placed in "professional" mode. Otherwise, the clock speeds are just fine for a 69 dollar card. On top of that, the VRAM is DDR5- a massive upgrade for those still running DDR3 VRAM.As to the more physical nature of the card- wow, is it tiny. Less than half the size of my replaced R7 250, probably a quarter of the size of the 1070 in my main computer. Far lighter as well.Installation was simple, as it only draws power directly from the PCI slot/motherboard. Speaking of power- this thing barely draws any. Can't recall exactly, but I know that it's a minuscule amount. As long as you have a 300-350W power supply, you'll be fine.Be warned- given the size, this card only produces ONE DVI port and ONE HDMI port. That's it. Just something to think about. I was a bit surprised they didn't put a VGA slot on a card NVIDIA is touting as the answer to every budget gamer's needs- but I digress. I suppose even HDMI-sporting monitors/TVs are cheap nowadays.Card is whisper silent, although the first time I installed it, it spun hard and fast for a few minutes, and made considerable noise- don't freak out if that happens. She has great thermals, but I do have an overkill cooling setup in this PC, so results there are probably skewed for the average person who isn't obsessed with cooling.Anyways, a $69, low-profile, Pascal-based, NVIDIA GPU? It's not too good to be true. Give it a shot if you're on a budget, have power or size restrictions,or even if you're just an NVIDIA or GPU enthusiast. It won't replace your 1070, but it will definitely surprise you- especially given its small form factor and low power draw.Just a quick side note before I stop rambling- don't ask me how but- I'm pretty positive NVIDIA will be releasing a GT 1040 soon, perhaps by the end of the year. For those that aren't in a rush- perhaps wait for that?

The media could not be loaded. Ive had this card since november 16 and so far the quality is great. When it came it was complete free of any scuffs, scratches, or any physical downgrades. The cooling is sort of mid but it does work well for such a small card (under load it sits around 60-75 degrees celcuis). It can handle light games at 1080p pretty well such as GTA IV (paired with i5-6500) at around 90-110 FPS medium settings, and GTA V custom settings if you tweak it around enough youll get 50-60 FPS. The card looks exactly like the picture and id say its worth the $59 that I bought it for but for the price right now at $75 id say its mid worth the value. Overall would recommend for light games/working.

Review for: GIGABYTE GeForce GT 1030 Single Slot Low Profile (skinny, short)Greetings everyone,In Part 1 we will show the result of noise testing, and in Part 2 we will note what this special unique card is best suited for.PART #1: SUMMARY OF NOISE TESTING:-----------------------------------------------GOAL:We want the fan to keep the Graphics Card GPU at or under 82-87C. This is 10-15C cooler than the max GPU temp (Tmax).TEST ENVIRONMENT:- SMALL COMPUTER CASE with lots of air venting (a worst case case for noise)- NO OTHER FANS in the case other than CPU fan- GPU at 100% loadRESULTS:(1)33%-50% fan speeds all result in 79C, nearly silent 2'+ away55% fan speed result in 78C, and still quiet enough for under desk65% fan speed result in 75C, Audible 4'+ away, OKish under desk75% fan speed result in 70C, Audible 4'+ away, audible under desk80% fan speed is MUCH noisier than even 75%(2)I CHOSE TO MOSTLY RUN AT 33% fan speed (lowest settable) since at 79C we are still well under the 82-87C goal. At that fan speed it is INAUDIBLE UNDER THE DESK.33% Fan Speed translates to 1,940-2,090 RPM.Side Note:I would think in a mostly enclosed case it would be mostly silent on desk at 33% fan speed.(4)DON'T use AUTO to set fan speed as it prioritizes temperature over any concern for noise. AUTO can result in extremely high fan speed (ex: 85%) even when entirely unnecessary.Instead use MANUAL or even better CUSTOMIZED.CUSTOMIZED is set using the free GIGABYTE AORUS engine application (it's quite simple to use). I set customized as follows:- 33% fan speed (lowest possible) until 82C- 55% fan speed 83C-87C- 95% fan speed 88C-100C(5)Remember that a video card pegged at GPU 100% load can generate different heat profiles depending on what it is doing, such as different games and workloads. It's not always the same heat profile even at a fixed GPU 100% load. Thus, 33% fan speed may or may not be adequate for your particular needs.(6)Based on all of this, if your new GIGABYTE GeForce GT 1030 card is quite noisy at low fan speeds like 55% fan speed then you may have a lemon and should exchange it. You will be doing GIGABYTE a favor, they have no desire that lemons make it to the customer.SPECIAL FAN SPEED NOTES:In case max fan speed or fan speed % calculations change, here are the RPMs found associated with different % fan speeds on this card.% _____ RPM----------------33% ___ 1,940-2,09035% ___40% ___ 2,09045% ___ 2,25050% ___ 2,50055% ___ 2,75060% ___ 3,00065% ___ 3,25070% ___ 3,50075% ___ 3,750PART #2: WHAT'S THIS CARD BEST FOR?-----------------------------------------------What's special about this card is how remarkably skinny and short it is given its graphics power (SINGLE SLOT, LOW PROFILE). This allows a whole different level of graphics power for many small cases that couldn't otherwise fit anything near its graphics capability.If you have a bit more space, such as double-slot or standard profile height, you might consider instead using FANLESS GT 1030 options, or for a bit more money up the graphics power a bit and go for at least the GeForce GT 1050 level cards or its AMD equivalents.Keep in mind this card has 2 GB on it, which is plenty for many uses but can be quite limiting for some more demanding uses like video editing.Hope that helps!Best Regards,Neil