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Nvidia releases its GT430
GPU CHIP DESIGNER Nvidia has released its low end Fermi graphics card, the Geforce GT430, to go up against AMD's Radeon HD5570.
The GT430 is primarily aimed at home theatre PCs (HTPCs) that need to decode Blu-ray content on the video card. To that end, the GT430 has support for HDMI 1.4a meaning it can decode Blu-ray 3D content, 24-bit multi-channel audio up to 192KHz, lossless DTS-HD Master audio and Dolby TrueHD audio bit streaming.
The 40nm GF108 96-core GPU chip does support DirectX 11 and Physx, though its pretty clear that gamers aren't who the GT430 is being pitched at. Actually, what is of interest is the thermal design power (TDP) of 49 Watts, which means passively cooled GT430s should tip up pretty soon.
As for how well the card performs, well, it's a bit of a mixed bag if you read a few of the review websites. Anandtech claimed that the GT430's image quality is below that of AMD's Radeon HD5570 although it excels at 3D stereoscopic rendering. Hothardware found that the Radeon HD5570 "provides more horsepower" though the GT430 uses less power. HardOCP compared the card in gaming tests against the Radeon HD5670, finding the AMD board came out on top in three out of four tests.
It should also be noted that AMD's comparable graphics products are almost 10 months old at this stage, meaning that a refresh likely isn't too far off.
HTPC oriented video cards are becoming something of an endangered species, as integrated graphics chips are slowly edging towards the point at which they will be able to cope with decoding high-definition movies. It is probable that the current crop of discrete HTPC cards could well be the last to cater to this market.
Most retailers are listing the Green Goblin's Geforce GT430 on pre-order with prices ranging from £60 to £75. µ
Tags: Nvidia
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With Clarkdale/Arrandale CPUs that have an integrated GPU, it (the GPU) can indeed decode HD videos and bitstream HD audio. That is old news already. Only when it comes to tree-dee HD videos, this nVidia GT430 offering is superior than Intel/ATI offerings. ATI will have an answer to that next week, but dunno when Intel will do the same.
Sandy Bridge IGP will not be able to decode tree-dee HD video either. But are you going to buy any tree-dee Blu-ray/TV anytime soon?
Intel is to graphics what an ice cube is to Italian ice cream.
Intel is and has always been in the last position in graphics performance and functionality.
I do not dispute that Intel may have a chip that, it says, does HTPC stuff. What I say is that Intel has simply never made an integrated GPU that was good for anything more than booting the PC without a proper graphics card.
Tell me that there is an integrated AMD/ATI card, or even an Nvidia one, and I'm interested.
If it's Intel GPU, it's time to go look for a real GPU card.
"HTPC oriented video cards are becoming something of an endangered species, as integrated graphics chips are slowly edging towards the point at which they will be able to cope with decoding high-definition movies. It is probable that the current crop of discrete HTPC cards could well be the last to cater to this market."
Intel's Arrandale/Clarkdale integrated GPUs can already be used to decode HD videos, complete with HD audio bitstreaming too. The same can also be said for any ATI 5xxx integrated GPUs too. The only advantage nVidia GPUs has is the ability to decode tree-dee movies, but the upcoming ATI 6xxx GPU will change that.
Well it's not bad... if im right about the given prices; they didn't really price themselves higher than ATI for very mystireous reasons this time. a bit cheaper, a bit slower... fair deal.
But what the hell did asus do with the cooling there D:
Is that a FAN on this card, one of those pesky, noisy 4cm-fans?