NVIDIA GeForce GT 1030 (Desktop) vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2050 Mobile vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Max-Q

NVIDIA GeForce GT 1030 (Desktop)

The Nvidia GeForce GT 1030 (sometime GTX 1030 called) is an entry level dedicated graphics card for desktops. It is based on the GP108 chip using the Pascal architecture in 14nm FinFET. It features three streaming multiprocessors (SMs) and therefore 384 shader cores, 24 texture units and 16 ROPs. The 2 GB GDDR5 memory are connected with two 32 Bit memory controller (48 GBit/s). The shaders are identical to other Pascal cards like the GTX 1050 and therefore also the support for DirectX 12 FL 12_1.

The performance is slightly below the Radeon RX 550 from AMD and therefore only suited for low to medium detail settings of modern games like Battlefield 1.

The TDP of the GT1030 is specified as 30 Watt.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2050 Mobile

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2050 for laptops (GN20-S7) is a fast mid-range gaming graphics card for laptops. The RTX 2050 is based on the modern Ampere GA107 chip (like the RTX 3050) which is manufactured on an 8nm Samsung process (8N). Compared to the similar GeForce MX570, the RTX2050 offers Raytracing and DLSS support.

Compared to the old Geforce RTX 2060 Mobile, the 2050 offers more shaders (2,048) but a greatly reduced memory bus (64 Bit). It is available in different versions with with TGPs ranging from 30 to 45 Watt. The maximum boost clock ranges from 1155 to 1477 MHz. It features up to 4 GB GDDR6 graphics memory (14 Gbps leading to 112 GB/s max throughput).

The gaming performance of the mobile RTX 2050 should be clearly lower than the RTX 2060 thanks to the greatly reduced graphics memory bus. First benchmarks position a fast version slightly above a GeForce GTX 1650 and on the same level of a GeForce MX570. However, games that support DLSS can offer clear performance advantages thanks to the Tensor cores.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Max-Q

The Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 with Max-Q design is a mainstream GPU based on the Pascal architecture and was announced in January 2018. Contrary to the faster models, the GTX 1050 uses the GP107 chip, which is manufactured in a 14 nm process at Samsung.

The clock is not the only difference compared to the regular GTX 1050 though. The drivers for the Max-Q version were optimized for efficiency (and not performance; only for Max-Q models), there are optimized voltage converters for 1V operation, high-end cooling methods, and a 40 dB limit for the fan noise (with clock adjustments to ensure this at all times).

Features

The GP107 chip is manufactured in a 14 nm FinFET process at Samsung and offers a number of new features, including support for DisplayPort 1.4 (ready), HDMI 2.0b, HDR, Simultaneous Multi-Projection (SMP) as well as improved H.265 video de- and encoding (PlayReady 3.0). A full list of improvements and the new Pascal desktop GPUs is available in our dedicated Pascal architecture article.

Performance

The performance of the GeForce GTX 1050 Max-Q should be around 10-15 % below a regular GTX 1050 for laptops. This means the GPU is most suited for full HD gaming at high settings (not maximum).

Power Consumption

The power consumption of the GeForce GTX 1050 Max-Q is rated at 34 to 40 Watt and therefore significantly lower than the normal laptop GTX 1050 (53 Watt). Therefore, the Max-Q variant is also suited for thin and light laptops.