NVIDIA GeForce GT 1030 (Desktop) vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2050 Mobile vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 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 1080 Max-Q

The Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 with the Max-Q design is a mobile high-end GPU from the Pascal series. It is designed for thin and light laptops and about 10-15% slower than a regular GTX 1080 for laptops based on the cooling capabilities. The base frequency (1101-1290 MHz) is also much lower than on the regular GTX 1080 (1566 MHz, at least -18%) and the Boost (1278-1458 MHz) is also much lower compared to 1733 MHz (at least -16%) for the regular GTX 1080. The memory clock, however, is identical.

The clock is not the only difference compared to the regular GTX 1080 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).

The performance is nearer to the normal (Max-P) GeForce GTX 1070 than to then GTX 1080 (at least in the Asus Zephyrus). Therefore, most demanding games should be playable in full HD and maximum detail settings (see game benchmarks below).

Features

The GP104 chip is manufactured in 16nm FinFET process at TSMC and offers a range of new features. DisplayPort 1.4 (ready), HDMI 2.0b, HDR, Simultaneous Multi-Projection (SMP), improved H.265 video en- and decoders (for PlayReady 3.0) are only some of the improvements. See our detailed Pascal architecture article for more details.

The power consumption of the Max-Q design is notably lower than the normal GTX 1080 for laptops and ranges between 90 and 110 Watt (TGP) according to Nvidia.