Should I get the GT 1030?

jp123

I have been reading mixed reports in the forum when I search "1030".

I have a Dell Optiplex 3020 MT and I am looking for a graphics card that will work well with Batocera and Dolphin-emu in particular.

The GT 1030 seems to be great option for a low-power card, but I want to confirm that it will work with Batocera first.

Are there any GT 1030 users who can confirm?

Otherwise, any Optiplex 3020 users who can suggest a different card? Another option is the GTX750ti. Any experience with that?

Thanks!

joinski

jp123
Don't know about the GT 1030 but the GTX750Ti runs fine with dolphin.
Only struggles with Citra (3DS).

metal_slugger

I just got a used low-profile GTX 1050 TI 4GB GDDR5 (MPN: GV-N105TOC-4GL) for Batocera Dolphin / PS2 etc, it's the best NVIDIA GPU you can get with low wattage requirements (works off the PCIe slot alone) and fits in slim cases. It works perfect with Batocera just remember to edit the cfg file to allow NVIDIA drivers of course. Full height version is a bit cheaper too if you can fit that one. The specs are significantly better than a 1030. I got the Gigabyte version as it's supposedly the quietest one and I can vouch that it is very quiet (pretty much silent even though it has one small fan). If you get one of these make sure you don't get the DDR4 revision, which NVIDIA seriously ham-strung with cheaper RAM but tried to sell at a similar price. I was considering a 1030 before-hand but realised the 1050 TI would be more future-proof and can even play modern PC games at reasonable detail levels if I want to do that later. I have read reports that it can run off a 240w PSU, but I upgraded my PSU to a sff 300w as it was very cheap

jp123

Thanks. I have a Dell Optiplex 3020 MT, which I bought specifically to use with a graphics card for Batocera. (It works quite well with the integrated Intel HD 4600, but the frame-rate drops significantly in certain games - like any scene Twilight Princess where there is fog.)

It has a 290W PSU, but cannot support a card that needs additional power (i.e. it can only power a card that uses PCI - like the 1050 that you describe).

I have been wary about getting anything more powerful than the 750 ti, since I'm concerned that it will require too much power, but that is really good to hear your experience - that the 1050 TI will work on a 300W PSU and plays nicely with Batocera (with that ndivida config edit that you mentioned - thank you for saving me a google search with that tip).

Is this the card that you are referring to?
https://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Geforce-Profile-Graphic-GV-N105TOC-4GL/dp/B06WWLWWJM?th=1

It's a little pricey. (I paid less for the PC)

But, maybe I can find it used.

If I did want to go with the 1030 instead, do you think that it's the same architecture such that it would work with the same drivers, etc?

When I search this forum for "1030" I saw some reports that EmulationStation did not work well with it. And there is a RecalBox compatibility page that also suggests that the 1030 is not usable. And I have not been able to find any place where somebody has used the 1030 and said that it worked.

I guess I could be the first to experiment... but would be nice to have an idea of whether it's worth trying first.

Anyway, thanks for the helpful info!

metal_slugger

290w is perfectly adequate for a 1050 TI. Yes it's quite expensive new, I waited it out for a month or so until I found a second hand one on Ebay for £90 (my PC cost £55), at which price it is great value, it has been certified VR capable by Oculus! I don't have experience of a 1030, I have seen a few youtube videos of that emulating Dreamcast and Gamecube fine, I just knew I would regret not spending the extra £30 price difference between a new 1030 and used 1050 TI further down the line for more demanding usage. Yes that link is my card, if I am correct in thinking that your PC case is full size then you can get a used full-height 1050 which is a bit cheaper than my low profile one which are less common, there are many variations of the full height card made by Gigabyte, Asus, MSI, PNY, Zotac, EVGA etc
You should be able to find some youtube video of 1030 used for recalbox / batocera etc. I don't think you'll have any driver issues with it and if PSP / DC / GC (maybe PS2?) is as far as you want to go it should be fine as long as your CPU is adequate

MrCoffee

I built my pc on the cheap with a Dell Optiplex 980 sff , I3 2100 and a R7 250 2gb ddr3 OEM.
the pc was about $40 used and the video card was only $12 bucks on ebay.
The R7 250 runs Dolphin fine . Its not as fast as a 1030 but its not slow,, more or less on par with a hd 7750/7730, but for 12 bucks im happy with it.