Final thoughts and rating

NVIDIA's release of the GeForce GT 430 GPU is interesting insofar as it's the first partner-produced Fermi product that's not designed as a gamer's card. Rather, given the reductions in architecture needed to hit a £60 retail price point, the GT 430 is positioned as a step-up from integrated graphics - suitable for basic gaming at a 1,280x1,024 resolution and, importantly, a good fit for a multimedia-focused PC.

Partners are likely produce a slew of half-height GT 430 cards designed for small-form-factor PC chassis. The low-power nature of the GT 430 means that a few solutions will have passive cooling, which is a boon for folk looking to build a quiet PC.

We advise gamers to spend a little more cash and purchase a proper gaming card - something like a Radeon HD 5670 or the cheapest GeForce GTS 450 - because the difference in performance is immediate and tangible. GT 430 has rather better credentials with respect to multimedia usage, and HTPC buffs would do well to put it on their short-list.

Perhaps more importantly for NVIDIA, it now has a mainstream card that comfortably matches AMD's Radeon 5500-series GPUs on features and price, and that's hugely important when pitching to Dell and HP for inclusion in their next iteration of low-to-mid-range PCs.

Looking specifically at the reviewed ASUS ENGT430, due to retail for £60, we feel that the company misses a step by opting for an active-cooled heatsink that's also a little on the porky side.

The Good

Full feature-set. HDMI v1.4, PureVideo VP4, DX11
Can be designed with a low profile PCB and passive heatsink
Backed up by NVIDIA's CUDA-driven ecosystem

The Bad

ASUS card uses an active cooler
GT 430 would make a lot more sense at the magic figure of £49.99
Not a gamer's card

HEXUS Rating

ASUS GeForce GT 430 (ENGT430)

HEXUS Where2Buy

TBC.

HEXUS Right2Reply

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Looking specifically at the reviewed ASUS ENGT430, due to retail for £60, we feel that the company misses a step by opting for an active-cooled heatsink that's also a little on the porky side.

Judging by Scan's GT430 listings that statement has two minor flaws… firstly, the 1GB ASUS GT430 is listed for pre-order at almost £70, and secondly the only passive card on show is a zotac with a full height, dual slot heatsink: it would appear that the GT430 needs considerable assistance to keep cool…

tbh, I'm utterly underwhelmed by this. The GTX460 was a great card, and we all thought it signalled the start of great things for nvidia. Since then we've had the adequate but unspectacular GTS450, which keeps pace with its direct AMD competition without threatening to outshine them, and now the GT430, which looks like it will barely keep touch with the 55x0s, and falls well behind the 5670 which starts at just £10 more (for a 512MB model, admittedly, although that's enough memory at the gaming resolutions these cards target). I know we were spoiled with the great exchange rates we got at the same time that the 4-series and GTX200s launched, but I've yet to see a compelling argument for buying anything other than a 4670 in this price range…

incidentally, I know you've mentioned some of the reasons for the comparison GPU choice in this article, but tbh the comparison GPUs make little sense (other than the 5670). Using a non-standard 5550 with twice the normal memory bandwidth makes it hard to know how this genuinely competes with its direct price competitor; the lack of a 5570 which starts at just over £60 seems unwise, and it would've been nice to see if it was an improvement over the previous generation 4670 and GT240. Basically the review lacks any card with which to make a meaningful direct comparison. Any chance of retesting or adding those cards to the mix at any point?

may i also suggest adding a 5450 to the mix as well? to compare with AMD`s cheapest offering

scaryjim
Judging by Scan's GT430 listings that statement has two minor flaws… firstly, the 1GB ASUS GT430 is listed for pre-order at almost £70, and secondly the only passive card on show is a zotac with a full height, dual slot heatsink: it would appear that the GT430 needs considerable assistance to keep cool…

tbh, I'm utterly underwhelmed by this. The GTX460 was a great card, and we all thought it signalled the start of great things for nvidia. Since then we've had the adequate but unspectacular GTS450, which keeps pace with its direct AMD competition without threatening to outshine them, and now the GT430, which looks like it will barely keep touch with the 55x0s, and falls well behind the 5670 which starts at just £10 more (for a 512MB model, admittedly, although that's enough memory at the gaming resolutions these cards target). I know we were spoiled with the great exchange rates we got at the same time that the 4-series and GTX200s launched, but I've yet to see a compelling argument for buying anything other than a 4670 in this price range…

incidentally, I know you've mentioned some of the reasons for the comparison GPU choice in this article, but tbh the comparison GPUs make little sense (other than the 5670). Using a non-standard 5550 with twice the normal memory bandwidth makes it hard to know how this genuinely competes with its direct price competitor; the lack of a 5570 which starts at just over £60 seems unwise, and it would've been nice to see if it was an improvement over the previous generation 4670 and GT240. Basically the review lacks any card with which to make a meaningful direct comparison. Any chance of retesting or adding those cards to the mix at any point?

Writing reviews before an official launch is always difficult from a pricing perspective. We have to go with what the manufacturer offers as a U.S. dollar price and then cross-check it against existing GPUs from the likes of Newegg.

NVIDIA was adamant that a number of partners would be releasing passive-cooled cards from the get-go.

Testing is an ongoing business and we'll take your comments on board. Indeed, we have a few partner cards in and will add comparison results from lower in the Radeon 5000 range with the aim of fleshing out the picture.

HalloweenJack
may i also suggest adding a 5470 to the mix as well? to compare with AMD`s cheapest offering

Will do, as above. :)

Tarinder
Writing reviews before an official launch is always difficult from a pricing perspective.

Fair enough: does this mean you were time constrained preparing this review then? I suspect you're aware that I'm generally a fan of Hexus (and your!) reviews, but this one just felt either rushed or half-hearted.

Tarinder
NVIDIA was adamant that a number of partners would be releasing passive-cooled cards from the get-go.

Really? I'll be interested to see that when (if?) they turn up in retail :D

Tarinder
Testing is an ongoing business and we'll take your comments on board. Indeed, we have a few partner cards in and will add comparison results from lower in the Radeon 5000 range with the aim of fleshing out the picture.

Good stuff - I look forward to seeing them.