nVidia GTX 1030 for 1080p and madVR

[tony359]

Hi there,

I've landed here looking for info on a GTX1030.

I am putting together a new HTPC with a Ryzen 3. My display setup is currently just 720p but planning to upgrade to 1080p soon. 4K is not on my roadmap yet.
I am using MPC-HC with MadVR and 3DLUT calibration. I am looking for a GPU capable of dealing with some 'must have' MadVR features - not sure what to be honest as my current setup cannot handle anything but the basic settings. I've tried the sharpening and edge enhancing filters on my main PC and I guess they may qualify for the 'must have' ones. Not sure what else would be nice to have enabled, considering I would be running BD 1080p content.

(Huhn, the reason I am a little vague here is that my current system does barely allow to run 'plain' madVR and so I do not know if there is a filter that I really would like. What I don't want is to put together my HTPC and then find the GPU is not up to the <put a name here> filter which would make my picture so much better!)

I could go with a 1050 but the only passive model I found is too tall for my case. The 1030 is also much cheaper!

Most of the comments on this thread are for 4K and HDR. Any thoughts on regular 1080p content with madVR and some good filters enabled?

Huhn mentioned an issue with 3DLUT - I may have encountered it using my little Lattepanda (sort of NUC) but I've only seen that every now and then and to be honest I blamed the very low power of my Atom.

Any thoughts appreciated!
Tony

[huhn]

1080p at 1080p is relative simply this comes mostly down to chroma.

alternatively you can get i3 and use the iGPU for the time it ok for 1080p playback.

is the case chosen already? because you can literally passive cool most 65 watt TDP cpu in a big case where a 1050 easily fits.

[tony359]

Hi,
Thanks for your help!
I have chosen a Silverstone GD05 - which is not too small, the max height is 124mm. The only fanless 1050 is quite tall at 142mm and I really would like to avoid a larger case.
I was also thinking of sourcing a 'quiet' 1050, some models do not spin the fan until the temperature reaches 50 degrees and maybe I can find one which has a quiet fan - or replace it with a good one.

http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=241

May I ask what you mean with "down to chroma"? Do you refer to the Chroma Doubling feature of MadVR?

[huhn]

chroma scaling.

most people don't see a difference between this and your TV plays a huge role for this too. literally every TV is sub sampling in default mode which makes chroma scalers less worth it.

just get an active GPU you need a CPU cooler anyway and a good GPU cooler isn't more noise as a CPU cooler.

[tony359]

my HTPC is going to be quite close to me unfortunately so while I appreciate you can source very quiet fans, the fanless idea was appealing!
If you do recommend a 1050 over a 1030, I'll source the quietest one.

[huhn]

a silent performance PC is not possibile with that case if you ask me.

and modern GPU are not really load with madVR typical loads.

[tony359]

It features 3x120mm fans, shouldn't be tough to make it quiet - not silent. I have very limited space unfortunately. And again, I'm just running 1080p - with some filters? I just want a GPU which is not going to run 100% when all is up and running. I'll see if I can find a 1050 with a quiet fan, idle up to 50°C and with adjustable speeds.

[nsnhd]

A gtx 1050ti is the safest right now, maybe with a fanless or low-profile version. It will give you more headrooms to run madVR filters.

[tony359]

thanks - I'd love to go with a fanless 1050 but the only one available is too tall for the case. Why are you recommending a low-profile version? Would that give me any advantage on noise at all? I can fit a standard size card in the case. My plan would be to find one with a quiet fan - one that does not make the usual ticking noise - and maybe tweak it via software so it doesn't spin unless a specific temperature has been reached.

[nsnhd]

If a normal card is too tall then you have to look for a low profile one. Avoid 2gb vram cards as being warned in the forum here.

[tony359]

normal cards are ok. It's the fanless which is insanely tall! So you recommend a 4GB card - regardless of the chip being used?

[huhn]

no for 1080p content and 1080p output 2 GB are ok AFAIK.

i know that NGU can take more Vram but not sure how much that is for 1080p and you are not looking into GPU that can really super sample anyway so this should be save.

[tony359]

It seems the MSI Gaming X are the ones. They look to be quiet and the fans can be configured to stop spinning below 60 degrees - there also seem to be quite a number of features to adjust the fan speed and power limits. Also MSI claims they put some efforts into the noise levels of the cards - I'll verify that online later.

MSI are not the cheapest and there is some difference between 1050 and 1050Ti (2 and 4GB) - I'd rather go for the cheapest version to be honest (1050 2GB) with your permission! :)

[huhn]

1050 ti and 1050 are very different cards the 1050 ti has about 33% more processing power.
you have to know if you want the extra processing power.
both will work at 1080p.

looks like msi is doing a good job this time: https://www.computerbase.de/2017-01/geforce-gtx-1050-ti-asus-strix-msi-gaming-test/3/

no time to look deeper into it.

and there is something important always ask at least 2 person if it comes down to PC hardware. i don't have personal experience with this hardware only with a 760, r9 270, 960, rX 480 and 1060.

[tony359]

I know, but if you keep asking you'll also find someone who found a bug or a glitch and then I'll spend the next 7 nights browsing... :D

I'll check the link later - thanks for that!

Uhm... I'm not doing any gaming. Maybe the extra 30-ish quid could be a good investment on a machine which is supposed to last several years?

Edit: Oh well, the Ti doesn't fit the case :D
Edit2: must have been blind, neither fit. I can see a trend here, I'll see if I can find a different case...

[takenori]

all gtx10 fan's wouldnt running until they hit a certain temp. but im afraid the obly fanless model would be gtx1030

looking at your case (GD05), pcpartpicker said they ll fit gpu as long as a 10+inch, so basically any 10 series would fit in here even the 1080ti

and this is their list of the smallest possible gtx10s cards
https://pcpartpicker.com/products/video-card/#sort=-chipset&c=379,380,378,373,369,367,390,130,165,221,173,392,391&l=69,152

[huhn]

1050/1050 ti don't have a problem with length they have a different problem and the case is really bad for passive cooler so just take a active card.

you will not get a KalmX in that case.

[tony359]

takenori
The MSI 1050's are too tall for that case. I ended up with a GD09 - similar dimensions but 2cm taller - and a MSI 1050ti. That should be plenty for all my needs. I'll let you know how it goes! :)

Thank you for all the help!

[tony359]

Hi there,
A little update - it's the least I can do after the help received, so hopefully it helps others looking for the same question.
The 1050 is truly quiet. Fans don't spin below 60°C and when the temperature finally goes over 60°C they spin at 25% which is perfectly enough to maintain the temp or even bring it down below 60°C where they stop again. I could only have the fans spinning at 35% with the whole PC running at 100% (CPU and GPU) and the chip still wouldn't go beyong 63°C!
So, noise-wise, this is a win. The whole HTPC is way quieter than the videoprojetor in the room. Quieter = I cannot hear it.
Performance-wise I am still performing tests. I am a little... puzzled? that my GTX460 (7 years old) can still beat the 1050Ti on Physics and that some benchmark are only twice as fast on the 1050Ti. That said, the 460 is on a (7 years old) i7 and the 1050Ti is on a Ryzen 3. But preliminary tests tell me that the R3 is matching the i7-7600K.

[takenori]

nice temp there.
regarding the bench, i dont really know much and im not an expert, though im pretty sure that 6700k got more thread and clock per core. but how does your 1050 perform compared to the other 1050?

[tony359]

Good point. Struggling to find a free benchmark suit though. I'll investigate.
Re. the Ryzen, I've converted an ISO file into H265 on both machines with Handbrake. The i7 using 8 threads, the Ryzen only 4. It took exactly the same time (58 minutes and some seconds).

[takenori]

the free and simplest app and with online comparison would be the free ver. of 3dmark and cpu-z

[tony359]

that's what I used. The free version does not allow to upload and compare but I guess I could just compare the numbers manually, you're right.

[tony359]

Ok, my 1050Ti checks out - a it 's 5th out of 14 tests with the same system. Puzzles me that my 460 performs better on Physics then. It's SEVEN years old!

[nevcairiel]

Physics is a CPU test.

[tony359]

ah, that's the trick. I assumed it referred to the nVidia Physx - I was wrong.
Ok, it makes sense now that an old i7 outperformed the cheapest Ryzen available.

Cheers.

[JarrettH]

I can run NGU-Sharp medium (luma) + super-xbr (chroma), smooth motion on, debanding low (any higher eats away detail), most trade settings off - this on a GT 730 + Intel Sandy Bridge processor, going from 720p to 1080p (1.5x). I don't think you have anything to worry about. Make sure it comes with GDDR5 memory and not lots of slow memory, which is sometimes stocked, or used to be, on low-end cards.

For BD 1080p, the only thing I would do is change the chroma scaling algorithm to something high-end like NGU-AA medium or high. It won't be that taxing still. Debanding is like a <1 ms hit, smooth motion 2-3 ms. These aren't performance hungry features.

[tony359]

Thanks for your input!
I have already purchased a 1050Ti to be on the safe side and I feel happy with that. The card is running at 5% with regular movies: that gives me peace of mind and no need to worry about temperatures.
I still need to try a better Chroma scaling and I never heard of Debanding - I'll check that out.
Thx!