GeForce GTS 160M vs GT 1030

Place in the ranking	576	925
Place by popularity	36	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	2.31	no data
Power efficiency	14.57	2.01
Architecture	Pascal (2016−2021)	Tesla (2006−2010)
GPU code name	GP108	G94
Market segment	Desktop	Laptop
Release date	17 May 2017 (7 years ago)	3 March 2009 (15 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$79	no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

Detailed specifications

General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores	384	64
Core clock speed	1228 MHz	600 MHz
Boost clock speed	1468 MHz	no data
Number of transistors	1,800 million	505 million
Manufacturing process technology	14 nm	65 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	30 Watt	60 Watt
Texture fill rate	35.23	19.20
Floating-point processing power	1.127 TFLOPS	0.192 TFLOPS
Gigaflops	no data	288
ROPs	16	16
TMUs	24	32

Form factor & compatibility

Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).

Laptop size	no data	large
Bus support	no data	PCI-E 2.0
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x4	PCIe 2.0 x16
Length	145 mm	no data
Width	1-slot	no data
Supplementary power connectors	None	no data
SLI options	-	2-way
MXM Type	no data	MXM 3.0 Type-B

VRAM capacity and type

Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.

Memory type	GDDR5	GDDR3
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	1 GB
Memory bus width	64 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	1502 MHz	Up to 800 MHz
Memory bandwidth	48.06 GB/s	51 GB/s
Shared memory	-	-

Connectivity and outputs

Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.

Display Connectors	1x DVI, 1x HDMI	VGADisplayPortDual Link DVIHDMILVDSSingle Link DVI
HDMI	+	+
Maximum VGA resolution	no data	2048x1536
G-SYNC support	+	-
Audio input for HDMI	no data	S/PDIF

Supported technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

Power management	no data	8.0
VR Ready	+	no data

API compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX	12 (12_1)	11.1 (10_0)
Shader Model	6.4	4.0
OpenGL	4.6	2.1
OpenCL	1.2	1.1
Vulkan	1.2.131	N/A
CUDA	6.1	+

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

GT 1030 6.37
+262%

GTS 160M 1.76

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.

GT 1030 2454
+262%

GTS 160M 678

3DMark Vantage Performance

3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.

GT 1030 20192
+409%

GTS 160M 3965

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

Average FPS across all PC games

Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:

Full HD	24 +300%	6−7 −300%
1440p	23 +283%	6−7 −283%
4K	8 +300%	2−3 −300%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	3.29	no data
1440p	3.43	no data
4K	9.88	no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

15
+275%

4−5

−275%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	18 +157%	7−8 −157%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	8−9 +300%	2−3 −300%
Battlefield 5	22	0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	18 +260%	5−6 −260%
Cyberpunk 2077	11 +175%	4−5 −175%
Far Cry 5	21 +600%	3−4 −600%
Far Cry New Dawn	27 +575%	4−5 −575%
Forza Horizon 4	93 +1450%	6−7 −1450%
Hitman 3	16 +167%	6−7 −167%
Horizon Zero Dawn	152 +850%	16−18 −850%
Metro Exodus	26 +271%	7−8 −271%
Red Dead Redemption 2	31 +933%	3−4 −933%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	37 +311%	9−10 −311%
Watch Dogs: Legion	93 +174%	30−35 −174%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	24 +243%	7−8 −243%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	8−9 +300%	2−3 −300%
Battlefield 5	18−20	0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	16 +220%	5−6 −220%
Cyberpunk 2077	7 +75%	4−5 −75%
Far Cry 5	14−16 +367%	3−4 −367%
Far Cry New Dawn	20 +400%	4−5 −400%
Forza Horizon 4	84 +1300%	6−7 −1300%
Hitman 3	15 +150%	6−7 −150%
Horizon Zero Dawn	123 +669%	16−18 −669%
Metro Exodus	20 +300%	5−6 −300%
Red Dead Redemption 2	15 +400%	3−4 −400%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	19 +111%	9−10 −111%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	20−22 +66.7%	12−14 −66.7%
Watch Dogs: Legion	84 +147%	30−35 −147%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	7 +0%	7−8 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	8−9 +300%	2−3 −300%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	5 +0%	5−6 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−11 +150%	4−5 −150%
Far Cry 5	14−16 +367%	3−4 −367%
Forza Horizon 4	16 +167%	6−7 −167%
Hitman 3	12−14 +117%	6−7 −117%
Horizon Zero Dawn	19 +18.8%	16−18 −18.8%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	16 +77.8%	9−10 −77.8%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	12 +0%	12−14 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	6 −467%	30−35 +467%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

19
+533%

3−4

−533%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	12−14 +500%	2−3 −500%
Far Cry New Dawn	10−11 +233%	3−4 −233%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	6−7 +500%	1−2 −500%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	2−3	0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	6−7 +500%	1−2 −500%
Cyberpunk 2077	3−4 +200%	1−2 −200%
Far Cry 5	7−8 +250%	2−3 −250%
Forza Horizon 4	20−22 +300%	5−6 −300%
Hitman 3	10−11 +42.9%	7−8 −42.9%
Horizon Zero Dawn	14 +180%	5−6 −180%
Metro Exodus	6−7 +500%	1−2 −500%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	11 +267%	3−4 −267%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	5−6 +400%	1−2 −400%
Watch Dogs: Legion	48 +433%	9−10 −433%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

10−12
+120%

5−6

−120%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	5−6 +400%	1−2 −400%
Far Cry New Dawn	4 +300%	1−2 −300%
Hitman 3	3−4	0−1
Horizon Zero Dawn	16−18 +325%	4−5 −325%
Metro Exodus	3−4	0−1
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	3−4	0−1

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	1 −100%	2−3 +100%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	3−4 +200%	1−2 −200%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	3−4	0−1
Cyberpunk 2077	0−1	0−1
Far Cry 5	3−4 +200%	1−2 −200%
Forza Horizon 4	7 +600%	1−2 −600%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	6 +500%	1−2 −500%
Watch Dogs: Legion	2−3	0−1

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

7−8
+133%

3−4

−133%

This is how GT 1030 and GTS 160M compete in popular games:

GT 1030 is 300% faster in 1080p
GT 1030 is 283% faster in 1440p
GT 1030 is 300% faster in 4K

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

in Forza Horizon 4, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the GT 1030 is 1450% faster.
in Watch Dogs: Legion, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the GTS 160M is 467% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

GT 1030 is ahead in 46 tests (90%)
GTS 160M is ahead in 2 tests (4%)
there's a draw in 3 tests (6%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	6.37	1.76
Recency	17 May 2017	3 March 2009
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	1 GB
Chip lithography	14 nm	65 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	30 Watt	60 Watt

GT 1030 has a 261.9% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 8 years, a 300% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 364.3% more advanced lithography process, and 100% lower power consumption.

The GeForce GT 1030 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTS 160M in performance tests.

Be aware that GeForce GT 1030 is a desktop card while GeForce GTS 160M is a notebook one.

Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.