GeForce GT 1030 vs GTX 680

Place in the ranking	360	576
Place by popularity	not in top-100	36
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	3.04	2.31
Power efficiency	5.09	14.58
Architecture	Kepler (2012−2018)	Pascal (2016−2021)
GPU code name	GK104	GP108
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	22 March 2012 (12 years ago)	17 May 2017 (7 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$499	$79

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

GTX 680 has 32% better value for money than GT 1030.

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	1536	384
Core clock speed	1006 MHz	1228 MHz
Boost clock speed	1058 MHz	1468 MHz
Number of transistors	3,540 million	1,800 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	195 Watt	30 Watt
Texture fill rate	135.4	35.23
Floating-point processing power	3.25 TFLOPS	1.127 TFLOPS
ROPs	32	16
TMUs	128	24

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).

Bus support	PCI Express 3.0	no data
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 3.0 x4
Length	254 mm	145 mm
Height	4.376" (11.1 cm)	no data
Width	2-slot	1-slot
Supplementary power connectors	2x 6-pin	None
SLI options	+	-

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	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	2048 MB	4 GB
Memory bus width	256-bit GDDR5	64 Bit
Memory clock speed	1502 MHz	1502 MHz
Memory bandwidth	192.2 GB/s	48.06 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	One Dual Link DVI-I, One Dual Link DVI-D, One HDMI, One DisplayPort	1x DVI, 1x HDMI
Multi monitor support	4 displays	no data
HDMI	+	+
HDCP	+	-
Maximum VGA resolution	2048x1536	no data
G-SYNC support	-	+
Audio input for HDMI	Internal	no data

Supported technologies

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

VR Ready

no data

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (11_0)	12 (12_1)
Shader Model	5.1	6.4
OpenGL	4.2	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	1.2
Vulkan	1.1.126	1.2.131
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.

GTX 680 14.45
+127%

GT 1030 6.37

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.

GTX 680 5567
+127%

GT 1030 2455

3DMark 11 Performance GPU

3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.

GTX 680 10217
+116%

GT 1030 4728

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.

GTX 680 29702
+47.1%

GT 1030 20192

3DMark Fire Strike Graphics

Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.

GTX 680 7587
+109%

GT 1030 3625

3DMark Cloud Gate GPU

Cloud Gate is an outdated DirectX 11 feature level 10 benchmark that was used for home PCs and basic notebooks. It displays a few scenes of some weird space teleportation device launching spaceships into unknown, using fixed resolution of 1280x720. Just like Ice Storm benchmark, it has been discontinued in January 2020 and replaced by 3DMark Night Raid.

GTX 680 47130
+114%

GT 1030 22069

GeekBench 5 OpenCL

Geekbench 5 is a widespread graphics card benchmark combined from 11 different test scenarios. All these scenarios rely on direct usage of GPU's processing power, no 3D rendering is involved. This variation uses OpenCL API by Khronos Group.

GTX 680 18393
+87.8%

GT 1030 9794

3DMark Ice Storm GPU

Ice Storm Graphics is an obsolete benchmark, part of 3DMark suite. Ice Storm was used to measure entry level laptops and Windows-based tablets performance. It utilizes DirectX 11 feature level 9 to display a battle between two space fleets near a frozen planet in 1280x720 resolution. Discontinued in January 2020, it is now superseded by 3DMark Night Raid.

GTX 680 247306
+12.8%

GT 1030 219163

GeekBench 5 Vulkan

GTX 680 17527
+83.7%

GT 1030 9541

GeekBench 5 CUDA

GTX 680 13248
+28.5%

GT 1030 10307

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:

900p	45 +150%	18−20 −150%
Full HD	74 +208%	24 −208%
1440p	50−55 +117%	23 −117%
4K	23 +188%	8 −188%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	6.74	3.29
1440p	9.98	3.43
4K	21.70	9.88

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

21−24
+46.7%

−46.7%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	30−35 +83.3%	18 −83.3%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	21−24 +188%	8−9 −188%
Battlefield 5	45−50 +114%	22 −114%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	27−30 +61.1%	18 −61.1%
Cyberpunk 2077	21−24 +100%	11 −100%
Far Cry 5	30−35 +61.9%	21 −61.9%
Far Cry New Dawn	35−40 +44.4%	27 −44.4%
Forza Horizon 4	90−95 +1.1%	93 −1.1%
Hitman 3	27−30 +68.8%	16 −68.8%
Horizon Zero Dawn	70−75 −105%	152 +105%
Metro Exodus	45−50 +88.5%	26 −88.5%
Red Dead Redemption 2	40−45 +29%	31 −29%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	45−50 +27%	37 −27%
Watch Dogs: Legion	75−80 −22.4%	93 +22.4%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	30−35 +37.5%	24 −37.5%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	21−24 +188%	8−9 −188%
Battlefield 5	45−50 +161%	18−20 −161%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	27−30 +81.3%	16 −81.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	21−24 +214%	7 −214%
Far Cry 5	30−35 +143%	14−16 −143%
Far Cry New Dawn	35−40 +95%	20 −95%
Forza Horizon 4	90−95 +11.9%	84 −11.9%
Hitman 3	27−30 +80%	15 −80%
Horizon Zero Dawn	70−75 −66.2%	123 +66.2%
Metro Exodus	45−50 +145%	20 −145%
Red Dead Redemption 2	40−45 +167%	15 −167%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	45−50 +147%	19 −147%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	94 +370%	20−22 −370%
Watch Dogs: Legion	75−80 −10.5%	84 +10.5%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	30−35 +371%	7 −371%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	21−24 +188%	8−9 −188%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	27−30 +480%	5 −480%
Cyberpunk 2077	21−24 +120%	10−11 −120%
Far Cry 5	30−35 +143%	14−16 −143%
Forza Horizon 4	90−95 +488%	16 −488%
Hitman 3	27−30 +108%	12−14 −108%
Horizon Zero Dawn	70−75 +289%	19 −289%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	45−50 +194%	16 −194%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	22 +83.3%	12 −83.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion	75−80 +1167%	6 −1167%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

40−45
+111%

−111%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	27−30 +133%	12−14 −133%
Far Cry New Dawn	21−24 +120%	10−11 −120%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	14−16 +133%	6−7 −133%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	10−12 +450%	2−3 −450%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	14−16 +150%	6−7 −150%
Cyberpunk 2077	7−8 +133%	3−4 −133%
Far Cry 5	16−18 +143%	7−8 −143%
Forza Horizon 4	70−75 +270%	20−22 −270%
Hitman 3	16−18 +70%	10−11 −70%
Horizon Zero Dawn	27−30 +107%	14 −107%
Metro Exodus	24−27 +317%	6−7 −317%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	24−27 +127%	11 −127%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	14−16 +200%	5−6 −200%
Watch Dogs: Legion	85−90 +85.4%	48 −85.4%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

24−27
+118%

10−12

−118%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	14−16 +180%	5−6 −180%
Far Cry New Dawn	10−12 +175%	4 −175%
Hitman 3	10−11 +233%	3−4 −233%
Horizon Zero Dawn	70−75 +318%	16−18 −318%
Metro Exodus	14−16 +367%	3−4 −367%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	16 +433%	3−4 −433%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	8−9 +700%	1 −700%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	7−8 +133%	3−4 −133%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	7−8 +133%	3−4 −133%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3	0−1
Far Cry 5	8−9 +167%	3−4 −167%
Forza Horizon 4	18−20 +171%	7 −171%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	14−16 +133%	6 −133%
Watch Dogs: Legion	6−7 +200%	2−3 −200%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

12−14
+85.7%

7−8

−85.7%

This is how GTX 680 and GT 1030 compete in popular games:

GTX 680 is 150% faster in 900p
GTX 680 is 208% faster in 1080p
GTX 680 is 117% faster in 1440p
GTX 680 is 188% faster in 4K

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

in Watch Dogs: Legion, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the GTX 680 is 1167% faster.
in Horizon Zero Dawn, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the GT 1030 is 105% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

GTX 680 is ahead in 67 tests (94%)
GT 1030 is ahead in 4 tests (6%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	14.45	6.37
Recency	22 March 2012	17 May 2017
Maximum RAM amount	2048 MB	4 GB
Chip lithography	28 nm	14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	195 Watt	30 Watt

GTX 680 has a 126.8% higher aggregate performance score.

GT 1030, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 5 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 100% more advanced lithography process, and 550% lower power consumption.

The GeForce GTX 680 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GT 1030 in performance tests.

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