Posted by Video Game News Staff,  |
Nvidia Launches GT 430, Touts HTPC, Blu-ray, 3D, and DirectX 11.
Nvidia hopes to put integrated graphics to rest with their official GT 430 launch yesterday.
Nvidia announced on Monday the official launch of the GT 430 lineup with several OEM system & video card manufactures, including board partners EVGA, ASUS, Zotac, and Palit just to name a few. The system OEM partnerships for the GT 430 has already been going on for a few weeks as some may have noticed in laptop and desktop system builds, these include Acer, ASUS, Dell, Samsung, Lenovo and Samsung, with relationships with MSI and Sony for laptops only and HP for their desktop lineup only.
What this means to the average user is that Nvidia has once again focused on the lower end price market for video cards, These GPUs are primarily sold through distribution to system integrators (less than 10% of these GPUs are sold through classic E-Tail or retail outlets).
GeForce GT 430 offers a great upgrade from integrated graphics solutions, providing the horsepower needed to power today’s digital media experiences from photo and video editing, to Blu-ray 3D, to mainstream gaming, and to the next generation of GPU-accelerated Web browsers. With GeForce GT 430 and 3D Vision you can also experience your HD media in stereoscopic 3D.
Main Stream Gaming
GeForce GT 430 provides unmatched out-of-the-box game compatibility compared to integrated graphics. This makes GeForce GT 430 a great upgrade from integrated for customers who play games at a 1280x1024 resolution and below. Looking at the top 30 PC games, more than half of them are not playable or have issues running on Intel Core i5-661 with Intel HD integrated graphics. 
the introduction of the GT 430 offers DirectX 11 gaming solutions to the masses. Even some of the most anticipated titles of the year such as BFBC2, MW2 and Starcraft II, can be played on these cards, this is a big upgrade as most of these are not playable on your standard integrated graphics platforms, and if they do play, perform poorly at best. With the GT 430 users can take advantage of the next-generation gaming architecture built from the ground up for DirectX 11 and take advantage of the newest titles programming the DirectX 11 API, meaning incredibly detailed characters, terrain, and game environments that most integrated graphics users have been missing out on. it is important to note, this card was not however designed for hardcore enthusiastic gamers. Instead the focus seems to be on the all-around computer enthusiasts who has a combination of uses in mind for their PC, while it functions as a performing gaming card it also brazenly marketed as a an all in one solution for HTPC builders & Blu-Ray and is primarily designed for the vast majority of PC users who don’t do serious gaming. 
Home Theater (HTPC)
GeForce GT 430 provides support for the latest high-definition technologies that make this GPU a great fit for media center and home theater PCs. With Release 260 drivers, NVIDIA provides support for the HDMI 1.4 TV standard for delivering 3D content and advanced multi-channel digital audio.
GeForce GT 430 supports 3D output to any compatible large screen television through HDMI 1.4, bringing Hollywood’s best straight to your living room. The vast popularity of Avatar proved that 3D takes film to the next level and creates a whole new experience for the viewer. Current NVIDIA Fermi-based GPUs, like the GeForce GT 430, provide the ultimate 3D video experience with full 1080p images at bitrates up to 65Mbps.
The GeForce GT 430 improves 3D visuals on Blu-ray, as its graphics engine uses special hardware to accelerate 3D on the high definition disc format.
With the R260 drivers, users can also enjoy rich high-definition lossless surround sound. The Fermi architecture’s dedicated video processing engine seamlessly decodes 1080p 3D streams with ease, resulting in less system power and heat. GeForce GT 430 supports high definition 24-bit multi-channel audio up to 192 KHz, and lossless DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD audio bitstreaming.
Nvidia 3D Vision
Logically for most audiophiles and videophiles that already have a 3D vision kit, and compatible 120hz 3D TV, I’m suspecting they also have a high end video card as well, but once again this about bringing technology to the masses, and it is good to know that the GeForce GT 430 can be used in combination with NVIDIA 3D Vision technology and a 120Hz monitor, 3D TV, or 3D Vision-compatible projector to display 3D photos and videos, 1080p 3D Blu-ray movies, and high-definition 3D Internet streams.
Users can capture 3D photos with new consumer 3D cameras, and Nvidia’s banking that the popularity of 3D photography should quickly escalate with 3D photos able to be easily viewed and edited on 3D PCs. Users can also view 3D images or set up slideshows on their PCs with NVIDIA 3D Vision Photo Viewer.
3D Video content obtained from various Web sources or NVIDIA’s 3DVision Live Web site can be displayed with the NVIDIA 3D Vision Video Player. Streaming 3D content on the Internet has massive growth potential. Fast broadband and wireless speeds provide the bandwidth for streaming 3D content onto PCs in the home or on the road. Already we have seen 3D content from Hulu and YouTube, and with new 3D players from Microsoft and Adobe, this will expand rapidly. Sports are a natural fit for streaming in 3D. We have seen 3D streams from the Masters golf tournament and US Open tennis finals. Also some things to look forward to with the expected broad-based adoption of 3D is the immersive viewing choice for soccer, car racing, hockey, and basketball, and anything else sports related our hearts can imagine.
Conclusion
The price point for the GT 430 is set at about $79 USD which is a fair price given everything it has to offer, however it is in the comparable market to the Radeon HD 5670/5570 which slightly outperforms the GT 430 in some of the tests I’ve seen. (GDN is hoping to get their hands on review card to do our own unbiased testing), but as you’ll hear from general consumers everywhere they’d prefer to put their money in the trust and stability of constantly updated Nvidia driver solutions that have been offered thus far. Logically despite any performance increases in a similarly priced card, the question most ask is, what good is it if it doesn’t work right and isn’t supported to the fullest, a question that most answer in buying and feeling secure, just by purchasing Nvidia products.
My recommendation is that this is the ideal solution for the budgeted computer enthusiast, especially if you find you’re not able to play games or have HD videos & movies streamed correctly to your TV, (i.e choppiness and stuttering). it’s a must for those that are limited by their video card and not their CPU or processor, and even more highly recommended to keep your eye out if you’re looking at buying a lower priced OEM full system, as I recommend staying as far away from integrated graphics as best you can.
|
