If you think the Radeon RX 6400 was a disappointment, Nvidia’s freshly baked GeForce GTX 1630 will truly blow your socks off. TechPowerUp’s review puts the Radeon RX 6400 (Navi 24) nearly 60% ahead of the new GeForce GTX 1630. That’s disappointing for anyone looking to buy an entry-level GPU, but hardly surprising considering how far specs have been cut.
Nvidia quietly launched the GeForce GTX 1630 today, and you can see why it didn’t make much noise after seeing how the Turing-based graphics card performs. TechPowerUp tested the GeForce GTX 1630 at higher resolutions, but we’ll be kind and focus on their 1080p results. Objectively, it’s unlikely that consumers will pick up the GeForce GTX 1630 for 1440p or 4K gaming, considering that the Turing graphics card struggles at 1080p with demanding image fidelity.
The good news is that the GeForce GTX 1630 delivered up to three times higher performance than the five-year-old GeForce GT 1030. That’s all the good we can say about it. Early rumors claim the GeForce GTX 1630 was supposed to replace the aging GeForce GTX 1050 Ti, but TechPowerUp unfortunately didn’t include the Pascal graphics card in its tests. The GeForce GTX 1630 is the first “x30” SKU to carry the GTX branding, and it’s the lowest-end model in Nvidia’s ongoing GeForce GTX 16-series. There’s a 61% performance gap between it and the GeForce GTX 1650, which nominally has the same price.
How does the GeForce GTX 1650 fare against its AMD rivals? It was 32% faster than the relatively archaic Radeon RX 560 2GB, which also turned five years old this year. The GeForce GTX 1650 can’t keep up with the more up-to-date competition, however, and the Radeon RX 6400 delivered 57% higher performance than the GeForce GTX 1630.
The only thing Nvidia got right with the GeForce GTX 1630 may be the graphics card’s power consumption. It has a 75W TDP, so the recommended power supply is a 300W unit. Some vendors have still added a single 6-pin PCIe power connector, which shouldn’t be necessary. TechPowerUp recorded a maximum power consumption of 65W, and up to 71W if you like frying your graphics card in Furmark. The Radeon RX 6400 drew 56W at maximum by comparison. In gaming, the publication measured 48W for the GeForce GTX 1630 and 51W for the Radeon RX 6400. Unfortunately, the thermal limit is unalterable, so you can’t raise it for overclocking, much like the Radeon RX 6400.
Turning to the features, the Radeon RX 6400 comes with ray tracing, but it’s not something you’d typically use on a low-end graphics card. The GeForce GTX 1630 uses the TU117 chip, so it lacks the RT and Tensor cores. That means the graphics card doesn’t have access to ray tracing or Nvidia’s DLSS technology. It’s a shame because that latter would be beneficial for a bottom-end graphics card like the GeForce GTX 1630. Furthermore, as TechPowerUp noted, the GeForce GTX 1630 can utilize Nvidia Image Scaling (NIS) for inferior results. However, AMD rides in to save the day. Team Red has embraced everyone with its FidelityFX Super Resolution 2.0 (FSR 2.0), so GeForce GTX 1630 owners can leverage AMD’s technology to boost gaming performance. Ironic, isn’t it?
Before its release, many speculated that the GeForce GTX 1630 would carry a $150 price tag. Although the graphics card is out now, we still don’t know the MSRP. TechPowerUp highlighted that neither Nvidia nor Gainward provided any details on pricing. However, with EVGA pricing its GeForce GTX 1630 SC Gaming at $199.99 (opens in new tab) and Colorful with the GeForce GTX 1630 NB at $169, the rumored $150 minimum price tag looks plausible. The problem is that the Radeon RX 6400 has a $159 MSRP, and there are custom models that retail at that price. So for $9 more, you’re getting a faster graphics card, making the Radeon RX 6400 the unsung hero.
For most people, we’d recommend stepping up to something better than either of those GPUs. Our best graphics cards list recommends the RX 6500 XT as a better budget solution, and it’s about 25% faster than the 6400 and can be had for as little as $175 (opens in new tab). Alternatively, you could try to pick up a used GTX 1650 Super, which is a far better card and sells for around $160 on eBay. The GTX 1060 6GB, RX 570 4GB, and GTX 1650 are all faster than the anemic GTX 1630 as well.