Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 review
Our Verdict
The GTX 1650 is the fastest 75W GPU around, if that’s what you need, but it faces stiff competition from many other graphics cards.
For
- Over 50 percent faster than GTX 1050
- No extra power required on many models
- Great for small form factor builds
Against
- Costs more than the GTX 1050 it replaces
- Struggles in more demanding games
- Budget GPUs often aren’t the best value
The GeForce GTX 1650 was inevitable, considering none of the other Turing GPUs can fill the role of a budget version of the best graphics cards. This is likely the final implementation of the Turing architecture (at least on 12nm). The new TU117 chip means Nvidia now has everything from the extreme GeForce RTX 2080 Ti through the more reasonable RTX 2060 for ray tracing fans, with the GTX 1660 Ti and GTX 1660 dropping the RT and Tensor cores in favor of lower prices. 2
SMs: 14
CUDA cores: 896
Base Clock: 1485MHz
Boost Clock: 1665MHz
VRAM: 4GB GDDR5
VRAM Speed: 8000Gbps
Bus width: 128-bit
ROPs: 32
TMUs: 56
GFLOPS: 2984
Bandwidth: 128GB/s
TDP: 75W
Launch Price: $149
The GTX 1650 uses a new TU117 GPU, which is a smaller and thus less expensive variant of the TU116 that powers the GTX 1660 and 1660 Ti cards. The key differences relative to the 1660 line are in the memory configuration and number of SMs (Streaming Multiprocessors), which in turn determines the number of CUDA cores, texture units, and ROPs. It’s still built using TSMC’s 12nm lithography, leaving 7nm for AMD’s Radeon VII for now. The result is a die size that’s about a third lower than the TU116, with 4.7 billion transistors.
As expected, the GTX 1650 has 4GB of GDDR5, clocked at 8GT/s—the same speed as the GTX 1660 as well as the previous generation GTX 1060 cards. Four active memory controllers on a 128-bit bus gives it 128GB/s of bandwidth, slightly more than the GTX 1050 Ti. It also has 32 ROPs (Render Outputs).
For the GPU core, TU117 and the GTX 1650 has 14 SMs, which means 896 CUDA cores and 56 texture units. As with all other Turing GPUs, the GTX 1650 can do concurrent FP32 and INT calculations, which can speed up gaming workloads anywhere from 15-35 percent (depending on the game), relative to the previous Pascal architecture. It’s worth pointing out that the desktop 1650 doesn’t use a fully enabled TU117 either, as there’s a mobile variant with 16 SMs and 1024 CUDA cores, so we may see a GTX 1650 Ti in the future—in fact I’d count on it.
Nvidia is typically conservative with its reported boost clocks, with most cards running well above the given speed. The ‘stock’ GTX 1650 has a boost clock of 1665MHz, giving it 2984 GFLOPS of theoretical performance.
That’s less than the GTX 1060 cards, but roughly 50 percent faster than the GTX 1050. The GTX 1650 is also designed to run without a 6-pin PCIe power connector, though factory overclocked cards (like the MSI GTX 1650 Gaming X 4G that I’m using) have higher clockspeeds and require a 6-pin PEG connector.
Finally, the rumors on pricing ended up being a bit high, which is good news. With a recommended price of $149 for the base models, the GTX 1650 is only slightly more expensive than a GTX 1050 Ti. Well, that’s the theory at least, but the 1050 Ti has lately been selling for $170 and up. Of course there’s still room for a $179 GTX 1650 Ti part.
Factory overclocked models like the Asus and MSI cards I’m using for testing of course cost more than the base models. However, if you want something faster than a base GTX 1650, you should probably look at the GTX 1660 or AMD’s RX 570/580, or even a previous generation GTX 1060. They require more power than the 1650, but any PSU with the required 6-pin connector should more than suffice.
GeForce GTX 1650 Performance
Nvidia claims the GTX 1650 will be up to twice as fast as a GTX 950 and 50 percent faster than the GTX 1050, and that’s probably a fair estimate, especially since both of those cards only have 2GB VRAM. Given the specs, it should also be about 25-30 percent faster than the GTX 1050 Ti, but that also means it’s likely slower than the GTX 1060 models.
The performance improvement comes from several changes. First, the 1650 has more memory bandwidth and CUDA cores compared with the 1050/1050 Ti. Second, it’s clocked quite a bit higher. And third, the Turing architecture supports concurrent FP32 and INT calculations, which can boost performance another 10-30 percent over the Pascal GPUs (depending on the game and settings). But let’s stop with the preamble and get to the actual performance results.
Image 1 of 14
1080p medium testing — swipe left/right for additional charts.
1080p medium testing — swipe left/right for additional charts.
1080p medium testing — swipe left/right for additional charts.
1080p medium testing — swipe left/right for additional charts.
1080p medium testing — swipe left/right for additional charts.
1080p medium testing — swipe left/right for additional charts.
1080p medium testing — swipe left/right for additional charts.
1080p medium testing — swipe left/right for additional charts.
1080p medium testing — swipe left/right for additional charts.
1080p medium testing — swipe left/right for additional charts.
1080p medium testing — swipe left/right for additional charts.
1080p medium testing — swipe left/right for additional charts.
1080p medium testing — swipe left/right for additional charts.
1080p medium testing — swipe left/right for additional charts.
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1080p ‘ultra’ testing — swipe left/right for additional charts.
1440p ‘ultra’ testing — swipe left/right for additional charts.
1080p ‘ultra’ testing — swipe left/right for additional charts.
1080p ‘ultra’ testing — swipe left/right for additional charts.
1080p ‘ultra’ testing — swipe left/right for additional charts.
1080p ‘ultra’ testing — swipe left/right for additional charts.
1080p ‘ultra’ testing — swipe left/right for additional charts.
1080p ‘ultra’ testing — swipe left/right for additional charts.
1080p ‘ultra’ testing — swipe left/right for additional charts.
1080p ‘ultra’ testing — swipe left/right for additional charts.
1080p ‘ultra’ testing — swipe left/right for additional charts.
1080p ‘ultra’ testing — swipe left/right for additional charts.
1080p ‘ultra’ testing — swipe left/right for additional charts.
1080p ‘ultra’ testing — swipe left/right for additional charts.
1080p ‘ultra’ testing — swipe left/right for additional charts.
Overall, the GTX 1650 lands right about where expected. It’s clearly faster than the GTX 1050, by 57 percent at 1080p medium and 73 percent at 1080p ultra in my testing. Again, a lot of that is due to the 1050’s limited VRAM, as the GTX 1050 Ti is much closer—the 1650 is about 30 percent faster. The GTX 1060 3GB meanwhile leads by 17 percent at 1080p medium and 9 percent at 1080p ultra, and the RX 570 4GB is in a similar position.
Another point of interest: 2014’s GTX 970 is only slightly faster (1-3 percent on average) than the GTX 1650, mostly due to improvements in architecture over the past two generations. Newer games tend to favor the GTX 1650, while older games are more likely to favor the GTX 970.
In other words, a high-end 145W $330 card from 4.5 years ago has morphed into a budget 75W $150 card of today.
That sounds pretty good, though it definitely represents a slowing down of performance increases. 4.5 years before the GTX 970, Nvidia launched the GTX 470. The GTX 970 was up to three times as fast.
Of course, there’s also the caveat that my testing has used a rather heavily overclocked MSI GTX 1650 Gaming X 4G (1860MHz boost vs. 1665MHz reference). GTX 1650 cards priced at Nvidia’s recommended $149 price have boost clocks in the 1665-1750MHz range by comparison, which means about 5-10 percent lower performance.
The GeForce GTX 1650 value proposition
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US GPU value — swipe left for Europe, right for UK
UK GPU value — swipe left for US, right for Europe
German GPU value — swipe left for UK, right for US
Image 1 of 3
US system value — swipe left for Europe, right for UK
UK system value — swipe left for US, right for Europe
German system value — swipe left for UK, right for US
Wrapping up the charts, above are two different views of performance per monetary unit (using Germany for Euro pricing, if you’re wondering).
I’ve calculated «value» for these midrange, budget, and select high-end models using the best available pricing as of April 23. Prices do fluctuate, but most of these graphics cards are readily available at the prices used.
It’s interesting that in the US and UK, Nvidia’s 1060 3GB is priced very aggressively, while in Europe the new GTX 1650 ends up as the best Nvidia value right now. But regardless of market, if you’re just looking at bang for the buck, AMD’s RX 570 4GB can’t be beat. I keep expecting inventory of that card to dry up, leading to higher prices, but it’s been at or below $130 since the beginning of 2019. The only thing likely to remove RX 570 (and 580) from the market will be when AMD starts shipping Navi, currently rumored for July 7, but we’ll have to wait and see.
The problem is that GPUs don’t exist in a vacuum. If you’re building a gaming PC, all of the other parts add to the cost. I’ve used a midrange priced build (around $725, not including the GPU) to calculate the overall gaming value of each GPU for the entire PC, and the faster graphics cards end up being far better recommendations from that perspective.
A stylized rendering of the TU117 GPU.
GTX 1650 only has previous gen NVENC
One piece of news that has surfaced after the initial GTX 1650 launch is that the new Turing TU117 GPU it uses does not contain the updated Turing NVENC block and instead uses the Volta version (which is basically the same as the Pascal version). What’s NVENC used for? It handles encoding of video, for streaming, Nvidia ShadowPlay, and Nvidia Highlights. With Turing, Nvidia has touted the improved quality and performance of NVENC, saying it’s now better quality than the x264 Fast setting many streamers use, while also being about 15 percent faster than Pascal and Volta’s NVENC.
It’s not a major loss, as people using a budget GPU are less likely to do streaming, but it’s more than a little odd. How many transistors were shaved off the die size by omitting the newer NVENC? Possibly a couple hundred million at most, but that’s only a 2-4 percent increase in die size. It speaks to the constraints that budget GPUs have to work in, however, where every penny counts.
The Volta NVENC block isn’t bad, and it can likely handle any workload a budget gamer is likely to throw at it. However, it’s still a step backward and gives one more reason to look at higher spec GPUs like the GTX 1660 and above.
Who is GTX 1650 for?
The difficulty with budget GPUs is that they never represent something «new» in terms of performance. Yes, the GTX 1650 is faster than the previous generation GTX 1050 Ti, but it’s also roughly the same performance as a high-end GPU from nearly five years ago. Now that level of performance is available from a substantially less expensive 75W TDP card (give or take), and there will eventually be low profile card models using the GTX 1650.
That’s the primary draw I think, the ability for the GTX 1650 to work in pretty much any PC that has an x16 PCIe slot. It could also make sense as a cheap upgrade for an older PC, but it’s not necessarily the best performance or value you can find right now.
From a pure value proposition, especially with the discounted GTX 1060 cards still hanging around along with AMD’s RX 570 and 580, the GTX 1650 comes up short.
Unless you have a small case that can’t fit a larger card, or you have a PSU that doesn’t include a 6-pin PCIe power connector, or you want/need a quiet and low power GPU, I’d point you at other alternatives. Eventually, the stock of previous generation GPUs will dry up and the GTX 1650 will remain for a couple of years as Nvidia’s budget offering, but that hasn’t happened yet.
The GTX 1650 isn’t a bad GPU by any means. It can hit 60fps at 1080p medium to high quality in most games, and it’s affordable. Just make sure you understand what you’re getting, because if you’re looking at building a budget gaming PC, you’ll almost always be better served by spending a bit more money.
For a compact build, a quiet HTPC in the living room, or something that’s only used for light to moderate gaming, the GTX 1650 is worth a look. But if you upgraded your graphics card any time in the past several years, you’re probably doing just fine. And that’s really what matters: Can your graphics card run the games you want to play? If it can’t, it’s fine to think about upgrading, but just because a card is several years old doesn’t mean it needs to be replaced.
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GeForce GTX 1650
The GTX 1650 is the fastest 75W GPU around, if that’s what you need, but it faces stiff competition from many other graphics cards.
Jarred’s love of computers dates back to the dark ages when his dad brought home a DOS 2.3 PC and he left his C-64 behind. He eventually built his first custom PC in 1990 with a 286 12MHz, only to discover it was already woefully outdated when Wing Commander was released a few months later. He holds a BS in Computer Science from Brigham Young University and has been working as a tech journalist since 2004, writing for AnandTech, Maximum PC, and PC Gamer. From the first S3 Virge ‘3D decelerators’ to today’s GPUs, Jarred keeps up with all the latest graphics trends and is the one to ask about game performance.
MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X review
49points
MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X
MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X
Why is MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X better than the average?
- GPU clock speed?
1485MHzvs1296.
41MHz - Thermal Design Power (TDP)?
75Wvs191.42W - GPU memory speed?
2000MHzvs1569.83MHz - GPU turbo?
1860MHzvs1601.51MHz - Load GPU temperature?
59°Cvs73.05°C - Semiconductor size?
12nmvs17.68nm - Idle power consumption?
52Wvs88.34W - Price (global median value)?
475.56 €vs982.48 €
Which are the most popular comparisons?
MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X
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MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X
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AMD Radeon RX 480
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Colorful GeForce GTX 1650 Super V
MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X
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MSI Radeon RX 570 Armor OC 8GB
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Asus Dual GeForce GTX 1650
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MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X
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Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1650 D6 OC
Price comparison
Cheap alternatives for MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X
User reviews
Performance
1.
GPU clock speed
1485MHz
The graphics processing unit (GPU) has a higher clock speed.
2.GPU turbo
1860MHz
When the GPU is running below its limitations, it can boost to a higher clock speed in order to give increased performance.
3.pixel rate
59.52 GPixel/s
The number of pixels that can be rendered to the screen every second.
4.floating-point performance
3.33 TFLOPS
Floating-point performance is a measurement of the raw processing power of the GPU.
5.texture rate
104.2 GTexels/s
The number of textured pixels that can be rendered to the screen every second.
6.GPU memory speed
2000MHz
The memory clock speed is one aspect that determines the memory bandwidth.
7.shading units
Shading units (or stream processors) are small processors within the graphics card that are responsible for processing different aspects of the image.
8.texture mapping units (TMUs)
TMUs take textures and map them to the geometry of a 3D scene. More TMUs will typically mean that texture information is processed faster.
9.render output units (ROPs)
The ROPs are responsible for some of the final steps of the rendering process, writing the final pixel data to memory and carrying out other tasks such as anti-aliasing to improve the look of graphics.
Memory
1.effective memory speed
8000MHz
The effective memory clock speed is calculated from the size and data rate of the memory. Higher clock speeds can give increased performance in games and other apps.
2.maximum memory bandwidth
128GB/s
This is the maximum rate that data can be read from or stored into memory.
3.VRAM
VRAM (video RAM) is the dedicated memory of a graphics card.
More VRAM generally allows you to run games at higher settings, especially for things like texture resolution.
4.memory bus width
128bit
A wider bus width means that it can carry more data per cycle. It is an important factor of memory performance, and therefore the general performance of the graphics card.
5.version of GDDR memory
Newer versions of GDDR memory offer improvements such as higher transfer rates that give increased performance.
6.Supports ECC memory
✖MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X
Error-correcting code memory can detect and correct data corruption. It is used when is it essential to avoid corruption, such as scientific computing or when running a server.
Features
1.DirectX version
DirectX is used in games, with newer versions supporting better graphics.
2.
OpenGL version
OpenGL is used in games, with newer versions supporting better graphics.
3.OpenCL version
Some apps use OpenCL to apply the power of the graphics processing unit (GPU) for non-graphical computing. Newer versions introduce more functionality and better performance.
4.Supports multi-display technology
✔MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X
The graphics card supports multi-display technology. This allows you to configure multiple monitors in order to create a more immersive gaming experience, such as having a wider field of view.
5.load GPU temperature
A lower load temperature means that the card produces less heat and its cooling system performs better.
6.supports ray tracing
✖MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X
Ray tracing is an advanced light rendering technique that provides more realistic lighting, shadows, and reflections in games.
7.Supports 3D
✔MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X
Allows you to view in 3D (if you have a 3D display and glasses).
8.supports DLSS
✖MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X
DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) is an upscaling technology powered by AI. It allows the graphics card to render games at a lower resolution and upscale them to a higher resolution with near-native visual quality and increased performance. DLSS is only available on select games.
9.PassMark (G3D) result
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value.
This benchmark measures the graphics performance of a video card. Source: PassMark.
Ports
1.has an HDMI output
✔MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X
Devices with a HDMI or mini HDMI port can transfer high definition video and audio to a display.
2.HDMI ports
More HDMI ports mean that you can simultaneously connect numerous devices, such as video game consoles and set-top boxes.
3.HDMI version
HDMI 2.0
Newer versions of HDMI support higher bandwidth, which allows for higher resolutions and frame rates.
4.DisplayPort outputs
Allows you to connect to a display using DisplayPort.
5.DVI outputs
Allows you to connect to a display using DVI.
6.mini DisplayPort outputs
Allows you to connect to a display using mini-DisplayPort.
Price comparison
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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Review Ft. MSI Gaming X & Gigabyte Gaming
Product Info
NVIDIA introduced their Turing GPU architecture last year, making a complete departure from traditional GPU designs and creating a hybrid architecture that would include a range of new technologies to power the next-generation immersive gaming experiences.
While initially announced with the Quadro lineup under the new Quadro RTX brand, we all knew that the Turing architecture was coming to the GeForce lineup.
It arrived in the GeForce lineup a few months later under the new GeForce RTX branding. NVIDIA’s first big naming departure for two decades of GeForce GTX.
The GeForce RTX 20 series was the enablement of real-time raytracing which is the holy grail of graphics and something NVIDIA took 10 years to perfect. In addition to raytracing, NVIDIA also aims to place bets on AI which will play a key role in powering features such as DLSS or Deep Learning Super Sampling, a unique way of offering the same quality as the more taxing MSAA AA techniques at twice the performance.
NVIDIA has announced for cards under the GeForce RTX 20 series family, the flagship GeForce RTX 2080 Ti, the Enthusiast GeForce RTX 2080, the high-performance GeForce RTX 2070 and the main-stream GeForce RTX 2060. Now, NVIDIA is looking to offer Turing for more reasonable prices and as such, going back to the good old GeForce GTX branding and for good reasons. While GeForce RTX and GeForce GTX will exist alongside each other in this generation, the GeForce GTX lineup as the name suggests would be aiming for raw performance over the graphics intensive RTX features which only the RTX cards support.
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 — The Pricing and Where It Stands In The Turing Family
We have already tested the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti and GeForce GTX 1660 earlier. Today, we will be taking a look at the newly launched GeForce GTX 1650 which was introduced yesterday. The card has a price point of $149 US, making it the cheapest entry into the Turing based family. While the card is said to offer competitive performance, NVIDIA didn’t provide drivers to the press until the launch which is why the majority still haven’t posted their reviews even though we had the cards in our hands for some time now.
The GeForce GTX 1650 goes up against the Radeon RX 570 4 GB which is up for sale at under $149 US on various retail outlets. The GTX 1650’s strong points can be its Turing architecture which has been tuned for power efficiency but that is something we have to confirm ourselves in this review.
When it comes to pricing, the GeForce RTX 20 series are some of the most costly cards NVIDIA has offered to consumers.
The GeForce GTX 1660 Ti and GeForce GTX 1660, on the other hand, try to keep budget and more mainstream audiences in mind by offering a price closer to the GeForce GTX 1060 which became a popular gaming card on Steam due to its $249 price point. Following is the current per segment price structure of the entire NVIDIA Turing lineup compared to its predecessors.
NVIDIA GeForce GPU Segment/Tier Prices
| Graphics Segment | 2014-2016 | 2016-2017 | 2017-2018 | 2018-2019 | 2019-2020 | 2020-2021 | 2021-2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Titan Tier | Titan X (Maxwell) | Titan X (Pascal) | Titan Xp (Pascal) | Titan V (Volta) | Titan RTX (Turing) | GeForce RTX 3090 | GeForce RTX 3090 Ti GeForce RTX 3090 |
| Price | $999 US | $1199 US | $1199 US | $2999 US | $2499 US | $1499 US | $1999 US $1499 US |
| Ultra Enthusiast Tier | GeForce GTX 980 Ti | GeForce GTX 980 Ti | GeForce GTX 1080 Ti | GeForce RTX 2080 Ti | GeForce RTX 2080 Ti | GeForce RTX 3080 Ti | GeForce RTX 3080 Ti |
| Price | $649 US | $649 US | $699 US | $999 US | $999 US | $1199 US | $1199 US |
| Enthusiast Tier | GeForce GTX 980 | GeForce GTX 1080 | GeForce GTX 1080 | GeForce RTX 2080 | GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER | GeForce RTX 3080 10 GB | GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB |
| Price | $549 US | $549 US | $549 US | $699 US | $699 US | $699 US | $999 US |
| High-End Tier | GeForce GTX 970 | GeForce GTX 1070 | GeForce GTX 1070 | GeForce RTX 2070 | GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER | GeForce RTX 3070 Ti GeForce RTX 3070 |
GeForce RTX 3070 Ti 16 GB |
| Price | $329 US | $379 US | $379 US | $499 US | $499 US | $599 $499 |
TBA |
| Mainstream Tier | GeForce GTX 960 | GeForce GTX 1060 | GeForce GTX 1060 | GeForce GTX 1060 | GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER GeForce RTX 2060 GeForce GTX 1660 Ti GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER GeForce GTX 1660 |
GeForce RTX 3060 Ti GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB |
GeForce RTX 3060 Ti GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB |
| Price | $199 US | $249 US | $249 US | $249 US | $399 US $349 US $279 US $229 US $219 US |
$399 US $329 US |
$399 US $329 US |
| Entry Tier | GTX 750 Ti GTX 750 |
GTX 950 | GTX 1050 Ti GTX 1050 |
GTX 1050 Ti GTX 1050 |
GTX 1650 SUPER GTX 1650 |
GTX 1650 SUPER GTX 1650 |
RTX 3050 |
| Price | $149 US $119 US |
$149 US | $139 US $109 US |
$139 US $109 US |
$159 US $149 US |
$159 US $149 US |
$249 US |
For this review, I will be taking a look at two custom models, the GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X from MSI and the GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming OC from Gigabyte.
Both cards are based on a complete custom design and feature high-end cooling system to keep the GPU running cool. In terms of the price model, both cards are said to feature a price close to $149 US.
With just a few bucks of asking price over the reference models, the custom variants offer a range of features such as triple fan coolers, bulky heatsinks, and custom PCBs allowing for better heat dissipation, higher air flow and more overclocking performance and clock stability at their respective boost clocks which will be higher compared to the reference variants. The main barrier with overclocking on Turing GPUs is by far the power limit and those that offer the highest power limits out of the box are generally the ones with the best overclocking potential and performance output.
In case you want to read our full NVIDIA Turing GPU architecture and RTX/DLSS features deep dive, head over to this link.
Contents
7.
7
Wccftech Rating
MSI went all out with their GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X which retails at the MSRP price of $149 US, offering a stunning 1860 MHz overclock out of the box, their iconic Twin Frozr VII cooler with Mystic RGB Lighting and idle fan stop technology for the card to run quieter under non-gaming loads. The MSI GTX 1650 Gaming X is the perfect model you should aim for when considering to buy the GTX 1650.
Pros
- Turing’s Best-in-class Efficiency at $149 US
- Good performance improvement over GTX 1050
- Decent upgrade from GTX 1050 / GTX 950
- Decent gaming performance at 1080p resolution
- Great performance for eSports Gaming Titles
- Great thermals with MSI Twin Frozr VII cooler
- Good Noise levels with MSI Twin Frozr VII cooler
- Features Idle Fan Stop Technology
- Power efficiency has increased drastically
- Support NVIDIA Adaptive Shading Technology
- Good driver support for GeForce products, compatibility with DX11, DX12, Vulkan, OpenGL titles
- Good Display Connectivity, support for VESA Adaptive-Sync and G-Sync Compatible Monitors
Cons
- Much slower than the Radeon RX 570
- RX 570 4 GB can be bought for $20 US less
- No Turing NVENC support, only Volta tier
- No backplate on MSI Gaming X model
MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X 4G
Review Page:
1- Introduction & Specifications, Map & PCB Analysis, Test Setup2- Gaming Test (Part 1)3- Gaming Test (Part 2)4- Gaming Test (Part 3) 5- Performance & Consumption6- Temperatures & Noise, Overclocking & Power Limit7- Rating & Review
Surprisingly, although expectedly, the smallest implementation of the «Turing» architecture, the GeForce GTX 1650, appeared.
As usual, NVIDIA only presented the official specifications of the new video cards and was limited to a message about the launch, and everything else was assigned to its partners. So, of course, we will not see any Founders Edition, but we will start with the MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X, but first, a little poetry. The manufacturer’s recommended retail price for the «baby» is $150, and the performance should provide good gaming at 1080p and fairly high graphics settings.
Table of contents:
So, the GeForce GTX 1650 is based on the new tiny TU117 die, which is configured with 896 CUDA cores, 56 TMUs, 32 ROPs, and a 128-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface offering 4 GB of storage at 8 Gb/s, delivering 128 GB/s of bandwidth. ability. Until recently, such indicators were ultra-premium for this price segment, but to be more precise, until the moment when AMD decided to significantly reduce the prices of its Radeon «Polaris» cards after the collapse of crypto mining, in principle, expected by everyone.
The Radeon RX 570 4 GB will be a level higher than the GTX 1650 in terms of its characteristics, but the price is already lower, because it can be found for $130. Pay attention to the formed price gap between our hero and the GTX 1660; The GTX 1650 Ti will show up for sure.
Further, the power consumption is 75W, which is exactly half that of the RX 570, so most GTX 1650 cards won’t even need an extra power connector, just the slot will suffice. Yes, some top custom solutions will of course be equipped with a 6-pin connector. Now, what do the outputs offer, and the very minuscule, consisting of DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.0b and DVI-D ports in the amount of one piece. It should also be noted that the chip offers hardware accelerated 10bpc HDR video decoding. And finally, before the actual start of the review, we emphasize once again that the Turing 16-series cards are deprived of technologies for ray tracing at the hardware level.
MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X is the manufacturer’s flagship variant (out of three available) equipped with the well-known Twin Frozr 7 cooler, which also includes two Torx 3.
0 fans with Zero Frozr function. We are not talking about the rear panel, why is it here. The factory overclocking of the GPU is interesting: +195 MHz for the Boost frequency, a record among so far 4 samples from different manufacturers, the reviews of which we will try to post. The main question is what is the GTX 1650 capable of and can it challenge the RX 570.
Specifications
| Price | Shaders | Blocks | Core frequency | Acceleration | Memory frequency | GPU | Transistors | Memory | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GTX 1050 | 140 $ | 640 | 32 | 1354 MHz | 1455 MHz | 1752 MHz | GP107 | 3300M | 2GB GDDR5 128bit |
| GTX 1050 Ti | 170 $ | 768 | 32 | 1290 MHz | 1392 MHz | 1752 MHz | GP107 | 3300M | 4 GB GDDR5 128 bit |
| GTX 1650 | 150 $ | 896 | 32 | 1485 MHz | 1665 MHz | 2000 MHz | TU117 | 4700M | 4 GB GDDR5 128 bit |
| MSI GTX 1650 Gaming X |
$155 | 896 | 32 | 1485 MHz | 1860 MHz | 2000 MHz | TU117 | 4700M | 4 GB GDDR5 128 bit |
| RX 570 | 130 $ | 2048 | 32 | 1168 MHz | 1244 MHz | 1750 MHz | Ellesmere | 5700M | 4 GB GDDR5 256 bit |
| RX 580 | 190$ | 2304 | 32 | 1257 MHz | 1340 MHz | 2000 MHz | Ellesmere | 5700M | 8 GB GDDR5 256 bit |
| GTX 1060 3 GB | $185 | 1152 | 48 | 1506 MHz | 1708 MHz | 2002 MHz | GP106 | 4400M | 3 GB GDDR5 192 bit |
| GTX 1060 | 200 $ | 1280 | 48 | 1506 MHz | 1708 MHz | 2002 MHz | GP106 | 4400M | 6 GB GDDR5 192 bit |
| RX 590 | 220 $ | 2304 | 32 | 1469 MHz | 1545 MHz | 2000 MHz | Polaris 30 | 5700M | 8 GB GDDR5 256 bit |
| GTX 1660 | 220 $ | 1408 | 48 | 1530 MHz | 1785 MHz | 2000 MHz | TU116 | 6600M | 6 GB GDDR5 192 bit |
| GTX 1070 | 300 $ | 1920 | 64 | 1506 MHz | 1683 MHz | 2002 MHz | GP104 | 7200M | 8 GB GDDR5 256 bit |
Packaging and contents
Scope of delivery:
- Video card
- Documentation
- Driver disc
Card
Requires two slots for installation.
Outputs:
- DisplayPort x 2
- HDMI 2.0b x 1
With the «Turing» microarchitecture, NVIDIA has also updated the display engine, now supporting DisplayPort 1.4a with Display Stream Compression (DSC) from VESA. This combination allows you to support 8K@30Hz using a single cable or 8K@60Hz with DSC enabled. For the context of DisplayPort 1.4a is the latest version of the standard published in April 2018.
At CES 2019, NVIDIA officially announced that all of their graphics cards will now support VESA Adaptive Sync (aka FreeSync). Although only a small number of FreeSync monitors have been fully tested with G-SYNC, users can enable this feature in the NVIDIA Control Panel, whether the monitor is certified or not.
Disassembly
PCB Pictures
These pictures are for voltmodders and users who want to see finer details on the PCB.
PCB analysis
The GPU VRM circuitry is 3-phase and controlled by the uPI uP9509S controller.
In turn, the memory VRM appears to be single-phase, it is managed by the GS7256 controller.
GDDR5 memory chips manufactured by Micron, model D9VVR, which stands for MT51J256M32HF-80:B. Operates at 2000 MHz (8 Gbps GDDR5-efficient).
The
NVIDIA TU117 is the smallest of the current «Turing» chips, manufactured in 12nm at TSMC, Taiwan, and has 4.70 billion transistors in a 200mm² die area.
Test configuration
| Test configuration — VGA Rev. 2019.1 | |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-8700K @ 4.8 GHz (Coffee Lake, 12MB Cache) |
|---|---|
| Motherboard | ASUS Maximus X Hero Intel Z370 |
| RAM | G.SKILL 16 GB Trident-Z DDR4 @ 3867 MHz 18-19-19-39 |
| Accumulator | 2x 960 GB SSD |
| Power: | Seasonic Prime Ultra Titanium 850W |
| Cooler | Cryorig R1 Universal 2x 140mm fan |
| Operating system | Windows 10 64-bit October 2018 Update |
| Drivers |
GTX 1650: 430. 39 WHQL GTX 1660: 419.35 Press Driver GTX 1660 Ti: 418.91 Press Driver Radeon VII: Radeon 19.2.2 Beta All others NVIDIA: 417.71 WHQL All other AMD: Radeon 19.1.1 Beta |
| Display | Acer CB240HYKbmjdpr 24″ 3840×2160 |
Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Overview of video cards based on NVIDIA GTX 1650 MSI VENTUS and GAMING series. Looks can be deceiving
06/07/19
MSI GeForce GTX 1650 GAMING X 4G (top) and MSI GeForce GTX 1650 VENTUS XS 4G OC graphics cards
Among NVIDIA’s next-generation graphics cards based on the Turing16 architecture, NVIDIA’s GeForce50 GTX the youngest model in the hierarchy.
Video cards based on the GTX 1650 belong to the entry-level class and replace the GTX 1050, GTX 1050 Ti.
Comparison of the reference characteristics of video cards NVIDIA GeForce RTX 1660, GTX 1650, GTX 1060 3GB and GTX 1050 Ti expect performance gains in games from 30 to 70%.
We also recall that the prefix «GTX» and not «RTX» in the name of NVIDIA video cards based on the Turing architecture indicates the absence of newfangled tensor cores and RT cores in the graphics processor.
Accordingly, video cards based on the GTX 1650, like other GTX counterparts, do not have hardware support for ray tracing (Ray Tracing) and do not support the DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) anti-aliasing method.
Introducing MSI GeForce GTX 1650 GAMING X 4G and
The MSI GeForce GTX 1650 GAMING X 4G is a much larger . The cooling system uses a radiator pierced by a single heat pipe. The radiator is blown by two 90mm fans.
Video cards MSI GeForce GTX 1650 GAMING X 4G (left) and MSI GeForce GTX 1650 VENTUS XS 4G OC
The power system is three-phase.
The MSI GeForce GTX 1650 VENTUS XS 4G OC has an all-aluminum heatsink and no heatpipes. The blower fans are smaller, their diameter is 75 mm.
Oddly enough, the power system here has the same number of phases as in the more advanced GTX 1650 GAMING X 4G. And only the GTX 1650 VENTUS XS 4G OC VRM elements received an additional heatsink.
MSI GeForce GTX 1650 GAMING X 4G
MSI GeForce GTX 1650 VENTUS XS 4G OC
90 Display002
Instead of one of the DisplayPort ports, the GTX 1650 VENTUS XS 4G OC installed a DVI output, and as a result, the board received one DVI, DisplayPort and HDMI output each.
MSI GEFORCE GTX 1650 GAMING X 4G
MSI GEFORCE GTX 1650 GAMING X 4G
We note that The relevance of the “Outcorn” DVI output in the video cards of this class is still very high and still very high the absence of DVI in the MSI GeForce GTX 1650 GAMING X 4G we would call a disadvantage.
MSI GeForce GTX 1650 GAMING X 4G claims to use branded TORX FAN 3.0 fans.
Of the presented pair, only MSI GeForce GTX 1650 GAMING X 4 G can stop the fans at full low load.
As for the frequencies, they are increased compared to the reference in both cases. The MSI GeForce GTX 1650 VENTUS XS 4G OC has a GPU turbo frequency of 1740 MHz, while the MSI GeForce GTX 1650 GAMING X 4G is predictably even higher at 1860 MHz. But the video memory of video cards does not have factory overclocking and operates at the resulting nominal frequency of 8000 MHz.
Specifications of MSI GeForce GTX 1650 GAMING X 4G (left) and MSI GeForce GTX 1650 VENTUS XS 4G OC (GPU-Z application data)
from the GTX 1650 GAMING X 4G, even without additional power.
MSI GeForce GTX 1650 GAMING X 4G
MSI GeForce GTX 1650 VENTUS XS 4G oc with acceleration.
Backlight, heat, noise
Only MSI GeForce GTX 1650 GAMING X 4G is backlit. But after installing this video card into the system and turning it on, some disappointment awaited us.
The fact is that backlighting here is far from being as cool as in older video cards of the new generation of the MSI GAMING series (for example, in models based on RTX 2070, GTX 1660 Ti, which we tested earlier).
Backlight MSI GeForce GTX 1650 GAMING X 4G
But for comparison, the backlight of MSI GeForce RTX 2070 GAMING Z 8G
the only one-color element on the side panel glows with a single-color glow on the side panel. Some dynamic effects are available. Modestly…
MSI Dragon Center backlight control
MSI GeForce GTX 1650 GAMING X 4G
MSI GeForce GTX 1650 VENTUS XS 4G OC
Despite the more developed heatsink and larger fans of the MSI GeForce GTX 1650 GAMING X 4G, lower GPU temperature under load was unexpectedly recorded in the MSI GeForce GTX 1650 VENTUS XS 4G OC. The maximum values were 61 and 53 °C, respectively.
Monitoring MSI GeForce GTX 1650 GAMING X 4G (left) and MSI GeForce GTX 1650 VENTUS XS 4G in MSI Afterburner
What could be causing this?
It can be assumed that the cooling system of the GTX 1650 GAMING X 4G is set to a lower fan speed.
Unfortunately, MSI GeForce GTX 1650 VENTUS XS 4G OC fan speed data was not displayed in either MSI Afterburner or GPU-Z.
In addition, when analyzing the factory GPU frequency versus voltage curves, we noticed that for comparable frequencies, the voltage in the case of the GTX 1650 VENTUS XS 4G OC was slightly lower. This directly affects the level of heat dissipation.
Factory GPU voltage curve on the frequency of GPU GPU MSI GEFORCE GTX 1650 Gaming X 4G
Factory GPU Dependencies GPU MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Ventus XS 4G OC 9000 9000 9000
in any case, 9047 both graphics cards are very quiet and the maximum GPU temperatures shown are as low as .
I must say that cooling such video cards with a declared power consumption of 75 W (GTX 1650 VENTUS XS 4G OC) and 85 W (GTX 1650 GAMING X 4G) is a simple task, so even a relatively modest CO is enough for effective removal heat.
Performance
among video cards based on the Turing architecture, a model based on the GeForce GTX 1660, in the role of which the MSI GeForce GTX 1660 GAMING X 6G was used.
It would also be interesting to compare the speed with the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti, but, unfortunately, we did not have such a video card.
Test platform configuration:
Processor: Intel Core i7-3770K, overclocked to 4.4 MHz
Motherboard: Biostar Hi-Fi Z77X
Drives: SSD Adata S511 120 GB (system), HDD 1 TB
Operating system: Windows 10 Pro 64 bit
Monitor: Philips 272P7VPTKEB
NVIDIA driver used for all NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 based graphics cards: GeForce 41
Somewhere the difference was noticeable, but somewhere it was very small (mainly in newer games using DX12).
It is noteworthy that the step in performance between neighboring video cards of the new generation GTX 1650 and GTX 1660 turned out to be very large. However, this is also reflected in the difference in the cost of these video cards. By choosing the GTX 1660 over the GTX 1650, you get a lot more speed.
Looking at the balance of power between the GTX 1050 Ti and GTX 1060, we can conclude that the difference in performance of graphics cards based on the GTX 1650 compared to can reach 35%, which is quite good.
Naturally, new video cards turn out to be better than their predecessors in terms of performance / power consumption.
As for the pair MSI GeForce GTX 1650 GAMING X 4G and MSI GeForce GTX 1650 VENTUS XS 4G OC, the difference between them is in favor of GAMING X 4G, but not much. And due to slightly higher operating frequencies.
Conclusions
In fact, it turned out that there are not so many differences between them.
The GTX 1650 GAMING X 4G is only slightly better than the GTX 1650 VENTUS XS 4G OC in terms of performance, its fans, unlike the VENTUS XS 4G OC, can completely stop at low load, and only it received a backlight, by the way, rather modest .
Potentially the GTX 1650 GAMING X 4G has slightly better overclocking.
That being said, both graphics cards are commendable: they are quiet and provide a very comfortable temperature level for the GPU.
On the side of the GTX 1650 VENTUS XS 4G OC — compactness, if this is important to you, and no need to connect additional power.
Both the MSI GeForce GTX 1650 GAMING X 4G and the MSI GeForce GTX 1650 VENTUS XS 4G OC are great NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 based graphics cards.
, then you can pay a little extra for it. By the way, the difference in price between the presented video cards is small.
Have you removed the excess?
Review and comparison of video cards based on NVIDIA RTX 2070 from ASUS, Gigabyte, Inno3D and MSI
EVO
INECHENER TEASE Laboratory
9000 9000 MSI GTX 16550
Top specifications and features
- Passmark score
- 3DMark Cloud Gate GPU benchmark score
- 3DMark Ice Storm GPU benchmark score
- 3DMark Vantage Performance test score
- 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark score
Passmark
MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X test score:
7602
Best score:
29325
Performance
MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X:
2191
Best score:
Memory
MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X:
626
Best score:
General Information
MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X:
107
Best score:
MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X features:
160
Best score:
Description
MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X graphics card based on Turing architecture has 4700 million transistors, tech.
12 nm process. The frequency of the graphics core is 1485 MHz. In terms of memory, 4 GB is installed here. DDR5, frequency 2000 MHz and with a maximum bandwidth of 128 Gb / s. The texture size is 104.2 GTexels/s. FLOPS is 3.21.
In tests, the MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X proved to be as follows — according to the Passmark benchmark, the model scored 7602 points. At the same time, the maximum number of points for today is 260261 points. According to the 3DMark benchmark, the video card scored 9019 points out of 49575 possible.
Directx version — 12. OpenGL version — 4.5. Regarding cooling, here the heat dissipation requirement is 75 watts.
In our tests, the video card scores 185964 points.
Why MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X is better than others
- 3DMark Vantage Performance 43800 score . This parameter is higher than that of 19%
- GPU base clock speed 1485 MHz. This parameter is higher than that of 76%
- Passmark 7602 score.
This parameter is lower than 25% - 3DMark Cloud Gate GPU test score 49538 . This parameter is lower than 22%
- 3DMark Ice Storm GPU benchmark score 365866 . This parameter is lower than 18%
- 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score 13372 . This parameter is lower than that of 21%
- 3DMark Fire Strike Graphics 9019 test score. This parameter is lower than 24%
- 3DMark Fire Strike Score 8619 . This parameter is lower than that of 21%
Review MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X
Performance
Memory
general information
Functions
Ports
Tests in benchmarks
MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X Review Highlights
GPU base clock
The graphics processing unit (GPU) has a high clock speed.
1485MHz
max 2457
Average: 938 MHz
2457MHz
GPU memory frequency
This is an important aspect calculating memory bandwidth
2000MHz
max 16000
Average: 1326.
6 MHz
16000MHz
FLOPS
A measure of the processing power of a processor is called FLOPS.
3.21TFLOPS
max 1142.32
Average: 92.5 TFLOPS
1142.32TFLOPS
Turbo GPU
If the speed of the GPU drops below its limit, it can switch to a high clock speed to improve performance.
Show all
1860 MHz
max 2903
Average: 1375.8 MHz
2903MHz
Texture size
A certain number of textured pixels are displayed on the screen every second.
Show all
104.2 GTexels/s
max 756.8
Average: 145.
4 GTexels/s
756.8 GTexels/s
Architecture name
Turing
GPU name
TU117
Shared memory
No
Memory bandwidth
This is the rate at which the device stores or reads information.
128GB/s
max 2656
Average: 198.3 GB/s
2656GB/s
Effective memory speed
The effective memory clock speed is calculated from the size and information transfer rate of the memory. The performance of the device in applications depends on the clock frequency. The higher it is, the better.
Show all
8000MHz
max 19500
Average: 6984.5 MHz
19500MHz
RAM
4 GB
max 128
Average: 4.
6 GB
128GB
GDDR Memory Versions
Latest GDDR memory versions provide high data transfer rates to improve overall performance
Show all
5
Average: 4.5
6
Memory bus width
A wide memory bus indicates that it can transfer more information in one cycle. This property affects the performance of the memory as well as the overall performance of the device’s graphics card.
Show all
128bit
max 8192
Average: 290.1bit
8192bit
Thermal Dissipation (TDP)
Heat dissipation requirement (TDP) — the maximum possible amount of energy dissipated by the cooling system. The lower the TDP, the less power will be consumed.
Show all
75W
Average: 140.4W
2W
Process technology
The small size of the semiconductor means it is a new generation chip.
12 nm
Average: 47.5 nm
4 nm
Number of transistors
4700 million
max 80000
Average: 5043 million
80000 million
PCIe version
Considerable speed is provided for an expansion card used to connect a computer to peripherals. The updated versions have impressive throughput and provide high performance.
Show all
3
Mean: 2.8
5
Width
245mm
max 421.
7
Average: 242.6mm
421.7 mm
Height
127mm
max 180
Average: 119.1mm
180 mm
DirectX
Used in demanding games, providing enhanced graphics
12
max 12.2
Average: 11.1
12.2
OpenCL version
Used by some applications to enable GPU power for non-graphical calculations. The newer the version, the more functional it will be
Show all
1.2
max 4.6
Average: 1.7
4.6
opengl version
Later versions provide better game graphics
4.
5
max 4.6
Average: 4
4.6
Shader model version
6.5
max 6.6
Average: 5.5
6.6
Vulkan version
1.2
CUDA version
7.5
Has HDMI output
HDMI output allows you to connect devices with HDMI or mini HDMI ports. They can transmit video and audio to the display.
Show all
Yes
HDMI version
The latest version provides a wide signal transmission channel due to the increased number of audio channels, frames per second, etc.
Show all
2
max 2.1
Average: 2
2.1
DisplayPort
Allows you to connect to a display using DisplayPort
2
Average: 2
4
Number of HDMI connectors
Show all
one
Average: 1.
1
3
HDMI
Yes
Passmark test score
7602
max 29325
Average: 7628.6
29325
3DMark Cloud Gate benchmark score GPU
49538
max 1
Average: 80042.3
1
3DMark Fire Strike Score
8619
max 38276
Average: 12463
38276
3DMark Fire Strike Graphics test score
9019
max 49575
Average: 11859.1
49575
3DMark 11 performance benchmark score GPU
13372
max 57937
Average: 18799.
9
57937
3DMark Vantage Performance score
43800
max 97887
Average: 37830.6
97887
3DMark Ice Storm GPU score
365866
max 533357
Average: 372425.7
533357
SPECviewperf 12 test score — Solidworks
45
max 202
Average: 62.4
202
SPECviewperf 12 test score — specvp12 sw-03
44
max 202
Average: 64
202
SPECviewperf 12 test evaluation — Siemens NX
7
max 212
Average: 14
212
SPECviewperf 12 test score — specvp12 showcase-01
fifty
max 232
Average: 121.
3
232
SPECviewperf 12 test score — Medical
22
max 107
Average: 39.6
107
SPECviewperf 12 test score — specvp12 mediacal-01
21
max 107
Average: 39
107
SPECviewperf 12 test score — Maya
88
max 177
Average: 129.8
177
SPECviewperf 12 test score — specvp12 maya-04
89
max 180
Average: 132.8
180
SPECviewperf 12 test score — Energy
four
max 25
Average: 9.
7
25
SPECviewperf 12 test score — specvp12 energy-01
5
max 21
Average: 10.7
21
SPECviewperf 12 test score — Creo
thirty
max 153
Average: 49.5
153
SPECviewperf 12 test score — specvp12 creo-01
34
max 153
Average: 52.5
153
SPECviewperf 12 test score — specvp12 catia-04
43
max 189
Average: 91.5
189
SPECviewperf 12 test score — Catia
42
max 189
Average: 88.
6
189
SPECviewperf 12 test score — specvp12 3dsmax-05
104
max 316
Average: 189.5
316
SPECviewperf 12 test score — 3ds Max
104
max 269
Average: 169.8
269
FAQ
How much RAM does MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X have
MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X has 4 GB.
What version of RAM does MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X
MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X support GDDR5.
What is the architecture of MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X
Turing.
How many watts does the MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X consume?
75 watts.
How the MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X Performs in Benchmarks
In the Passmark benchmark, the video card scored 7602 points.