What are GeForce GTX 1650 capable of with different memory in modern games? Review and testing of ASUS TUF-GTX1650-O4GD6-P-GAMING and PH-GTX1650-O4G video cards

As a result of recent events, interest in computer “hardware” has taken a back seat, and potential buyers are forced to limit themselves to budget segment products. Even before the war, we prepared several materials about budget video cards, which are now becoming more relevant. In this review, we will talk about the GeForce GTX 1650. This video card replaced the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti back in 2019, but it is still actively represented on the market. During this period, it went through several transformations. In this review, we’ll look at the different variants of the GeForce GTX 1650 with GDDR5 and GDDR6 memory, find out their potential in modern games and compare them to the GeForce GTX 1060.

The original GeForce GTX 1650 is based on the TU117 processor with 896 active stream processors, 56 texture blocks and 32 rasterization blocks. The video card received a 128-bit bus and 4 gigabytes of GDDR5 8000 Gbit/s memory. With a power of 75 W, the video card did without additional power, although there were overclocked versions with increased frequencies and additional power. In the fall of 2019, an upgraded version of the GeForce GTX 1650 Super was released. This was a major upgrade as the GPU was upgraded to a more powerful TU116 processor, leaving 1280 active stream processors and 80 texture blocks, plus faster 12000Gb/s GDDR6 memory. The only weak point is the memory capacity of 4 gigabytes. But in general, an acceleration of 30–40% was obtained, which is very impressive.

Later, an upgraded version of the regular GeForce GTX 1650 was released, which combines the TU117 with 896 computing cores and GDDR6 12000 Gbit/s. Here, the difference in performance is clearly smaller, but the difference in price is also minimal. Both versions of GeForce GTX 1650 are actively represented on the market. Therefore, the question of choosing between GeForce GTX 1650 with GDDR5 and GDDR6 is very acute.

During the pandemic, another variation of the GeForce GTX 1650 based on the TU106 processor appeared. An extremely unusual decision, because this is a heavily cut GeForce RTX 2060, which in terms of final characteristics is absolutely identical to the standard GeForce GTX 1650 — the same 896 stream processors, 56 TMUs and 32 ROPs. The appearance of such a “frankenstein” is associated with a shortage of economical TU117 chips, which were actively used in notebooks for mobile GeForce GTX 1650 and GeForce GTX 1650 Ti.

Concluding the review of the GeForce GTX 1650 line, it is worth noting that in the full configuration, the TU117 has 1024 streaming cores with 64 texture blocks. But such options were used only in mobile GeForce GTX 1650 Ti. The desktop version of this video card was never released.

Consider GeForce GTX 1650 GDDR6 and GeForce GTX 1650 on the example of ASUS video cards.

ASUS TUF-GTX1650-O4GD6-P-GAMING

Let’s start with the older version, which, as it turned out, is based on the TU106 processor.

The ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce GTX 1650 GDDR6 OC Edition comes in a small box.

Equipped with a cooler with two fans. The cover has a color reminiscent of winter camouflage. The length of the device reaches 20 cm.

The reverse side is covered with a backplate. This is a plastic plate, so there is no practical value in this element, but visually the video card looks more solid.

There is one six-pin power connector in the corner. A thick heat pipe is visible from the side.

There are three connectors for image output on the rear panel: DisplayPort, HDMI, DVI-D.

The outer cover with fans is removable without fully disassembling the video card, which is convenient if you need to clean it from dust. Blowing is carried out by two fans with an impeller with a diameter of 75 mm.

The GPU is cooled by a one-piece finned radiator with a single thick heat pipe.

A curved heat pipe passes through the center of the radiator and its sides. This radiator also cools the memory chips through special elastic thermal pads.

A separate small radiator is provided for the elements of the power supply chain.

The printed circuit board resembles the PCB of the older ASUS TUF-GTX1650S-O4G-GAMING video card. The graphics processor is powered by four phases. More capacitors in the GPU harness, which is associated with the use of a more complex chip.

Instead of TU117, this graphics accelerator uses TU106-125-KAB-A1. The processor is reduced to the level of the standard characteristics of the GeForce GTX 1650, so no obvious advantages should be expected. Four Micron IKA77 D9WCR memory chips are soldered.

With a standard base frequency of 1410 MHz, the Boost Clock frequency has been increased from 1590 to 1755 MHz. The effective memory frequency is 12,000 MHz. The power is increased to 100 watts with a peak value of 120 watts.

In the 3DMark Time Spy stress test, real frequencies were kept in the range of 1950-1965 MHz. Days Gone saw drops to 1920 MHz. Short-term peak values ​​up to 2040 MHz. The GPU temperature was kept between 70–72 °C with fan speeds up to 1850 rpm (open case).

In the hot spot of the crystal (Hot Spot), the temperature reached 88 °C.

In overclocking, it was possible to reach operating frequencies of 2085–2100 MHz with a peak Boost up to 2175 MHz. For this, the base value is increased by 120 MHz. The memory is accelerated to 14900 MHz.

The speed of the fans is fixed at 2100 rpm, which ensured the temperature on the main sensor in the range of 70–74 °C.

The peak temperature of the hot zone of the GPU exceeded 90 °C.