ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce GTX 1650 Super OC video card review and testing

The outgoing 2019 was marked by a revival of competition in the graphics card market. The result of the confrontation with AMD was the emergence of NVIDIA GeForce Super models. At first, older RTX solutions of the Turing family came out under this loud name, and then more affordable GeForce GTX models appeared. In this review, we will consider the updated GeForce GTX 1650 video card with the Super prefix, test it at face value and overclock, and compare it with previous NVIDIA and AMD models.

The regular version of the GeForce GTX 1650 was based on the TU117 GPU and was initially cut down a bit on the compute units. And at the time of release, it was clear that over time a faster model would be released, for example, the GeForce GTX 1650 Ti. However, the full TU117 is limited to 1024 stream processors, which is probably not enough to compete with fresh AMD solutions. Therefore, the older TU116 chip, cut down to 1280 stream processors, became the basis for the GeForce GTX 1650 Super. And in general, the video card turned out to be close in terms of characteristics to the GeForce GTX 1060, operating with a similar number of computing units and operating at similar frequencies. But the GeForce GTX 1650 Super has a memory bus cut to 128 bits, 32 ROPs work, and the total video buffer size is 4 GB.

NVIDIA claims a significant performance difference between the GeForce GTX 1650 Super and the GeForce GTX 1650, which is quite real. The new Super version shows a significant increase in computing capacity, but can lose to the old GeForce GTX 1060 and the newer GeForce GTX 1660. The new product offers high memory bandwidth. With a 128-bit bus, the effective frequency of the new GDDR6 modules is at 12000 MHz, which is equal to the bandwidth of the GeForce GTX 1660 with a 192-bit bus and GDDR5 8000 MHz. So in terms of memory, only a small amount can become a real minus, since 4 GB at Ultra settings is not enough for some games.

The operating frequencies of the GPU according to the characteristics and real reviews do not differ from the Boost frequencies of the GeForce GTX 1660 or GeForce GTX 1060. The declared TDP level is 100 W, which is lower than the power of the mentioned video cards.

NVIDIA continues to expand the software capabilities of its video cards. This is an extension of the NVIDIA Freestyle capabilities with new post-processing filters, a low latency mode, and more. In the driver settings, it has long been possible to set the processing of preliminary frames to reduce latency, but now this has been moved to a separate Low Latency Mode settings mode.

A sharpening filter has been added, which is enabled in the graphics card’s 3D settings menu.

Added Reshade filters to the NVIDIA Freestyle filter set.

Let’s talk about the performance of the GeForce GTX 1650 Super using the ASUS TUF video card as an example.

ASUS TUF-GTX1650S-O4G-GAMING

This model comes in a small box and is not equipped with adapters and additional accessories.

A feature of ASUS TUF video cards is the emphasis on the high quality of the final product and its durability, which is achieved due to the high-quality element base and design features. But these video cards do not pretend to be the fastest or coldest solutions, although the cooling of the product in question looks quite good.

Before us is a two-slot solution with two fans. Total length 20 cm.

The plastic casing has a partial white camouflage coloring, which is a visual feature of ASUS TUF products.

The reverse side of the video card is covered with a plate. But this is not a metal backplate, but a hard plastic that protects the board and prevents the board from flexing.

In the corner there is a six-pin power connector. There is no illumination of logos on the case.

There are three ports for displaying images on the rear panel: DisplayPort, HDMI, and DVI.

Let’s take a look at the cooling system. Since we have a budget product, we use a simple one-piece heatsink with a single heat pipe.

But this tube is large diameter. It is curved to pierce the heatsink in three places, distributing the heat evenly. The tube covers a large portion of the rectangular GPU chip, but it still makes contact with the aluminum base around the edges. There are thermal pads to remove heat from the memory chips.

A small radiator of the supply circuit elements is provided.

That is, cooling is provided for all important elements, which is quite good for a model with a TDP of 100 W.

The whole structure is blown by a pair of 80-mm fans with large blades. The sealed motor design provides dust protection and increased durability for these fans.

ASUS TUF-GTX1650S-O4G-GAMING uses a short printed circuit board, which was originally designed for a more powerful video card, since there are places for unscrubbed parts.

The GPU is powered by four phases.

Processor marking TU116-250-KC-A1. This is the simplest version of the TU116 with 1280 stream processors and a 128-bit bus. Soldered four Micron 9UA77 D9WCW memory chips.

ASUS TUF-GTX1650S-O4G-GAMING boasts a slight factory overclock. With the default base core clock of 1530 MHz, the average Boost Clock has been increased from 1725 to 1770 MHz. The effective memory frequency is 12000 MHz.

Testing was carried out on an open stand in a room with a temperature of 23–24 °C. And under gaming load conditions, the video card warmed up to a modest 66 ° C. The maximum fan speed is about 1600 rpm, at idle about 1000 rpm, the noise is negligible. In the Final Fantasy XV Windows Edition benchmark, the main operating frequency range of Boost was in the region of 1920-1935 MHz, in Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 it is 1905-1920 MHz. Rare peak values ​​reached 1995 MHz.

To evaluate the capabilities of the simplest versions of the GeForce GTX 1650 Super, we resorted to lowering the base core frequency by 70 MHz to get an operating frequency range of 1830-1860 MHz, which roughly corresponds to the frequency parameters of the cheap versions from the available reviews.

Budget NVIDIA graphics cards often have a fixed power limit, which limits their overclocking potential. ASUS has no problem with this – the power limiter can be raised by 20%. And the overclocking potential itself turned out to be excellent. The core frequency was raised by 130 MHz, the final memory frequency was 15,000 MHz.

Boost in games was kept at 2055 MHz and higher, in rare tests there were drawdowns up to 2040 MHz. Peak values ​​up to 2115 MHz. To maintain initial operating temperatures, we fixed the fan speed at 1900 rpm, while the noise was moderate.

The total increase in core frequencies is about 11%, memory acceleration is 25%.