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Nvidia launched the GTX 1650 back in 2019 as an entry-level offering based on the Turing architecture. This graphics card was priced at $149 upon launch and mainly targeted towards 1080p gaming with some compromises in visual fidelity.
Nvidia is still manufacturing and selling the card since a next-gen low-cost alternative has not been launched yet. The RTX 3050 is too costly for most gamers.
However, before buying the GTX 1650 in late 2022, gamers should look at the competition, especially the new offerings from AMD and Intel, and make an informed decision accordingly.
Pricing and performance are killing the GTX 1650
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When the 1650 card was launched back in 2019, the card, along with the GTX 1660, its older sibling, was praised for being good value for the money they asked for.
However, over the past three years, a lot has changed in the gaming industry. Ninth-generation consoles have been introduced that have pushed the baseline of gaming PCs up by a solid margin.
The PS4 packs a GPU that was equivalent to the five-year-old RX 560. The beefed-up PS4 Pro comes with a GPU that is almost equal to the RX 580 in terms of performance. The PS5 pushed that boundary up to the RTX 2070 Super. Thus, games have become a lot more demanding.
This pushed the GTX 1650 near the bare minimum required for 1080p gaming. This is evident from how the card struggles in Cyberpunk 2077.
Although Nvidia has boycotted the entry-level market and has not launched a single GPU around the $150 margin this generation, AMD and Intel have launched products to fill the void.
The AMD Radeon RX 6400 is almost equivalent to the 1650 card. The RX 6500 XT beats it by a solid margin. While the former costs around $139, gamers will have to pay around $165 to $180 for the latter.
The Intel Arc A380, although a disappointing card, can beat the 1650 by a soft margin while costing around $130 to $140 depending on the AIB model.
In contrast, the GTX 1650 costs around $170 to $180 these days. This is around $20-$30 more than its launch MSRP.
Thus, gamers should avoid the aging 1650 and opt for the Intel Arc A380 or the 6500 XT any day.
More information on the GTX 1650
It is worth noting that Nvidia has launched multiple variants of the 1650 over its lifespan. Initially, the card was packed with 4 GB of GDDR5 RAM, which was a step down from the GDDR6 memory found on the RTX 20 series cards.
However, Nvidia quickly followed up with a GDDR6 variant of the card. Just including faster and more capable memory modules with the same die improved gaming performance by a solid margin.
In the following months, Nvidia came up with the 1650 Super that packed slightly bumped-up specs and faster memory. The base and boost clocks increased as well. This card is faster than the GTX 1060 6 GB. However, it falls apart when compared to the new RX 6500 XT.
Thus, gamers should double-check the GTX 1650 listing they are looking at before finalizing the graphics card they want.
