Is the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Super worth buying in 2023?

The GTX 1650 Super was introduced in late 2019 as a mid-cycle refresh to the Turing-based entry-level card, the GTX 1650. With a solid price tag of $159, it was the budget gamers' choice for a capable 1080p gaming system. Even more than three years after its release, the card can handle most AAA titles at FHD, albeit with some compromises to the visual fidelity.

Since Nvidia has practically abandoned the sub-$200 section with its new lineups, gamers are still left with the same options from the last generation. Thus, many of them are still considering the GTX 1650 Super for their budget sub-$500 gaming rigs. Let's analyze the card — its performance and pricing — to find out whether it is worth buying in 2023.

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Nvidia's GTX 1650 Super is a decent card if bought at the right price

Before delving into the benchmarks and performance of the GTX 1650 Super, let's check out its specs and find out what it's capable of.

Specs

On paper, the GTX 1650 Super is not a very impressive card. It is based on the same TU116 graphics processor that powers the GTX 1660 lineup of GPUs. However, its CUDA core count has been massively cut down to make up for a cheaper and weaker GPU.

It packs 80 Texture Mapping Units (TMUs) — 42% more than the weaker GTX 1650 — and the same 32 Render Output Units (ROPs) as that card. The GPU comes with 4 GB of 12 Gbps GDDR6 memory. Its RAM is quite sub-par according to 2023 standards; however, video games do not face major problems because of this once their settings are cranked down.

	Nvidia Geforce GTX 1650 Super
Graphics processor	TU116
CUDA cores	1,280
TMUs	80
ROPs	32
Memory size	4 GB
Memory type	12 Gbps GDDR6 128-bit
Base clock	1,530 MHz
Boost clock	1,725 MHz
TDP	100 W
Launch MSRP	$159

According to TechPowerUp's GPU computing power aggregates, the 1650 Super is about 26% faster than its non-Super sibling. It beats both the entry-level RX 5500 XT and RX 6500 XT cards from AMD. It is also faster than the GTX 1060 6 GB, which used to be the most popular video card on the planet until it was surpassed by Nvidia's 1650.

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Performance

The 50-class video cards are not built to play games in the highest settings. They are budget offerings designed to run video games at 1080p with some compromises to the visual quality. The same applies to this card.

The GTX 1650 Super can run most modern AAA titles at over 60 FPS. However, gamers might have to reduce the quality settings of those games to Medium or Low. Competitive titles manage triple-digit framerates.

The addition of upscaling technologies like AMD FSR has added new life to the older GTX 10 and GTX 16 series video cards. The 1650 Super relies on some temporal upscaling to push higher framerates, which can make an unplayable title playable.

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Conclusion

Overall, the GTX 1650 Super is an aging video card. The GPU is sub-optimal for 1080p gaming. Thus, gamers with it might consider upgrading to one of the latest entries from Team Green.

However, those looking for a budget 1080p gaming experience should check the price of the card. Multiple models are being sold at ridiculous prices at many retailers, which can make the product a good get. Gamers should not pay anything over $160 for this last-gen 50-class card.