LIKE THE OTHER Super branded GPUs
launched recently, the 1650 Super
represents modest improvements to an
existing part. In this case, the part is the
TU116. That’s a step up from the bottom
Turing TU117 GPU used in the GTX 1650.
Why the change? Simple: The TU117 lacks
a few of the extra features found in its big
brother. Specifically, it uses the older
Pascal-era NVENC block that promises
better quality than x264 Fast encoding
via the CPU, with a minimal hit to frame
rates, as well as GDDR6 support.
In terms of core specs, the GTX 1650
Super is a healthy jump in performance
from the existing GTX 1650. It has 42
percent more GPU cores, and while it
sticks with a 128-bit memory interface,
the move to 12Gb/s GDDR6 means it has
50 percent more bandwidth than the- There is one potential concern,
though: VRAM. More specifically, the
4GB of GDDR6. It may have the same total
bandwidth as the 1660, but with 2GB less
memory, there are going to be situations
where performance will be lower.
The MSI GTX 1650 Super we have in
for review looks almost identical to the
GTX 1650 Gaming X, but it’s using the
same board as the 1660 cards, which
makes sense, as both use the same
TU116 GPU. The 1650 Super has an extra
Nvidia’s budget GPUs just got a
bit faster, or a bit more affordable
MSI GeForce
GTX 1650 Super
Gaming X
9
VERDICT MSI GeForce GTX 1650 SuperSUPERIOR Great overall value;
much faster than the 1650;
includes Turing NVENC.
POSTERIOR Only 4GB of VRAM; requires
six-pin power.
$180, http://us.msi.comSPECIFICATIONSGPU Turing TU116
Lithography TSMC 12nm FinFET
Transistor Count 6.6 billion
CUDA Cores 1,280
Texture Units 80
ROPs 32
Core/Boost Clock 1,530/1,725MHz
Memory Capacity
& Type
4GB GDDR6
Memory Speed 12GT/s
Memory Bus 128-bitBENCHMARKSMSI GeForce GTX 1650 Super 4GB AMD Radeon R X 580 8GB
Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 (Avg fps) 57 / 36 52/33
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (Avg fps) 38 /24 36/ 31
Far Cry 5 (Avg fps) 76 /45 70/ 50
Shadow of the Tomb Raider (Avg fps) 64/41 65 / 44
The Outer Worlds (Avg fps) 64 / 40 49/34
Metro Exodus (Avg fps) 42 / 32 39/29
Total War: Warhammer II (Avg fps) 55 / 40 44/33
Best scores are in bold. Our test bed consists of an Intel Core i7-8700K, 16GB of G.Skill DDR4-3200, a Gigabyte
Aorus Gaming 7, and a 1TB Samsung Evo M.2 SSD. All games are tested at their highest graphical profile with AA
turned on, at 1080p and 1440p respectively.DisplayPort output, compared to MSI’s
vanilla 1650 card. This card also comes
with a factory overclock. In this case, it’s
not much to speak of: The boost clock
is 1,755MHz, compared to the reference
1,725MHz. That doesn’t mean it couldn’t
go further, and indeed often runs much
higher than that, up to 1,900MHz, in fact.
Something else to note is that the
GTX 1650 Super is a 100W TDP card, so
it requires a six-pin power connector. If
you have a PC that doesn’t have any PCIe
power cables available (which is the case
for some budget pre-built PCs), you need
to stick with the vanilla 1650.
Performance is pretty much what
you’d expect: consistently around 30
percent faster than the regular GTX 1650.
A t 10 8 0 p w i t h m e d i u m s e t t i n g s , i t ’s n e a r l y
as fast as the 1660, but it falls off by 10
percent at 1080p with ultra settings, and
17 percent at 1440p with all the settings
maxed out. Importantly, it manages to
break 60fps in almost every game we
tested at 1080p medium (Metro Exodus
being the exception), but at 1080p ultra,
it’s far less certain. The overall average
at 1080p ultra is 61fps, but only about half
of the games break 60, while the other
half range from around 40fps to 55fps.
Considering the GTX 1650 Super only
costs $10 more than the regular GTX1650, this is an easy recommendation.
Budget GPUs certainly aren’t the
most exciting graphics cards around,
but for people trying to game without
spending a ton of cash, this is a great
entry-level card that can easily run any
current game. Just don’t expect max
settings and higher resolutions in every
game, and beware of future games that
could push beyond the capabilities of the
GTX 1650 Super’s 4GB of VRAM. If you can
spend the extra $50 to $75, upgrading to
a GTX 1660 Super is a better long-term
decision. –JARRED WALTONin the lab
88 MAXIMUMPC JAN 2020 maximumpc.com