30 AUGUST 2019|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE 378
ALMOSTAYEARafter Nvidia first
announced its next-generation RTX20-series
cards, we finally have areplacement forthe
entry-level GTX 1050 as well. The GTX 1650 is
aworld awayfrom the monster frame rates
and real-time ray-tracing of its RTXcousins,
joining the GTX 1660 Ti (Shopper377)and
GTX 1660 in the more affordable 16-series,
but it’s still an interesting proposition,
especially when it’s in the tiny form factor
of this Zotac model.
The underlying GPU is the cheapest of
Nvidia’s current crop,and without aGTX 1650
Ti to competewith, is the only truly ‘budget’
GPU of the entire generation. To help shoulder
this responsibility,ithas 4GB of GDDR5
memory –twice that of the GTX 1050 –aswell
as an increased CUDAcore count of 896.
GTX 1650 processors have astock boost
clock of 1,665MHz, but Zotac has overclocked
this ever so slightly to 1,695MHz. Its design
comprises asimple,single-fan cooler,with the
bare minimum of video outputs on the rear:
one HDMI port, one DisplayPort and one
DVI-D connector.There’s no VirtualLink
USB Type-C port forVRheadsets, as you’d
get on the 20-series cards.
This simplicity has its benefits. At only
151mm long, it’s about as minuscule as GTX
cards come,and there are no 6-pin or 8-pin
PSU power connectors because it doesn’t
need any.The GeForce GTX 1650 OC can be
powered entirely through its PCI-E x16 slot
on the motherboard, which when combined
with its small stature,makes it potentially
perfect forcompact PC builds where the
case might not allow forlonger cards or
have adequatecable routing.
GO GO GO
It’s no surprise that the GTX 1650 outpaces
the GTX 1050 on core performance,but in
most tests it’s markedly faster than the GTX
VERDICT
TheGTX1650isNvidia’smostpowerful
budgetGPUyet,butitfacesastrong
challengefromthenewlycheapRX570
GAMING GRAPHICSCARD
1050 Ti as well. This is most dramatically
visible in our Dirt Showdown test, where at
1,920x1,080 with Ultra settings enabled, the
newest GPU averaged 101fps –far more than
the GTX 1050, which managed 74fps, and the
GTX 1060 Ti’ 81fps. It’s also ahighly favourable
matchup against AMD’s Radeon RX 560,
another budget GPU, which scored 75fps.
The GTX 1650 has improved ability at
2,560x1,440, too: at this resolution it stayed
smooth in Dirt, producing 76fps with Ultra
settings still in place.
More graphically demanding games will
push the GTX 1650 to its limits. Metro: Last
Light Redux averaged abarely acceptable
31fps at 1,920x1,080 with the Very High preset,
and going up to 2,560x1,440 dropped this to a
spluttering 17fps. Nonetheless, at least it
actually reaches the 30fps mark at 1080p,
where the GTX 1050, GTX 1050 Ti and RX 560
all fall short. 1440p isn’t entirely out of the
question, either: turn off SSAA and 17fps
jumps to 34fps, enough to get by with.
COUNT UP
Tomb Raider runs well, too, with its integrated
benchmark ending at 77fps at 1,920x1,080 and
48fps at 2,560x1,440, both with the Ultimate
quality setting and FXAA smoothing out
edges. Once again, that’s atotal victory for
the GTX 1650 over its budget rivals, as at
1080p,the GTX 1050 produced 55fps, the GTX
1050 Ti 62fps and the RX 560 amere 49fps.
Finally,although we wouldn’t call this an
ideal graphics card forVR, it can handle most
current games at medium settings. That’s
according to the SteamVR Performance Test,
which gave it amedium-tier score of 5.4.
Performance-wise,the GTX 1650 leads the
wayonwhat you can expect from an overtly
low-end GPU. Of the other three,the only
one that’s still worth buying is
the GTX 1050, and that’s
only if you absolutely can’t
spend more than £100.
However,it’s not just
budget cards that the GTX
1650 has to contend with.
The Radeon RX 570
(Shopper357)has plummeted in price from
the mid-£200 range to between £120 and
£140, putting this mid-ranger right next to
Nvidia’s latest. The specific Asus ROG Strix RX
570 model we tested is just £129,and its own
benchmark results confirm that it’s afar
better deal: at 1080p,itscored 118fps in Dirt,
45fps in Metro and 92fps in Tomb Raider.
KEEP IT SHORT
That’s aheavy blow to the GTX 1650 as an
actual buying proposition, but it’s not
necessarily afatal one.Its petitedimensions
allow it to fit intoMini-ITX cases that even
smaller partner variants of the RX 570 can’t,
and it’s alot more efficient, too. We recorded
Asus’s RX 570 using up to 155W under load,
but according to GPU-Z, the RX 560 only ever
peaked at 90% of its 75W TDP –about 68W.
Despitethe single fan, the GTX 1650
also runs quietly and very cool. An ideal
temperature of 30°C is fine,but the GTX
1650’s load temperature of 53°C is
downright excellent, and it only peaked at
54°C. That’s much chillier than the RX 570,
which generally ran at around 72°C.
Of course,the main reason to buy a
graphics card is performance,and on that
alone the RX 570 is unquestionably the better
buy.For the niche appeal of its size and
efficiency,the GTX 1650 scrapes afourth star,
but arecommendation applies only if you
specifically need asmaller,more discreet GPU.
JamesArcher
ZOTAC Gaming
GeForceGTX1650OC
★★★★★
Δ1Τ8ǥjrom http://www.noѮatech.co.uk
SPECIFICATIONS
DirtShowdown
Metro:LastLight
TombRaider
0% -50 Reference + 50 + 100
Seepage110forperformancedetails
GPUãѮidiaGejorceGĴX150ǥMEMORYɱGBGAAĚ5ǥ
GRAPHICSCARDLENGTH151mmǥWARRANTY
jiѮeyearsĚĴBǥDETAILSwww.҄otac.comǥ
PARTCODEƂĴ-Ĵ1500j-10Ë
101fps
31fps
77fps
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