LABS TEST / GRAPHICS CARDS
T
he Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Super
provides a notable upgrade over the
original GTX 1650 thanks largely to
a big increase in its stream processor count.
Where the older card had just 896, the new
version packs in 1,280. Elsewhere, though, this
card is as modest as its price suggests.
The card itself is tiny, measuring just 159mm
in length, which is barely longer than the
PCI-E slot. Despite this modest size, Zotac
has equipped the card with two fans, but they
produce quite an irritating high-pitched whirr
when the card is under load. A 6-pin PCI-E
power cable is also required.
The TU117 chip that powers this card ticks
over at 1530MHz with a 1725MHz boost clock.
There are variants with slightly quicker boost
clock speeds but only up to around 1800MHz,
so there’s very little in it. You also get 4GB ofZOTAC GEFORCE GTX
1650 SUPER /£150 inc VAT
SUPPLIER overclockers.co.ukGDDR6 memory running at 12GHz
(effective), which interfaces with the
GPU over a modest 128-bit interface, making
for a total bandwidth of 192GB/sec. Attached
to this is the render back end that incorporates
32 ROPs. For video outputs, you get one each
of DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2b and DVI-D DL.
The GTX 1650 Super is based on Nvidia’s
latest Turing architecture but it has one crucial
omission – hardware ray-tracing support.
Unlike the GTX 1660-series GPUs, the 1650
Super doesn’t even support ray tracing via its
CUDA cores. As such, ray tracing is a non-option
although, given its overall lack of horsepower,
it’s not like enabling ray tracing in games would
result in playable frame rates anyway.
We noticed a couple of issues when we put
this card to the test too. Firstly, the boost clock
quickly slows down after a few minutes, as
first runs of our tests were consistently faster
than subsequent runs, resulting in 4-5fps
drops in performance in some instances. The
worst-case results are those that we’ve used
in our graphs. The card also struggled to run
Red Dead Redemption 2 at 2,560 x 1,440,
with it crashing several times, though we did
eventually record some results.
Otherwise, the performance picture is
clear. The GTX 1650 Super offers a solid
improvement in performance across
the board compared with the GTX 1650.
Whereas the older card offered nearly half
the speed of the 1660 in previous testing, the
1650 Super significantly closes the gap.Nonetheless, by and large, we’re looking
at 1080p gaming only here. In all our tests,
the 1650 Super delivered over 30fps at this
resolution but couldn’t do the same at 2,560 x
1,440. In older, less graphically rich titles, you’ll
be able to play at higher resolutions but we
certainly wouldn’t recommend this card for
higher-resolution gaming overall.Conclusion
The Zotac GeForce GTX 1650 Super is a
decent option for entry-level gaming. It offers
reliable 1080p gaming performance, it has a
low power draw and it can be had for under
£150 (just). However, AMD’s Radeon RX 590
is significantly faster for only an extra £15,
and if there’s room in your budget, it’s also
worth another £50 to get the much faster
GTX 1660 Super.SPEC
Graphics processor Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650
Super, 1530MHz base clock, 1725MHz boost clock
Pipeline 1,280 stream processors, 32 ROPs
Interface PCI-E 3
RT Cores 0
Tensor Cores 0
Memory 4GB GDDR6, 1500MHz
(12GHz effective)
Memory interface 128-bit
Bandwidth 192GB/sec
Outputs/inputs 1 x DisplayPort
1.4, 1 x HDMI 2b, 1 DVI-D DL
Power connections 1 x 6-pinVERDICT
A decent 1080p entry-level option, but you
don’t have to spend much more money to
get much quicker performance.SUPERMAN
+^ Low price
+^ Much faster than^
GTX 1650
+^ Low power drawSUPER GRAN-^ Variable boost
performance
-^ Slightly whiny fans
PERFORMANCE
33 / 50RAY TRACING
0 / 10OVERALL SCORE
66 %%
EFFICIENCY
9 / 10VALUE
24 / 30LABS TEST / GRAPHICS CARDS
T
heNvidiaGeForceGTX 1650 Super
providesa notableupgradeoverthe
originalGTX 1650 thankslargelyto
a bigincreaseinitsstreamprocessorcount.
Wheretheoldercardhadjust896,thenew
versionpacksin1,280.Elsewhere,though,this
cardis asmodestasitspricesuggests.
Thecarditselfis tiny,measuringjust159mm
inlength,whichis barelylongerthanthe
PCI-Eslot.Despitethismodestsize,Zotac
hasequippedthecardwithtwofans,butthey
producequiteanirritatinghigh-pitchedwhirr
whenthecardis underload.A 6-pinPCI-E
powercableis alsorequired.
TheTU117chipthatpowersthiscardticks
overat1530MHzwitha 1725MHzboostclock.
Therearevariantswithslightlyquickerboost
clockspeedsbutonlyuptoaround1800MHz,
sothere’sverylittleinit. Youalsoget4GBof
ZOTAC GEFORCE GTX
1650 SUPER/£150inc VAT
SUPPLIER overclockers.co.ukGDDR6 memory running at 12GHz
(effective), which interfaces with the
GPU over a modest 128-bit interface, making
for a total bandwidth of 192GB/sec. Attached
to this is the render back end that incorporates
32 ROPs. For video outputs, you get one each
of DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2b and DVI-D DL.
The GTX 1650 Super is based on Nvidia’s
latest Turing architecture but it has one crucial
omission – hardware ray-tracing support.
Unlike the GTX 1660-series GPUs, the 1650
Super doesn’t even support ray tracing via its
CUDA cores. As such, ray tracing is a non-option
although, given its overall lack of horsepower,
it’s not like enabling ray tracing in games would
result in playable frame rates anyway.
We noticed a couple of issues when we put
this card to the test too. Firstly, the boost clock
quickly slows down after a few minutes, as
first runs of our tests were consistently faster
than subsequent runs, resulting in 4-5fps
drops in performance in some instances. The
worst-case results are those that we’ve used
in our graphs. The card also struggled to run
Red Dead Redemption 2 at 2,560 x 1,440,
with it crashing several times, though we did
eventually record some results.
Otherwise, the performance picture is
clear. The GTX 1650 Super offers a solid
improvement in performance across
the board compared with the GTX 1650.
Whereas the older card offered nearly half
the speed of the 1660 in previous testing, the
1650 Super significantly closes the gap.Nonetheless, by and large, we’re looking
at 1080p gaming only here. In all our tests,
the 1650 Super delivered over 30fps at this
resolution but couldn’t do the same at 2,560 x
1,440. In older, less graphically rich titles, you’ll
be able to play at higher resolutions but we
certainly wouldn’t recommend this card for
higher-resolution gaming overall.Conclusion
The Zotac GeForce GTX 1650 Super is a
decent option for entry-level gaming. It offers
reliable 1080p gaming performance, it has a
low power draw and it can be had for under
£150 (just). However, AMD’s Radeon RX 590
is significantly faster for only an extra £15,
and if there’s room in your budget, it’s also
worth another £50 to get the much faster
GTX 1660 Super.SPEC
Graphics processor Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650
Super, 1530MHz base clock, 1725MHz boost clock
Pipeline 1,280 stream processors, 32 ROPs
Interface PCI-E 3
RT Cores 0
Tensor Cores 0
Memory 4GB GDDR6, 1500MHz
(12GHz effective)
Memory interface 128-bit
Bandwidth 192GB/sec
Outputs/inputs 1 x DisplayPort
1.4, 1 x HDMI 2b, 1 DVI-D DL
Power connections 1 x 6-pinVERDICT
A decent 1080p entry-level option, but you
don’t have to spend much more money to
get much quicker performance.SUPERMAN
+Lowprice
+Muchfasterthan
GTX 1650
+Low power draw
SUPERGRAN- Variable boost
performance - Slightly whiny fans
PERFORMANCE
33 / 50RAY TRACING
0 / 10OVERALLSCORE
66 %%
EFFICIENCY
9 / 10VALUE
24 / 30