We have with us Gigabyte's GeForce GTX 1650 GDDR6 OC. NVIDIA sprung a cute little surprise in the middle of the COVID-19 panic in the form of an upgrade to its entry-level "Turing" based graphics card, the GeForce GTX 1650. The new GTX 1650 G6 (GDDR6) sees NVIDIA replace the 8 Gbps GDDR5 memory with newer and faster 12 Gbps GDDR6 memory to yield a 50% boost in memory bandwidth. From prevalent online pricing, it appears the G6 variant was meant to gradually replace the original GTX 1650 at around $160. Stocks of GDDR6 memory chips are aplenty and memory makers are beginning to phase out GDDR5.
The switch to GDDR6 was probably also intended to improve NVIDIA's outlook in the sub-$200 market below the GTX 1650 Super. Currently, no AMD "Navi" RX 5000-series graphics card uses GDDR5 (at least not in the retail channel), and with the RX 5500 XT 4 GB going for around $170, the original GTX 1650 was beginning to look obsolete. The switch to GDDR6 comes at a cost, though. NVIDIA had to lower GPU clock speeds slightly—1410 MHz base and 1590 MHz GPU Boost vs. the 1485 MHz base and 1665 MHz GPU Boost of the original GTX 1650. This was probably done while keeping an eye on the power envelope necessary to enable graphics card designs without any PCIe power connectors.
The GeForce GTX 1650 GDDR6 runs with 896 "Turing" CUDA cores, 56 TMUs, and 32 ROPs—same as the original GTX 1650, with memory type and clocks being the only difference. The size of the memory is the same at 4 GB. With these specifications, NVIDIA is targeting 1080p gaming at mid-thru-high settings, or 1080p eSports gaming at 60 Hz, with titles such as PUBG.
The GIGABYTE card we have with us today is the company's cheapest offering, which lacks any power connectors yet comes with a small overclock out of the box. It uses a simple fan-heatsink cooler that's not much unlike Intel's stock heatsink. GIGABYTE is pricing the card at $175, which seems close to this SKU's baseline pricing.
GeForce GTX 1650 GDDR6 Market Segment Analysis
Price
Shader Units
ROPs
Core Clock
Boost Clock
Memory Clock
GPU
Transistors
Memory
GTX 1050
$135
640
32
1354 MHz
1455 MHz
1752 MHz
GP107
3300M
2 GB, GDDR5, 128-bit
GTX 1050 Ti
$150
768
32
1290 MHz
1392 MHz
1752 MHz
GP107
3300M
4 GB, GDDR5, 128-bit
GTX 1650
$150
896
32
1485 MHz
1665 MHz
2000 MHz
TU117
4700M
4 GB, GDDR5, 128-bit
GTX 1650 GDDR6
N/A
896
32
1410 MHz
1590 MHz
1500 MHz
TU117
4700M
4 GB, GDDR6, 128-bit
Gigabyte GTX 1650 OC GDDR6
$175
896
32
1410 MHz
1635 MHz
1500 MHz
TU117
4700M
4 GB, GDDR6, 128-bit
RX 570
$120
2048
32
1168 MHz
1244 MHz
1750 MHz
Ellesmere
5700M
4 GB, GDDR5, 256-bit
RX 5500 XT
$170
1408
32
1717 MHz
1845 MHz
1750 MHz
Navi 14
6400M
4 GB, GDDR6, 128-bit
GTX 1650 Super
$160
1280
32
1530 MHz
1725 MHz
1500 MHz
TU116
6600M
4 GB, GDDR6, 128-bit
RX 580
$160
2304
32
1257 MHz
1340 MHz
2000 MHz
Ellesmere
5700M
8 GB, GDDR5, 256-bit
GTX 1060 3 GB
$170
1152
48
1506 MHz
1708 MHz
2002 MHz
GP106
4400M
3 GB, GDDR5, 192-bit
GTX 1060
$210
1280
48
1506 MHz
1708 MHz
2002 MHz
GP106
4400M
6 GB, GDDR5, 192-bit
RX 590
$200
2304
32
1469 MHz
1545 MHz
2000 MHz
Polaris 30
5700M
8 GB, GDDR5, 256-bit
GTX 1660
$200
1408
48
1530 MHz
1785 MHz
2000 MHz
TU116
6600M
6 GB, GDDR5, 192-bit
GTX 1070
$300
1920
64
1506 MHz
1683 MHz
2002 MHz
GP104
7200M
8 GB, GDDR5, 256-bit
RX Vega 56
$260
3584
64
1156 MHz
1471 MHz
800 MHz
Vega 10
12500M
8 GB, HBM2, 2048-bit
GTX 1660 Super
$230
1408
48
1530 MHz
1785 MHz
1750 MHz
TU116
6600M
6 GB, GDDR6, 192-bit
Packaging
The Card
Gigabyte's GTX 1650 OC GDDR6 uses a simple single-fan design with a heatsink that's mostly black with some gray highlights. A backplate is not available.
Dimensions of the card are 15 x 13 cm.
Installation requires two slots in your system.
Display connectivity options include one DisplayPort 1.4a, one DVI port, and an HDMI 2.0b.
The board does not use any additional power connector. This input configuration is specified for up to 75 watts of power draw.
GeForce GTX 1650 does not support SLI.
Disassembly
Gigabyte's cooler is really simple. Heatpipes aren't used, it's basically a big slab of metal. It's nice to see that the memory chips are cooled, too.
High-resolution PCB Pictures
These pictures are for the convenience of volt modders and people who would like to see all the finer details on the PCB. Feel free to link back to us and use these in your articles or forum posts.
High-res versions are also available (front, back).