MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X 4 GB Review

Name: MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X 4 GB
Brand: MSI

W1zzard

on Apr 23rd, 2019,

in Graphics Cards.

Manufacturer: MSI

(73 Comments) »

Introduction

NVIDIA today announced the GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card, the smallest and most affordable implementation of the "Turing" architecture. Much like other GeForce GTX 16-series graphics cards launched to date, the GTX 1650 lacks dedicated RTX real-time raytracing hardware and tensor cores even though it is based on "Turing". NVIDIA is positioning the card at a starting price of US$149 and expects the card to be capable of Full HD (1080p) gaming with reasonably high settings.

The GeForce GTX 1650 is based on the tiny new "TU117" silicon from NVIDIA. This chip is configured with 896 CUDA cores, 56 TMUs, 32 ROPs, and a 128-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface holding 4 GB of memory that ticks at 8 Gbps, churning out 128 GB/s bandwidth. Not too long ago, such specifications were considered quasi-premium for this price segment; that is, until AMD significantly cut prices of its Radeon "Polaris" graphics cards after the crypto-mining crash. The Radeon RX 570 4 GB, going by specifications alone, would qualify as a segment higher than the GTX 1650, but can be had for around the $130-mark from North American retailers.

With a rated power-draw of just 75 watts—half that of the RX 570—most GeForce GTX 1650 graphics cards typically do not need an additional PCIe power connector and can make do with slot power only, which can be useful when upgrading OEM systems that have weak PSUs and possibly lack the power cabling required for higher-end graphics cards. Certain premium factory-overclocked cards based on this chip may at best pack a single 6-pin connector. Display outputs typically only include one DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.0b, and DVI-D each. The chip is endowed with all of the new 10bpc HDR video decoding hardware acceleration introduced with "Turing", so it has a solid resume for your living room.

In this review, we take a look at the MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X, the company's premium GTX 1650 offering boasting an aspirational design aimed at e-Sports gamers, a TwinFrozr VII cooling solution that looks like a card a segment above the rest, and a factory-overclocked speed of 1860 MHz GPU Boost.

GeForce GTX 1650 Market Segment Analysis
	Price	Shader Units	ROPs	Core Clock	Boost Clock	Memory Clock	GPU	Transistors	Memory
GTX 1050	$130	640	32	1354 MHz	1455 MHz	1752 MHz	GP107	3300M	2 GB, GDDR5, 128-bit
GTX 1050 Ti	$170	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
MSI GTX 1650 Gaming X	$155	896	32	1485 MHz	1860 MHz	2000 MHz	TU117	4700M	4 GB, GDDR5, 128-bit
RX 570	$130	2048	32	1168 MHz	1244 MHz	1750 MHz	Ellesmere	5700M	4 GB, GDDR5, 256-bit
RX 580	$190	2304	32	1257 MHz	1340 MHz	2000 MHz	Ellesmere	5700M	8 GB, GDDR5, 256-bit
GTX 1060 3 GB	$200	1152	48	1506 MHz	1708 MHz	2002 MHz	GP106	4400M	3 GB, GDDR5, 192-bit
GTX 1060	$200	1280	48	1506 MHz	1708 MHz	2002 MHz	GP106	4400M	6 GB, GDDR5, 192-bit
RX 590	$220	2304	32	1469 MHz	1545 MHz	2000 MHz	Polaris 30	5700M	8 GB, GDDR5, 256-bit
GTX 1660	$220	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

Packaging and Contents

You will receive:

Graphics card
Driver disc
Documentation

The Card

The MSI GTX 1650 Gaming follows the visual theme MSI is using on their other "Turing" based graphics cards. It is 25.0 cm long and 13.5 cm tall. A backplate is not included, which isn't surprising in this market segment.

Installation requires two slots in your system.

Display connectivity options include two standard-sized DisplayPort 1.4 and a HDMI 2.0b.

NVIDIA has updated their display engine with the Turing microarchitecture, which now supports DisplayPort 1.4a with support for VESA's nearly lossless Display Stream Compression (DSC). Combined, this enables support for 8K@30Hz with a single cable, or 8K@60Hz when DSC is turned on. For context, DisplayPort 1.4a is the latest version of the standard that was published in April, 2018.

Since earlier this year, NVIDIA has enabled support for VESA Adaptive Sync (aka FreeSync) on all of their cards. While only a small number of FreeSync monitors have been fully qualified for G-SYNC, users can enable the feature in NVIDIA's control panel regardless of whether the monitor is certified or not.

The board uses a single 6-pin power connector. This input configuration is specified for up to 150 watts of power draw.

GeForce GTX 1650 does not support SLI.

Disassembly

The MSI cooler uses a single double-length heatpipe to keep the GPU cool. This part of the cooler also cools the memory chips—the VRM is cooled by the airflow of the two fans.

On the next page, we dive deep into the PCB layout and VRM configuration.

High-resolution PCB Pictures

These pictures are for the convenience of volt-modders and those who would like to see all the finer details on the PCB. Feel free to link back to us and use them in your articles or forum posts.