Best GeForce GTX 1650 in 2024
We Select The Best GeForce GTX 1650 Currently Available
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With a veritable litany of graphics cards available on the market today, there’s something out there for everyone. Whether you’re looking for cutting-edge graphics or a happy middle ground between price and performance, or even cheap and cheerful alternatives, there’s no shortage of options. So you may what be the best GeForce GTX 1650 in 2022.
Although options are undoubtedly a good thing, the difficulty of honing in on the right one for your needs can’t be understated. Sifting through the options available can be tedious and stressful. Should price dictate your choice? Do you need the very best? Can you settle for a lesser card? What about the same chipset offered by up to a dozen manufacturers? It can be a minefield, and these questions surface time and time again among those pondering a graphics card upgrade.
Fret not, as this article is your go-to guide for all things GeForce GTX 1650. Need help sorting the wheat from the chaff? You’ve come to the right place. With that in mind, let’s jump right into the very best GeForce GTX 1650 GPUs on the market today.
Best GeForce GTX 1650: First Look
- 01Best All-Round GeForce GTX 1650Quick, Fast, And Stylish
- 02Best Overclocked GeForce GTX 1650A Great Overclocked GPU FOr A Great Price
- 03Best Compact GeForce GTX 1650A Mid-Range Compact Card
How we choose
Regardless of whether we are reviewing gaming mice or the best monitor out there, we aim to help our readers make an informed decision.
We all know that shopping around for a new component isn’t a case of visiting a retailer and picking one. There are hours of research, review reading, and benchmark scrutinizing to go through. Not everyone has the time or inclination to pour hours into the task, nor do they want to haphazardly choose the wrong product.
In that spirit, we’re aiming to simplify the whole process and morph it into a timely and enjoyable experience via our complete buyer’s guide. In other words, we’ve done all the heavy lifting, so you don’t have to waste any time or effort.
How we test
Testing is the central pillar of our recommendation process and is the main factor we consider when creating our best of guides. By concentrating on tangible performance, we can guarantee that our choices are the best out there regardless of the product in question.
For a component to pick up a ‘best’ rating, it needs to have, without a doubt, top results in our test, have a leg up on the competition, and offer features that allow it to stand out from the rest.
The overwhelming majority of the products featured in our best of guides have undergone our strict testing process. This process measures everything from price to performance by way of efficiency, build quality, and, of course, visual design. In every test, components are put through their paces with an eye on how they perform when pushed.
Such an approach allows us to offer an accurate review of a product and its performance, and provide an informed opinion on whether it has value for money.
Things to consider
Fans and cooling
As we all know, keeping a GPU cool is of utmost importance, especially for those marathon gaming sessions. Not only will it mean better performance, but it will prolong the life of the GPU.
When it comes to the GeForce GTX 1650, models come with either single or dual fan setups, as well as different heat-sinks. Different permutations perform differently in terms of temperature control.
Models with lesser heat dissipation setups mean the fan pushes a higher RPM to keep temperatures down, which results in more noise. Noise pollution may not be bothersome to some but might be an essential consideration for others, so factor this in when choosing a GeForce GTX 1650.
Outputs – DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort
This one is more a case of covering your back and buying a card that will plug into your monitor(s) setup. There’s nothing quite as disheartening as receiving a shiny new GPU only to find the outputs don’t match up to those of your monitor and existing cabling.
Most GeForce GTX 1650 offer HDMI and DisplayPort as standard. The number of these vary from model to model. Others also throw in a DVI output. While each of these outputs has its own benefits – which we won’t dive into here due to the complexity of the matter – the simple rule is to pick a GPU with outputs that work with your existing monitor or any monitors you hope to buy.
Overclocked or not?
If you’re hoping to push your GeForce GTX 1650 through overclocking to squeeze out a few extra clock speed MHz, then factor this into your decision. Not all models on the market are overlock-ready, either due to insufficient cooling or power limitations.
In the same vein, some models are sold pre-overclocked and push out clock speeds above the factory standard settings, but not all perform equally due to the cooling and power factors mentioned above. As such, don’t be drawn in by the promise of overclocking as it may be marginal if the card isn’t configured with the features required to get a substantial clock speed boost.
Apart from build quality and cooling, those extra MHz are one of the most important ways that GeForce GTX 1650 models differentiate themselves from one another.
Budget
Thankfully, we are focusing on a specific model in the GeForce 16 series, which means prices don’t fluctuate too drastically between manufacturers. Generally speaking, GeForce GTX 1650 prices sit comfortably between $150 and $200, with a few outliers either falling slightly below or above.
Consequently, budget isn’t as much of a consideration compared to, for example, looking for the best monitor, which opens up possible differences in the price of thousands of dollars.
The only real situation in which this $50 difference may be important is if you are building a rig on a very tight budget and that extra cash can be spent better elsewhere. In that case, factor in whether you can live with an ever so slightly lesser card for gains elsewhere.
As a general rule, spending $20 more is a no-brainer, especially when a complete build may cost upwards of $1000. We highly recommend paying marginally more for a better card.
Best GTX 1650 in-depth reviews
MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X 4G
Boost Clock Speed
1860 MHz
Outputs
2x DisplayPort, 1x HDMI 2.0b
Cooling
TORX Fan 3.0
- Stylish design
- Near-silent operation thanks to TORX 3.0
- Higher clock speed than the standard model
- Price
Settling on the MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X 4G as our best GeForce GTX 1650 was a reasonably straightforward task thanks to MSI pulling out all the stops.
The MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X 4G features 4GB of GDDR5 RAM, 128-bit memory bus width, 8000 Gbps VRAM speed, 85 W power consumption, two DisplayPort, one HDMI 2.0b, PCI Express x16 3.0, a 6-pin power connector, 896 CUDA cores, and a boost clock speed of 1860 MHZ. There’s also DirectX 12 and OpenGL 4.5 support, as well as G-Sync compatibility. The MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X 4G can push a maximum resolution of 7680 x 4320.
The MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming X 4G truly shines when it comes to its cooling solution. MSI has affixed TORX 3.0 dual fans. One has steeply curved dispersion blades, while the other has a more traditional blade format to cool the sizable heatsinks housed underneath the fans. Additionally, the GPU also features Zero Frozr technology to manage when the fans spin to keep acoustics to near-silent levels.
In terms of performance, the MSI Gaming X GeForce GTX 1650 boosts speeds up to 1860MHz from the standard 1665 MHz, making it among the most powerful GeForce GTX 1650 models available on the market. In our tests, we found that the GPU can hit between 20 to 40 FPS on ultra settings for the overwhelming majority of games. We found it is more in its element on moderate settings or at 720p, where it can quickly soar past 40-60 FPS.
The only real negative we can level at the MSI Gaming X GeForce GTX 1650 is the price, which sits slightly higher than competitor models. Then again, as we explained above, the difference is marginal in the grand scheme of a full PC build.
EVGA GeForce GTX 1650 XC ULTRA OC
Boost Clock Speed
1875 MHz
Outputs
2x DisplayPort, 1x HDMI 2.0b
Cooling
Dual fans and heatsink
- Price
- Overclocking
- Design
- Three-slot GPU
Our top pick among the overclocked GeForce GTX 1650 is the EVGA GeForce GTX 1650 XC ULTRA OC, primarily because it offers the highest clock speeds coupled with a decent cooling setup that keeps temperatures down.
The EVGA GeForce GTX 1650 XC ULTRA OC features 895 CUDA cores, a boost clock speed of 1875 MHz, 4 GB of GDDR5 RAM, 128-bit interface, 128 GB/s memory bandwidth, PCIe 3.0, two DisplayPort, one HDMI 2.0b, dual-fan with a large heatsink, all-metal backplate, 240 Hz max refresh rate, and a maximum resolution of 7680 x 4320.
It’s a 2.75-slot card, so you get that extra cooling performance and lower fan pollution. EVGA has also thrown in NVIDIA G-Sync compatibility and support for DirectX 12, Vulkan API, and OpenGL 4/5.
Looking at the overclocking, the EVGA GeForce GTX 1650 XC ULTRA OC uses EVGA’s Precision X1 overclocking software that allows the user to control frequencies, fan speeds, and run stress tests to find stable speeds. We were able to hit 2050 MHz quite comfortably, although pushing any further wouldn’t be judicious in our estimation.
It is a large card that will take up quite a lot of a case’s real estate, so bear this in mind. The aesthetic design isn’t anything to write home about either, but it’s a robust build that will stand the test of time
GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1650 Mini ITX OC
Boost Clock Speed
1680 MHz
Outputs
2x DisplayPort, 1x HDMI 2.0b
Cooling
Single fan
- 170 mm compact card size
- Noisy
- Overclocking
If you’re looking for a compact card designed for smaller builds, then our pick of the litter is the GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1650 Mini ITX OC. GIGABYTE has done well to shrink down all the features of the GeForce GTX 1650 into a 170mm GPU that still packs a punch despite the small size.
The GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1650 Mini ITX OC features a 1680 MHz boost clock speed, 986 CUDA cores, 8002 MHz memory clock speed, 128-bit memory bus, 128 GB/s memory bandwidth, 4 GB of GDDR5, PCI-4 3.0 x16 bus, one DisplayPort, two HDMI 2.0b, DirectX 12 and OpenGL 4.6 support, and a maximum resolution of 7680 x 4320. The GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1650 Mini ITX OC is also very small, measuring 152 mm x 114 mm x 36 mm.
The GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1650 Mini ITX OC features a custom-design cooling system with an 80mm fan with a triangular-edged blade fan designed to dissipate heat despite the small size of the card. Allied to the fan is a heatsink and full backplate. With only a single fan, the GPU does work harder than twin fan models to keep the temperatures down, so you’ll be sacrificing noise for that smaller size. It’s louder than other GeForce GTX 1650, but nothing too distracting.
Although the GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1650 Mini ITX OC is sold as overlocking-ready, the single fan limits how far we can push the card, and the temperatures were generally higher than we were comfortable running. Nevertheless, it hit 1750-1800 MHz without too much effort.
ZOTAC GAMING Geforce GTX 1650 OC
Boost Clock Speed
1695 MHz
Outputs
1x DVI, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x HDMI 2.0b
Cooling
Single fan
- Price
- Size
- Overclocking
If you are looking for the best budget GeForce GTX 1650, then look no further than the ZOTAC GAMING Geforce GTX 1650 OC. Aside from being among the lowest-priced models on the market, it is also super compact, making it ideal for small form factor cases.
The ZOTAC GAMING Geforce GTX 1650 OC has 896 CUDA cores, 1695 MHz boost clock speed, 4 GB of GDDR5, 128-bit memory bus, 8 GB/s memory clock, PCI Express 3.0, one DisplayPort 1.4, one HDMI 2.0b, one Dual-Link DVI-D port, DirectX 12 and OpenGL 4.5 support.
In terms of cooling, the ZOTAC GAMING Geforce GTX 1650 OC features a 90 mm fan with a striped blade design and an aluminum sunflower heatsink. Much like the EVGA model, the single fan works harder, but ZOTAC has done well to keep the acoustic pollution to a minimum even during heavy workloads.
The overclocking-ready feature of the ZOTAC GAMING Geforce GTX 1650 OC is limited by the single fan setup, but we hit 1825 MHz without any undue temperature spikes.
Overall, the low price and compact design mean the ZOTAC GAMING Geforce GTX 1650 OC is worth considering for those, not on a budget.
Final word
With that, we come to the end of our comprehensive guide to the very best GeForce GTX 1650 graphics cards available to consumers today. We hope our research has helped take the stress out of making a decision and that you’ve been able to hone in on a model that suits your needs.
Best GeForce GTX 1650 FAQs
What is the best version of the 1650?
We have placed the MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming in the first position as the best 1650. Overall, its great design offers excellent performance and cooling for a great time. It even provides a possibility for overclocking to get even more out of it.
Is the 1650 worth it in 2024?
Although it’s not the top-spec card and is a bit outdated, it still is an alright graphics card. It might not give the best performance in general, but it does give a low entry point option. With relatively newer hardware it can support most new games but you will have to run the settings quite low to get the best experience.
What is the best budget GTX 1650?
For the choice of the best budget option, we have picked the ZOTAC Gaming GTX 1650. It offers an even more compact size and high-quality build for just the basic offering for the 1650.
