The Best GTX 1650 Super Graphics Cards (2023 Reviews)

The GTX 1650 Super is quite a noteworthy graphics card — not because of any major innovations or features, but simply because it offers very good value for your money.

Needless to say, that isn’t what Nvidia has been known for in recent years, especially in the lower price ranges.

As such, the GeForce GTX 1650 Super was a pleasant surprise, and it became a highly appealing budget GPU in 2024.

Now, if you’re thinking about getting a GTX 1650 Super but aren’t quite sure which model to pick, keep reading to check out our very own selection of the best GTX 1650 Super graphics cards for 2024!

The first card on the list is a fairly unimpressive model from PNY, a company perhaps best known for its simple and budget-friendly versions of the latest GPUs.

The first thing you’ll notice about this PNY GTX 1650 Super is its ridiculously compact PCB and single-fan cooler with a simple shroud that still manages to help the card come across as a gaming product despite its diminutive frame.

Now, despite its small size and basic cooling, the PNY GTX 1650 Super can still hit considerable clock speeds, but this obviously comes at a price — it runs hotter than most cards and has higher noise generation.

With that said, it can’t compete with most models when it comes to performance, so why is it on this list? The reason why we’re mentioning this particular model is because of its compact size, which will be great for those who want to build a Mini ITX gaming PC.

If you’re not going for a small form-factor case, we’d advise you to skip this model, as the other cards we’ll list down below offer better performance at the same price point.

Moving on, we have a very similar solution coming from Asus — the TUF GTX 1650 Super. Compared to PNY’s take on the GTX 1650 Super, the Asus TUF model is slightly larger but still very compact, which also makes it a good pick for smaller cases.

Notably, the design features a heftier shroud but also a backplate, which isn’t very common for graphics cards in this price range. Also, unlike the PNY model, this one includes dual-fan cooling, and though the fans might be fairly small, it delivers slightly better performance than the previous offering from PNY, all the while it looks better to boot.

Unfortunately, the Asus TUF GTX 1650 Super suffers from the same issues as other compact cards, that is, high temperatures and loud fans.

In the end, this is the prime choice for those who still want a compact card but also a better balance between size, design, and performance that what the PNY model can offer.

Next, we get to something a bit more serious when it comes to performance – the Gigabyte GTX 1650 Super Windforce OC.

While still relatively compact overall, this card is heftier than either of the previously mentioned models. It features a black shroud like most other Gigabyte models, and much like the Asus TUF variant, it also comes with a backplate. This gives it a more premium feel, something we’re not quite used to seeing in budget graphics cards.

But of course, it’s not just about appearances, and the namesake Windforce fans do a great job at keeping the card cool without being too loud. While the factory boost clock of 1755 MHz isn’t quite as good as the TUF’s 1800 MHz, this card can be pushed beyond 1900 MHz with some tweaking, so it can offer slightly better performance.

So, considering that it comes at the same price point as the previous two models, this is obviously the better pick if you want good performance in a full-sized GTX 1650 Super that doesn’t go too far above the MSRP.

Here we get to another prominent graphics card manufacturer, MSI, and their excellent Gaming GeForce GTX 1650 Super.

We’re probably speaking for a number of people when we say that MSI’s new design philosophy is much more appealing than that of their earlier models. Its black and gray shrouds make for a much more neutral design compared to the flashy exteriors with red highlights that often made MSI cards come across as somewhat cheap in the past.

Granted, this particular model only has basic RGB lighting, but that’s understandable considering the price.

Performance-wise, the MSI GTX 1650 Super doesn’t disappoint either. The Twin Torx 3.0 fans do a fantastic job at keeping the card cool while being awfully quiet, too, much more so than Gigabyte’s Windforce fans — about 10 dB quieter!

Granted, it has the same factory boost clock of 1755 MHz, but thanks to its superb cooling, it can be pushed beyond 2000 MHz.

All in all, the MSI Gaming GTX 1650 Super is possibly the best GTX 1650 Super currently available, as it pretty much has it all — a neutral design, excellent cooling and good overclocking performance. On top of that, it’s only $10 more expensive than any of the models we’ve mentioned before.

For the final entry, we have yet another graphics card from Asus, and this one comes from their Republic of Gamers brand. We’re talking about the ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1650 Super.

The first thing that you might notice is that Asus hadn’t really updated their design in years. As such, their GTX 1650 Super features the same shroud that you would have seen in other budget and mid-range models a few years back.

Again, it features basic RBG lighting, which is expectable at this price point. Nonetheless, while the Strix lineup may need a makeover, this model offers some of the best cooling you can get in a GTX 1650 Super.

Now, as is often the case with RoG products, this card is a bit pricier than the competition, currently going for about $190, which makes it about $20 more expensive than the more affordable models.

Still, with a hefty 1860 MHz clock that can be tweaked almost up to 2100 MHz, this is your go-to card if you want the best performance you can get out of a GTX 1650 Super.

How To Pick The Right Card For Your Needs

Now that we have gone over our selection of the best GTX 1650 Super graphics card models available at the moment, what are the most important things you need to consider before making your final decision?

Size

When compatibility is concerned, one of the main factors to consider (especially when it comes to bulkier cards) is the physical size of the card. If you want to ensure that the card you’re getting fits inside your case, the two key dimensions to keep in mind are length and width.

Some graphics cards are longer than others, be it due to a longer PCB or a longer cooler that extends past the PCB. In either case, you should always make sure that the card won’t be obstructed by the HDD/SSD rack.

As for width, some cards take up more vertical space inside the case because of their bulkier coolers, usually due to a thicker heatsink. This can lead to two potential issues:

1. They might obstruct some of the PCIe slots on the motherboard, thus preventing you from installing any additional PCIe expansion cards in those slots.
2. Even if there is enough room to fit the card, being too close to the bottom of the case or to a bottom-mounted power supply could inhibit the cooler’s air intake, leading to higher temperatures and higher noise generation.

Being a budget card, the GTX 1650 Super models are usually quite compact, so there should be no issues in this regard unless you have a smaller case. Regardless, it’s always a good idea to be on the safe side and check the dimensions of the card you’re getting as well as the dimensions of your case, or the case you plan on getting in the future.

Cooling

The graphics card is where most of the heat generated by your PC comes from. Much like any other component that generates a lot of heat, it needs active cooling. Modern GPUs often use one of the three following types of cooling:

1. Open-air
2. Blower
3. Liquid

Open-air coolers are the most common, and all of the graphics cards listed in this article operate with their assistance. Generally speaking, open-air coolers are the best solution for the majority of gaming PCs as they feature good overall heat dissipation and can benefit more from case fans. These coolers can use anywhere from one to three fans. In the case of budget cards like the GTX 1650 Super, they usually come with two or three.

As for blowers, they contrast open-air coolers in that they feature a closed heatsink and a single blower fan that blows the hot air out of the back of the card directly out of the case. This prevents heat buildup inside the case, which makes the blower good for smaller cases with limited airflow. However, it also makes them louder and less efficient overall.

Finally, liquid cooling is the most efficient cooling method by far, which makes it ideal for overclocking. Liquid-cooled GPUs can hit higher clock speeds, all the while running at notably lower temperatures than their air-cooled counterparts. However, they are not necessarily quieter, as they still need a pump to cycle the liquid and fans to cool the radiator.

However, liquid cooling is very expensive, and a good liquid cooler can easily add over $100 to the price of a graphics card. As such, you can see why they would be a poor investment for a card with an MSRP of $160. That said, liquid cooling is only really worth investing in if you had a high-end card that could really benefit from the extra overclocking headroom.

Overclocking

Now that we have touched upon cooling, we have to say a few words about overclocking. In case you’re not familiar with it, overclocking is the act of pushing a GPU’s clock speed beyond the default clock speed set by the manufacturer.

Now, as mentioned above, the GTX 1650 Super is a budget GPU, so how much extra performance can you squeeze out of it through overclocking?

Well, generally speaking, an overclocked GPU can get you roughly 5-15% more frames per second compared to a card running with reference settings, but this will inevitably vary from game to game.

In the case of weaker mid-range or budget GPUs, this is a mostly negligible boost. Granted, with some tweaking, you could get a few extra FPS that could smooth out the framerate if you’re struggling to keep it stable.

In any case, the kind of performance offered by all the models here is relatively similar, and the differences in temperature and noise generation are more noticeable than the difference in in-game performance, which usually ends up being only a couple of frames.

Aesthetics

You’ve probably noticed that we talked a lot about cards’ design in this article. Sure enough, aesthetics are more important than ever, what with the rising popularity of translucent cases and RGB lighting. As a result, OEMs now try their hardest to make visually appealing cards, also because a better-looking card means a more marketable product.

So, if you’re getting a translucent case or are building an open rig and want to make sure your setup looks good, what should you keep in mind when it comes to your future graphics card’s design?

First and most noticeably, we have color. Only a few years back, many graphics cards had specific color highlights that served as something of a manufacturer’s signature. For example, Gigabyte had orange, Zotac had yellow, and MSI had red, although the design varied from series to series.

However, most OEMs have moved away from this design approach for two main reasons: consistency and RGB lighting.

Naturally, for it to look aesthetically pleasing, a build must have a consistent color scheme, and by painting their shrouds and backplates a specific color, OEMs made it more difficult for their cards to blend in with different setups. Nowadays, cards mainly have black shrouds with more subtle gray or white highlights, something that makes them more neutral.

Then, there’s the RGB lighting, surely a better solution on every front if you want to add some color to your setup. RGB is flexible and allows you to easily establish and change the color scheme across different components whenever you feel like it, not to mention that it is cheaper than ever and is now quite commonplace even among the more affordable graphics cards.

Finally, there’s the backplate. Much like RGB, backplates are slowly making their way to the lower price ranges. In fact, in 2024, it’s not uncommon to find them even in budget graphics cards such as the GTX 1650 Super, as you can tell from this article.

Most can agree that backplates look great, but what purpose do they actually serve?

Well, the main purpose of a backplate is just that – they look cool. In practical terms, however, they protect the PCB, preventing it from bending, and they also make it easier to get dust off the back of the card, which is always convenient.

Something that a backplate does not do, however, is help with the cooling. Despite what some OEMs might claim, tests have shown that having a metal backplate doesn’t help with heat dissipation at all, so graphics cards with backplates won’t be hitting higher clock speeds or running any cooler than their backplate-less counterparts.

Conclusion – The Best GTX 1650 Super For 2024

At the end of the day, if we had to pick one of these models, we’d go with the MSI GTX 1650 Super. As we’ve previously mentioned, this card excels at pretty much everything — it has great overclocking performance, with cooling that is both very efficient and very quiet, and it is only $10 more expensive than the cheapest models currently available.

Of course, that’s only our choice. All of the models listed in this article have merits of their own, though we feel MSI’s model would offer you the best value for your money.