RTX 3050 vs. GTX 1650: Full Comparison

NVIDIA has been a leading manufacturer of graphic cards for decades. Two trendy GPUs from NVIDIA that you may like include the GeForce GTX 1650 and GeForce RTX 3050. The GeForce GTX 1650 is an excellent low TDP graphics card capable of playing several games at 1080P without encountering any lag. RTX 3050 is the latest NVIDIA GeForce. Most people are unaware of how RTX 3050 compares with GTX 1650 in terms of performance. In this RTX 3050 vs. GTX 1650 comparison article, we will compare these two GPUs based on their manufacturer specs, and how they perform when running different games.

RTX 3050 vs. GTX 1650: Side-by-Side Comparison

	RTX 3050	GTX 1650
Node	Samsung 8nm	TSMC 12nm
Architecture	Ampere	Turing
CUDA Cores	2560	896
Core Clock	1552 MHz	1485 MHz
Boost Clock	1777 MHz	1665 MHz
Memory	8 GB	4 GB GDDR5
Memory Clock	14 Gbps	8 Gbps
Memory Bandwidth	224.0 GB/s	128.1 GB/s
Transistors	12,000 million	4,700 million
TDP	130W	75W
Launch Year	Jan 4th, 2022	Apr 23rd, 2019

RTX 3050 vs. GTX 1650: What’s the Difference?

Just like in the GTX vs. RTX comparison, the RTX 3050 vs. GTX 1650 also have some differences. In this section, we will highlight the RTX 3050 and the GTX 1650 in different games to help differentiate their performance. These are some of the standout differences in features and performance that gamers will encounter with each card.

GPU architecture type 

The RTX 3050 includes ampere architecture supported by dedicated second-generation RT cores and third-generation tensor cores. Nvidia also included multi-streaming processors in the GPU, and also boasted it with a high-speed G6 memory, thereby allowing you to handle advanced gaming titles easily.

RTX 3050 supports GPUs with new features such as ray tracing, which allows for more realistic lighting and shadows in games. As a result of these improvements, graphics cards with ampere architecture are more capable of running games at higher resolutions and frame rates.

Although the GTX 1650 does not directly come with ampere architecture, the GPU is built to support Nvidia’s breakthrough Turing(TM) architecture. It applies the 12nm configuration based on a Turing architecture. As a result, the card had to use one of the earliest versions of 128-bit memory interfaces, albeit with 4GB GDDR5 memory. To cope with memory expansion demands, it has a 1485 MHz bas clock which can be overclocked to provide 1665 MHz output. 

On the other hand, the RTX 3050 has a 1550 MHz default output and can achieve 1770 after overclocking.  

Graphics quality 

The RTX 3050 supports 4K resolution, thereby allowing you to have more immersive and detailed gaming experiences. When you play modern AAA gaming titles with this GPU, you will notice more detailed textures, complex environments, and realistic lighting and shadows.

Although 1650 is capable of running most games at 1080p resolution with medium to high settings, the major downside is that it may struggle with newer or more demanding games. I can only advise you to consider it as an option if you want to play games on a budget, or less demanding titles with a detailed experience.

Processing and clock speed 

The RTX 3050 comes with dedicated streaming multiprocessors, 2^nd gen RT Cores, and 3^rd gen Tensor Cores. With a clock speed of 1552 MHz and a high-speed G6 memory that will handle the latest games pretty well, its current price of $249 appears justified.

It’s also worth noting that the RTX 3050 is a budget-friendly graphics card and it’s not intended to replace high-end models like RTX 3070 or RTX 3080. The card is aimed at budget-conscious gamers who want to enjoy ray-tracing and DLSS features, but with a more affordable price point.

The GTX 1650, on the other hand, is a budget-oriented graphics card and is not considered to be a high-end option for gaming. This GPU comfortably handles most games at 1080p resolution with medium to high settings, but it may struggle with newer or more demanding games.

The 1650 is only a great choice if you want to play some serious games on a budget, or if you just want to try some less demanding games such as e-sports titles. You can enjoy smooth gameplay at clock speeds of 240 MHz, or a turbo clock speed of 1710 MHz.

RTX 3050 vs. GTX 1650: 11 Must-Know Facts

• The GTX 1650 was launched in April 2019, with the RTX 3050 launched in January 2022.
• GTX 1650 stands out in this series due to its low TDP of 75W, making it possible to run most AAA games at a resolution of 1080p at 60 frames per second.
• GTX 1650 uses 12nm technology based on the Turing architecture with a GDDR5 memory of 4GB and a 128-bit memory interface included.
• GTX has a 1485 MHz base GPU core clock, which can easily be increased to 1665 MHz.  The device also supports up to 4700 million transistors and comes with a 12nm processor and 200mm2 di areas.
• CUDA 7.5, Vulkan 1.3, and OpenGL 4.6 are GTX 1650 graphic enhancements.
• GTX 1650 is a dual-slot graphic card capable of taking all the powers it needs from the motherboard PCIe x16 slot.
• RTX 3050 comes with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, with its memory interface being 128-bit.
• RTX 3050 is constructed using Ampere architecture and can support 12,000,000,000 transistors on devices of 8nm and 276mm2 size. The GPU core clock speed at the standard is 1552 MHz, and when overclocked is 1777 MHz.
• RTX 3050 can support DirectX 12 (12_2), which makes it possible to run all the forthcoming and current games.
• OpenGL 4.6, Vulkan 1.3, and CUDA 8.6 are RTX 3050 graphic enhancements.
• RTX 3050 contains 80 texture mapping units, 2560 shading units, and 32 render output units.

RTX 3050 vs. GTX 1650: Which One Is Better? Which One Should You Use?

From the points discussed above, it is evident that the RTX 3050 vs. GTX 1650 cards have a significant difference in performance output. The RTX 3050 has close to two times as many frames per second as the GTX 1650 in most games you can play. From our point of view, the RTX 3050 is a modern graphics card with new technologies like DLSS, ray tracing, and extra software support.

RTX 3050 also performs much better than the GTX 1650 as it has faster core clocks and more VRAM. The RTX 3050 outperforms the GTX 1650 by a substantial gap in all the games it can run. However, both GPUs run at comparable temperatures while gaming.

For sure, RTX 3050 is the better one! It is the greatest GeForce xx50 series graphic card produced by NVIDIA. However, it costs more than the GTX 1650 and consumes more power.

Last update on 2023-03-15 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API