As if NVIDIA’s Turing lineup couldn’t get any more confusing than it already is, between the Super series refresh, 16 and 20 series cards, and the inexplicable mobile-only GTX 1650 Ti, AIBs like Gigabyte and MSI will now have access to GDDR6 (G6) versions of the NVIDIA GTX 1650. The new (old) card is identical to the original GTX 1650, except that it uses GDDR6 memory for up to 192 GB/S of memory bandwidth, offset somewhat by lower base and boost clocks. This makes the GTX 1650 (G6) up to 6 percent faster than the vanilla card and the fastest 75W part that doesn’t require external power.
The GDDR6 cards will be sold at the same price as the older models. This, surprisingly, isn’t NVIDIA attempting to squeeze every last bit of money of entry-level users. Rather, the move to GDDR6 was triggered by what they described as an industry-wide “shortage” of GDDR5. This is the first we’re hearing of a GDDR5 shortage and that aspect of the story is arguably more important than this card itself. A shortage of GDDR5 means that entry-level cards arriving next year, both from AMD and NVIDIA, might end up leveraging significantly faster GDDR6 memory. This would mean decent amounts of memory bandwidth, even with narrow 128-bit memory buses.
A number of AIBs have already announced GTX 1650 G6 models. Gigabyte’s new midrange EAGLE lineup features the GTX 1650 G6. MSI has gone a step further with not one, but five different GTX 1650 G6 models. These include the MSI GTX 1650 D6 Gaming X, the MSI GeForce GTX 1650 D6 Gaming, the MSI GTX 1650 D6 Ventus XS OC, the MSI GTX 1650 D6 Ventus XS, and the MSI GTX 1650 D6 AERO ITX. The AERO ITX model in particular, with its low profile, single-fan design is of interest to folks looking to turn prebuilt PCs into decent gaming rigs.
