Compared to the more recent RTX 3050, there are almost no reasons to purchase Nvidia’s older GTX 1650 today. Before you spend your hard-earned money on a gaming laptop with either of these GPUs, we tested 8 games to show you the differences!
GTX 1650 vs RTX 3050: Specs
| GTX 1650 | RTX 3050 | |
| GPU | TU117-12NM | GA107 – 8NM |
| CUDA CORES | 896 OR 1024 | 2048 |
| BOOST CLOCK (MHZ) | 1155 | 1057 |
| TGP (WATTS) | 35-50 | 35-80 |
| MEMORY | 4GB GDDR6 | 4GB GDDR6 |
| MEMORY SPEED | 10 GBPS | 11 GBPS |
| MEMORY INTERFACE | 128-BIT | 128-BIT |
| MEMORY BANDWIDTH | 160 GB/S | 176 GB/S |
| RAY TRACING / DLSS | NO | YES |
Compared to the 1650’s initial launch in 2019, the 3050 has twice as many CUDA cores, but Nvidia quietly updated the 1650 in 2020 with fewer CUDA cores. Both GPUs both have 4GB of GDDR6 memory with the same memory bus, though the 3050’s memory is faster with more bandwidth. The power limit will determine the clock speeds.
GTX 1650 vs RTX 3050: Laptops Tested
I’ve purchased MSI GF63 and Acer Nitro 5 Gaming laptops with the same Intel Core i5-11400H CPU in order to conduct this testing as fairly as possible. The GPU is the only real distinction between these two laptops.
GTX 1650 vs RTX 3050: Performance
Okay, let’s move on to the game benchmarks. We compared 8 games and used DLSS or FSR when they were supported. The reason for this is just that these features are inherently excellent and provide a nice FPS boost, which is appreciated with less powerful GPUs.
Apex Legends
Let’s start with Apex Legends. The RTX 3050 was achieving a 37% higher average FPS in this game. The 1650 was still able to play at about 60 FPS with medium settings, even though this was one of the games with the biggest differences out of the 8 tested.
Assassins Creed Valhalla
I’m currently finishing my third playthrough of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. While it doesn’t require a very high frame rate to enjoy, the 3050 was still able to provide a 36% higher average frame rate, which is a respectable difference.
Microsoft Flight Simulator
Out of all the games tested, Microsoft Flight Simulator had the second-largest win for the RTX 3050. Here, the 3050 was averaging a frame rate that was 37% higher.
Fortnite
Although Fortnite has DLSS, it wasn’t giving us as much of a boost as COD: Warzone. Of course, if you wanted to further improve performance, you could run with a lower DLSS quality level. Under normal conditions, the 3050 was averaging 26% more frames per second than the 1650, but when DLSS is enabled, the 3050 outperforms the 1650 by 37%.
Call of Duty: Warzone
With the RTX 3050, Call of Duty Warzone experienced an average frame rate increase of 26%. We conducted our tests with DLSS in quality mode. When DLSS is enabled, the 3050 achieves a 61% increase in average FPS over the 1650.
Dying light 2
The 3050 led the 1650 by 44% when FSR was enabled on both laptops, but when DLSS was enabled on the 3050, the gap shrank to 29%.
Cyberpunk 2077
In this test, FSR was enabled at a little over 50 FPS with medium settings, and both the 1650 and 3050 were essentially performing the same. However, the 3050 with DLSS turned on was able to give itself a little bit more of a boost than with FSR, putting it 8% ahead of the 1650 with FSR on.
God of War
We tested both AMD’s FSR and Nvidia’s DLSS because God of War supports both. The 3050 performed similarly with either DLSS or FSR turned on, but was 31% faster than the 1650 when FSR was enabled on both.
GTX 1650 vs RTX 3050: Conclusion
When the RTX 3050 laptops first launched earlier this year, they may have been more expensive, but as of right now, the 1650 just doesn’t seem to be worth it in comparison. RTX 3050 laptop just seems to be cheaper while also performing much better in games.
