NVIDIA GTX 1650 cards should now mainly use TU106 GPU

NVIDIA is reportedly running out of Turing TU117 GPUs, which means board partners will be forced to use a higher-end GPU instead.

Just four months ago, the GTX 1650 has entered Steam’s most popular GPU list , but has since then been dethroned by newer architectures. This entry-level GTX card has never been a true gaming GPU, yet the market situation has forced many gamers to seek (interim) alternatives.

With the release of RTX 3050, and cheaper Radeon RX 6600/6500/6400 series, one might wonder if GTX 1650 GPUs are still needed on the market. However, Chinese board partners have no plans to discontinue such GPU. In fact, the new report suggests that GTX 1650 may soon focus on a different GPU altogether.

According to a report from Board Channels, the NVIDIA TU117 GPU is running out of stock. This was the lowest tier GPU in the Turing family, but it can be just as easily replaced by more powerful TU116 or TU106 GPUs instead. This means that some adjustment to the specs are required, as bigger silicons tend to consume more power, but in the end, gamers should expect similar performance.

NVIDIA GTX 1650 now with TU106 GPU, Source: Board Channels

The fate of GTX 1650 is unknown, but one shouldn’t expect it to disappear from the market completely. Such GPU changes are very common on Chinese market and one should expect many of these cards to make their way abroad.

One should note is that there are many variants of GTX 1650 GPU. The TU106 model is not something we have not heard about yet, in fact, there is even a TU116 version. Furthermore, the report does not explain if the GTX 1650 with GDDR5 or GDDR6 memory is affected. Overall, it would appear that NVIDIA is simply phasing out their Turing GPUs without hardware raytracing acceleration or DLSS support.

Source: BoardChannels