Test setup & gaming performance

Test Setup

The detailed specifications of our new graphics card testbed system is as follows:-

• Intel Core i7-8086K (4.0GHz, 12MB L3 cache)
• ASUS ROG Strix Maximus X Hero (Intel Z370)
• 4 x 8GB G.Skill Ripjaws V DDR4-3000 (Auto timings: CAS 15-15-15-35)
• Samsung 860 EVO 500GB SSD
• Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
• Acer Predator X27, 4K monitor

The full line-up of graphics cards and their driver versions are listed below:

• ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming OC (ForceWare 430.39)
• ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Gaming OC (ForceWare 418.91)
• ASUS Phoenix GeForce GTX 1660 (ForceWare 419.35)
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB Founders Edition (ForceWare 417.35)

Test cards compared

	ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming OC	ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Gaming OC	ASUS Phoenix GeForce GTX 1660	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Founders Edition
Core Code	TU117	TU116	TU116	GP106
GPU Transistor Count	4.7 billion	6.6 billion	6.6 billion	4.4 Billion
Manufacturing Process	12nm	12nm	12nm	16nm
Core Clock	1,485MHz	1,500MHz	1,530MHz	1,506MHz (Boost: 1,708MHz)
Stream Processors	896	1,536	1,408	1,280
Stream Processor Clock	1,485MHz	1,500MHz	1,530MHz	1,506MHz
Texture Mapping Units (TMUs)	56	96	88	80
Raster Operator units (ROP)	32	48	48	48
Memory Clock (DDR)	8,000MHz	12,000MHz	8,000MHz	8,000MHz
Memory Bus width	128-bit	192-bit	192-bit	192-bit
Memory Bandwidth	128GB/s	288.1GB/s	192.1GB/s	192GB/s
PCI Express Interface	PCIe 3.0	PCIe 3.0	PCIe 3.0	3.0
Power Connectors	1x 6-pin	1x 8-pin	1x 8-pin	1x 6-PIN PCIe
HDMI Outputs	2	2	1	1x
DisplayPort Outputs	2	2	1	3x
HDCP Output Support	Yes	—	—	Yes
DVI Outputs	—	—	—	1x

Benchmarks

Next up, here's a list of all the benchmarks used:

• 3DMark
• Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation
• Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
• Far Cry 5
• Middle-earth: Shadow of War
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider
• Tom Clancy's The Division

We used the Fire Strike Extreme benchmark and stress test in 3DMark for our temperature  and power consumption tests respectively.

3DMark

The synthetic 3DMark benchmark tests graphics and computational performance at different resolutions, starting at 1080p and going all the way up to 4K. A series of two graphics test, one physics test, and then a combined test stress your hardware in turn to assess its performance.

Right off the bat, it's clear that the GeForce GTX 1650 is more than just a small step down from even the GeForce GTX 1660. It is 38 per cent slower than the latter, and a good 55 per cent behind the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti in Fire Strike.

Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation

Ashes of the Singularity has long been the poster child for the performance benefits a low-level API like DirectX 12 can bring. It is based on the Nitrous engine and can be extremely punishing thanks to the huge number of onscreen units and the sheer level of detail accorded to each unit. However, the CPU does become the limiting factor at lower resolutions and settings. 

Unfortunately, the GeForce GTX 1650 failed to break the 60fps mark here, even at 1080p and High settings. Compared to the GeForce GTX 1660, it was 34 per cent slower. 

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

Mankind Divided features just about every trick to make your game look pretty, including things like volumetric and dynamic lighting, screenspace reflections, and cloth physics. Even though it was released in 2016, the game is capable of bringing even the most powerful systems to their knees. 

As in Ashes of the Singularity, it seems like the card can't really handle High settings if you want to get more than 60fps. Cranking things up to Ultra is also super punishing, and you shouldn't really be thinking about enjoying any eye candy if you've got this card. 

Far Cry 5

Far Cry 5 is actually an AMD launch title, so it'll be interesting to see how the green camp fares here. 

The GeForce GTX 1650 is 34 per cent slower than the GeForce GTX 1660 and 21 per cent behind the GeForce GTX 1060 6GB at 1080p and High settings. Far Cry 5 appears to be slightly less demanding to run than the other games, but you're probably still better off turning the settings down to Low. 

Middle-earth: Shadow of War

The results are pretty similar here as well, and High settings and 1080p are probably the upper limit of what the card can manage. 

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

In Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the GeForce GTX 1650 trailed the GeForce GTX 1660 by a good 31 per cent. 

Tom Clancy's The Division

The GeForce GTX 1650 is once again no match for its more powerful siblings, falling behind the GeForce GTX 1660 by a whopping 46 per cent.