MSI GTX 1650 SUPER Gaming X Review
Peter Donnell / 5 years ago
How Much Does It Cost?
I’m really struggling to see proper stock and pricing for this card on Amazon right now. However, I do know the card can be snapped up for around £179.99 from most retailers. That’s not too bad either, and while it does make it one of the more expensive GTX 1650 SUPER cards, it does have a larger and more premium cooler design, so you’re paying a bit more, but you’re literally getting more.
Overall, this does make it about £15 more expensive than some other GTX 1650 SUPER cards, so you may just be paying for the aesthetics of that lovely cooler. However, that is the same price as the higher-end models of the RX 580, so it’s competitive in that respect too.
Overview
Nvidia set out to create a card that can compete with the AMD Radeon RX 580, and they’ve certainly hit their mark this time. The card trades blows with AMD from game to game, and they’re both priced about the same too. However, MSI has the advantage of newer technology on its side. The card is much more efficient than the older AMD chipset. Plus, it comes with other advances that help with modern streaming codecs, which are sure to appeal to a lot of gamers out there.
Gaming Performance
The GTX 1650 SUPER chipset isn’t going to set any world records any time soon. Furthermore, if you own a mid-range GPU from the last couple of generations, it’s unlikely to be much (if any) of an upgrade for you. As for the competition, it’s on par with the other GTX 1650 cards we’ve tested this week. However, the advantages of the larger cooler do make it cool and quiet, which is always a nice advantage to have while gaming.
For 1080p gamers, it’s right on the money and it’ll play the latest games with ease using pretty high graphics settings. It struggled a bit in Metro Exodus, but find me a card that doesn’t! You could even get away with 1440p gaming on this card, as it averaged around 45 FPS with high settings. However, dropping to medium settings would net you better FPS in that respect.
Of course, 4K gaming is right out, but at this price, that’s to be expected. However, for 1080p gamers, it looks like it’ll get you through all of today’s latest games easily enough.
Should I Buy One?
While this card is a little bit more expensive than its rivals GTX 1650 offerings, I do think it’s good value. The PC market is one that’s just in love with aesthetics and build quality as it is with performance. For under £200, it’s one of the best looking and best performing 1080p gaming cards out there. If you don’t mind paying a little more to get a great looking card, you’ll struggle to find something that looks better than this.