There are essentially no good reasons to buy Nvidia’s older GTX 1650 today in comparison to the more modern RTX 3050. We tested 8 games to show you the differences before you invest your hard-earned money on a gaming laptop with any of these GPUs!
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 |
The 3050 features twice as many CUDA cores compared to the 1650’s initial debut in 2019, although Nvidia discreetly revised 1650 in 2020 with fewer CUDA cores. The same memory bus connects both GPUs’ 4GB of GDDR6 memory, albeit the 3050’s memory is quicker and has more bandwidth. The clock speeds will depend on the power restriction.
GTX 1650 vs RTX 3050: Laptops Tested
| ACER NITRO 5 |
| INTEL I5-11400H |
| NVIDIA GTX 1650 |
| MSI GF63 |
| INTEL I5-11400H |
| NVIDIA RTX 3050 |
In order to conduct this testing as fairly as possible, I acquired MSI GF63 and Acer Nitro 5 Gaming laptops with the same Intel Core i5-11400H CPU. The only significant difference between these two laptops is their GPU.
GTX 1650 vs RTX 3050: Performance
Moving on to the game benchmarks now, okay? When DLSS or FSR were supported, we utilized them to compare 8 different games. And the explanation is simple: These features are first-rate by nature and offer a pleasant FPS bump, which is particularly appreciated with weaker GPUs.
Apex Legends
Beginning with Apex Legends In this game, the RTX 3050 was averaging a 37% better frame rate. Even though this was one of the games with the biggest variations out of the 8 tested, 1650 was still able to play at roughly 60 FPS with medium settings.
Assassins Creed Valhalla
While Assassin’s Creed Valhalla doesn’t require a particularly high frame rate to enjoy, the 3050 was still able to deliver a 36% higher average frame rate, which is a good difference. I’m now finishing my third playing of the game.
Microsoft Flight Simulator
Microsoft Flight Simulator scored the second-largest victory for the RTX 3050 out of all the games evaluated. Here, the average frame rate of the 3050 was 37% faster.
Fortnite
Fortnite includes DLSS, but it wasn’t helping us as much as COD: Warzone did. Of course, running with a lower DLSS quality level would be an option if you wanted to further boost performance. When DLSS is enabled, the 3050 outperforms 1650 by 37% while operating under typical settings, the 3050 averaging 26% more frames per second than the 1650.
Call of Duty: Warzone
Call of Duty Warzone’s average frame rate increased by 26% with the RTX 3050. We used DLSS in the quality mode for our testing. The 3050 outperforms 1650 in terms of average FPS when DLSS is enabled by 61%.
Dying light 2
When FSR was enabled on both laptops, the 3050 had a 44% advantage over 1650, but when DLSS was enabled on the 3050, the difference was reduced to 29%.
Cyberpunk 2077
In this test, both the 1650 and 3050 were practically performing the same, with FSR enabled at a little over 50 FPS with medium settings. But the 3050 with DLSS activated was able to boost itself a little bit more than with FSR, placing it 8% in front of 1650 with FSR activated.
God of War
God of War supports both AMD’s FSR and Nvidia’s DLSS, so we tested both of them. The 3050 performed similarly with either DLSS or FSR, but when FSR was enabled on both, it outperformed 1650 by 31%.
GTX 1650 vs RTX 3050: Conclusion
The RTX 3050 laptops may have cost more when they were first introduced earlier this year, but as of today, it just doesn’t feel like 1650 is worth the more money. Simply put, the RTX 3050 laptop appears to be less expensive and to play games considerably better.