A GeForce GTX 1650 laptop can perform nearly as well as the GTX 1060 in DX12 titles

The budget GeForce GTX 1650 has arrived on laptops to replace the last generation mobile GeForce GTX 1050. Existing owners of a GTX 1050 laptop have a pretty good reason to upgrade to this latest GTX 16 Turing GPU as the performance benefits are substantial at up to 100 percent on DX12 titles. For owners of a GTX 1060 laptop, however, the results become a bit more mixed.

According to our first GTX 1650 3DMark benchmarks on an Acer Nitro 5, GPU performance in the DX12-enabled Time Spy scene is just 5 percent slower than the average laptop equipped with GTX 1060 graphics. Meanwhile, performance in the DX11-enabled Fire Strike scene is 20 percent slower than the average GTX 1060 laptop. Users who intend to play mostly newer titles with DX12 support can save a few hundred dollars by purchasing a GTX 1650 laptop instead of a GTX 1060 laptop and still get nearly the same gaming performance. The MSI GL63 with GTX 1650 graphics, for example, is currently shipping for $800 compared to $1000 or $1100 for the MSP GP63 with GTX 1060 graphics.

The performance-per-dollar of the GTX 1650 is also impressive when compared to the next step up: the GTX 1660 Ti. While the latter option offers 60 to 70 percent faster graphics performance, prices start at $1400 USD or about $500 more than the latest GTX 1650 laptops. We recommend going for an RTX 2060-powered system if you plan on spending that much on a gaming laptop or waiting until prices for the mobile GTX 1660 Ti drop closer to the $1000 mark.

See our review page on the GeForce GTX 1650 for more technical information and our benchmarks page for more gaming comparisons.