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Opinion | Gigabyte releases the most pointless graphics cards of 2020; other AIBs likely to follow its lead

No, this not an April Fools' Day joke. (Image source: Cnews.cz via Videocardz)
No, this not an April Fools' Day joke. (Image source: Cnews.cz via Videocardz)
Had your fill of the GTX 16 series yet? Well, Gigabyte has gone and released a GDDR6 version of the GTX 1650. No, that is not a joke. The cards, as there are two of them, feature 4 GB of VRAM running at 12 Gbps. Presumably based on the TU117, the cards support 896 CUDA cores and a 128-bit memory bandwidth. Discovered by @momomo_us, the GDDR6 versions of the GTX 1650 are available to purchase now. Expect other AIBs to follow suit, too.

Last month, we reported on the unlikely possibility of GDDR6 versions of the GeForce GTX 1650 coming to market. The speculation arose following MSI registering several "GTX 1650 D6" cards with the EEC, the Eurasian Economic Commission. While an EEC registration is no guarantee that such a product will make it to market, GDDR6 versions of the GTX 1650 have now gone on sale.

However, MSI is not the first AIB to release a GTX 1650 with GDDR6 VRAM. Instead, Gigabyte has listed the OC (GV-N1656OC-4GD) and WindForce OC (GV-N1656WF2OC-4GD). Brought to our attention by @momomo_us, the two cards feature 4 GB of VRAM running at 12 Gbps. However, the OC can clock up to 1,635 MHz, whereas the WindForce OC maxes out at 1,710 MHz. Both are expected to be based on the TU117, but that remains unconfirmed until someone gets their hands on one.

Seeing as MSI has registered trademarks for GDDR6 versions of the GTX 1650 too, we expect other AIBs to soon follow Gigabyte's lead. Nonetheless, we are struggling to see what a GDDR6 version of the GTX 1650 offers over any of the other GTX 16 series GPUs that NVIDIA and AIBs currently offer. Both Gigabyte GPUs feature 896 CUDA cores, so neither are using the full potential of the TU117 anyway.

The Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1650 D6 WindForce OC. (Image source: Gigabyte via Videocardz & Cnews.cz)
The Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1650 D6 WindForce OC. (Image source: Gigabyte via Videocardz & Cnews.cz)
The Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1650 D6 WindForce OC. (Image source: Gigabyte via Videocardz & Cnews.cz)
The Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1650 D6 WindForce OC. (Image source: Gigabyte via Videocardz & Cnews.cz)

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2020 04 > Gigabyte releases the most pointless graphics cards of 2020; other AIBs likely to follow its lead
Alex Alderson, 2020-04- 1 (Update: 2020-04- 1)