GTX 1650 Super vs RTX 5050: Should You Upgrade?

Moving from a GTX 1650 Super to an RTX 5050 is a large, worthwhile upgrade for anyone still gaming on the older card: performance roughly doubles in many modern games, VRAM jumps from 4 GB to 8 GB, and you gain ray tracing, DLSS 4 and Multi Frame Generation, all for a modest 30 W increase in rated power. The only buyers who should hold off are those playing light esports titles that already run well, or anyone whose budget can stretch to a card with more than 8 GB for longer-term 1440p use.

The GTX 1650 Super launched on 22 November 2019 as a Turing-based budget card without RT or Tensor cores. The RTX 5050 arrived on 1 July 2025 at $249 as the entry point of NVIDIA’s Blackwell-based RTX 50 series. Five and a half years separate them, and the newer card changes the performance class, not just the frame rate.

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#1 Pick

ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce GTX 1650 Super Overclocked 4GB Edition HDMI DP DVI Gaming Graphics Card (TUF-GTX1650S-O4G-GAMING) (Renewed)

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#2 Pick

ASUS Dual GeForce RTX 5050 8GB GDDR6 OC Edition Gaming Graphics Card | PCIe 5.0, HDMI 2.1b, DisplayPort 2.1b, 2-slot, Axial-tech Fans, 0dB Technology, Dual BIOS

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#3 Pick

msi Gaming RTX 5050 8G Shadow 2X OC Graphics Card (8GB GDDR6,128-bit, Extreme Performance: 2617 MHz, DisplayPort x3 2.1a, HDMI 2.1b, NVIDIA Blackwell Architecture)

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Old Card vs New Card: The Specs

The RTX 5050 doubles the CUDA core count, raises clocks by roughly 50%, offers 67% more memory bandwidth and carries 24 times as much L2 cache. Combined with a much newer architecture, these changes translate into a performance jump far larger than a typical generation-to-generation step.

How Big Is the Performance Jump?

Few reviews test these two cards directly, so the clearest picture comes from shared reference points. TechSpot’s RTX 5050 review, the written outlet of Hardware Unboxed, found the RTX 5050 slightly ahead of the RTX 3060 in most games, and Quasarzone testing reported by Tom’s Hardware put it just over 13% ahead of the RTX 3060 across a 15-game average. TechPowerUp’s relative performance data places the GTX 1650 Super at roughly half to 55% of an RTX 3060 at 1080p. Putting those together, the RTX 5050 should be roughly 80-110% faster than the GTX 1650 Super in typical 1080p raster games, about double the performance.

In real terms:

• Modern AAA at 1080p: games that run at roughly 30-45 fps on low-medium settings on a 1650 Super tend to run at roughly 60-90 fps on medium-high settings on the RTX 5050.
• Esports titles: both cards already deliver high frame rates; the 5050 helps most for 165-240 Hz monitors.
• 1440p: the 1650 Super is not realistically a 1440p card in modern games, while the 5050 can handle 1440p with DLSS upscaling in many titles.

All frame rate figures are approximate and vary considerably with the game, settings, CPU and patch version.

The 4 GB problem

The GTX 1650 Super’s 4 GB frame buffer is now its biggest weakness. Many current games use 5-7 GB at 1080p medium settings, and a 4 GB card is forced into low textures, suffers heavy stutter, or in some cases fails to meet minimum requirements. Moving to 8 GB on the RTX 5050 removes that bottleneck for 1080p, which means the real-world improvement in newer games is often larger than the average numbers above suggest, especially in 1% low frame rates.

That said, 8 GB is the floor for modern gaming, not generous headroom. Reviewers testing the RTX 5050 against the 12 GB RTX 3060 found that in games exceeding 8 GB at high settings, the older card could deliver smoother frame times. Plan on high rather than ultra textures in the heaviest 2025-2026 games.

New Features You Gain

• DLSS 4 Super Resolution: the GTX 1650 Super has no Tensor cores and cannot run DLSS at all. On the RTX 5050, DLSS’s transformer-based upscaler lets you render at a lower internal resolution with image quality close to native, often adding 30-60% more frames in supported games.
• Multi Frame Generation: exclusive to RTX 50 cards, it can generate up to three frames for every rendered frame in supported games. It works best with a base frame rate around 60 fps and adds some input latency, so it suits single-player games more than competitive shooters.
• Ray tracing: the 5050 has RT cores, enabling light ray tracing at 1080p with DLSS. The 1650 Super cannot run hardware ray tracing and cannot launch games that require it.
• NVIDIA Reflex and modern encoders: the RTX 5050’s newer NVENC media engine supports AV1 encoding for streaming and recording, which the 1650 Super’s Turing encoder does not.

On the 1650 Super, upscaling is limited to FSR and XeSS’s generic path, which work but produce softer images than DLSS at 1080p.

Power Supply and Connector Check

The power increase is small: 100 W to 130 W. However, the connector changes from a single 6-pin to a single 8-pin. Many budget PSUs that came with GTX 1650 Super systems do have a 6+2-pin connector, but older or prebuilt units may not. Check before buying.

PSU sizing as GPU TDP plus CPU plus about 150 W of headroom:

• RTX 5050 + 65 W CPU: 130 + 65 + 150 = 345 W, so a quality 450 W PSU is enough.
• RTX 5050 + 125 W CPU: 130 + 125 + 150 = 405 W, so a quality 500-550 W PSU is the safer choice.

Many prebuilt systems shipped with the 1650 Super use proprietary or low-quality 300-400 W PSUs. In that case, budget for a PSU replacement alongside the GPU.

PCIe 3.0 Systems and Case Fit

The RTX 5050 uses a PCIe 5.0 x8 link. In the PCIe 3.0 motherboards common in systems that originally shipped with a GTX 1650 Super, it runs at PCIe 3.0 x8. When games stay within 8 GB of VRAM, the penalty is typically small, a few percent. When VRAM overflows, the reduced bandwidth can make stutter worse. The upgrade is still clearly worthwhile on PCIe 3.0, but it is one more reason to keep texture settings within the 8 GB budget.

The 1650 Super measured 229 mm in baseline form. RTX 5050 cards are two-slot designs, and many models are compact dual-fan cards, but lengths vary by partner, so measure your case. Note also that the RTX 5050 drops DVI: if your monitor only has DVI input, you will need an adapter or a new monitor.

Cost of the Upgrade

A used GTX 1650 Super usually sells for a broad range around $60-$100. Selling it against an RTX 5050 bought near its $249 MSRP leaves a net cost of about $150-$190. For roughly double the performance plus DLSS 4 and twice the VRAM, that is about $1.50-$1.90 per percentage point of performance gained, which is strong value for an upgrade.

Before committing, compare with the Intel Arc B580 (12 GB) and the RTX 5060, which cost more but offer either more VRAM or more speed. Reviews such as Quasarzone’s put the B580 slightly ahead of the RTX 5050 on average, though Arc cards need Resizable BAR and work best with newer CPUs.

Who Should Upgrade?

Frequently Asked Questions

How much faster is the RTX 5050 than the GTX 1650 Super?

Based on review data placing the RTX 5050 around RTX 3060 level and the 1650 Super at roughly half of that, the RTX 5050 is about 80-110% faster at 1080p. In VRAM-heavy modern games the gap can be larger because the 1650 Super runs out of memory. In esports titles the difference is smaller in percentage terms.

Will my GTX 1650 Super power supply work with the RTX 5050?

Possibly, as the RTX 5050 is rated at 130 W versus 100 W. The main issue is the connector: it needs an 8-pin PCIe cable instead of a 6-pin. A quality 450-550 W PSU with an 8-pin connector is recommended.

Can the GTX 1650 Super use DLSS?

No, the GTX 1650 Super lacks Tensor cores and cannot run DLSS. It can use FSR or XeSS upscaling in supported games. The RTX 5050 supports DLSS 4, including Multi Frame Generation.

Is 8 GB of VRAM enough on the RTX 5050?

For 1080p gaming at high settings, 8 GB is enough in most games. Some demanding new releases need textures lowered to stay under 8 GB. Compared with the 1650 Super’s 4 GB, it is a major improvement.

Does the RTX 5050 work in a PCIe 3.0 motherboard?

Yes, it works in PCIe 3.0 slots and runs at PCIe 3.0 x8 bandwidth. The performance loss is usually small when games fit in VRAM. Keeping texture settings within 8 GB minimizes any impact.

Can the RTX 5050 handle 1440p?

It can play many games at 1440p with DLSS upscaling and medium-to-high settings. Native 1440p at high settings is demanding for this class of card. Buyers focused on 1440p should consider cards with more VRAM and performance.