GTX 1650 Reaches The Top – What It Means for Mainstream GPUs

Nvidia’s venerable GTX 1650 budget graphics card has ascended to the coveted top spot in Valve‘s monthly Steam Hardware Survey for the first time, dethroning the GTX 1060. This surprise shakeup signals widening access to PC gaming hardware and a changing of the guard across the mainstream GPU market.

Why the GTX 1650 Claiming First Place Matters

On the surface, the aging 1650 topping Steam’s charts may seem inconsequential – it’s a modest 1080p gaming GPU that was never close to being the fastest option, even at launch back in 2019.

However, the context around its rise sheds light on a pivotal trend shift. This single card claiming the lead encapsulates the easing of supply constraints, stabilizing prices and increasing competition across the mid-range and budget GPU space recently.

According to analysts from Jon Peddie Research, discrete GPU shipments grew 15.4% year-over-year last quarter. This uptick after a prolonged slump signals improving supply conditions. With this influx of capacity, more gamers are evidently upgrading ancient mainstream cards or buying affordable prebuilt systems.

To understand the significance of the GTX 1650 reaching this new pinnacle, we’ll analyze its capabilities, revisit the turbulent GPU market’s recovery, and peer into the future of mainstream graphics.

The GTX 1650 – Capable Budget GPU

The GTX 1650 isn’t an exceptional card in raw performance. It utilizes Nvidia’s Turing architecture, packs 1408 CUDA processing cores, and ships with 4GB of GDDR5 memory.

For reference, the similarly priced AMD Radeon RX 570 from 2017 outpaces the 1650 considerably in supported games. This Tom’s Hardware benchmark data shows the RX 570 averaging 67 FPS across a suite of titles at High settings, while the GTX 1650 manages just 57 FPS.

However, hardware surveys don’t specify laptop and desktop discrete GPUs separately. The GTX 1650 is popular among lower-cost gaming laptop manufacturers. So a sizable chunk of its Steam share likely comes from mobile users with Reduced-power variants.

Tracking the GTX 1650’s Rise

The GTX 1060 dominated Steam’s charts for over two years since first claiming the top spot in September 2020. Now banished to 6th place, its decline mirrors the ascent ofAmpere and RDNA 2-based GPUs like the RTX 3060 and RX 6600 XT.

These shiny new cards boasted outstanding value but remained out of reach for many – until recently. Let‘s visualize how circumstances changed throughout 2022.

According to Jon Peddie President Dr. Jon Peddie: "The gaming segment is the shining star of the PC world right now. While the workspace is recovering slowly, gaming is in full throated roar."

This mirrors the push and pull exhibited in Steam’s figures. Most intriguingly, the GTX 1650 grew just 11% from September to November – a rather timid pace compared to rival GPUs. So while it managed to squeak into first place, its grasp appears rather tenuous.

Why Mid-Range GPUs Are More Accessible

Remember the GPU pricing mania sparked by cryptominers and exacerbated by supply chain woes? The average graphics card’s cost soared 68% year-over-year at the peak of this bubble in mid-2021.

Thankfully for gamers, Ethereum’s prolonged merge finally commenced September 2022, eliminating mining profitability incentives overnight.

With hashrate decimated, some analysts believe at least $15 billion worth of specialized mining GPUs were instantly rendered obsolete. This prompted liquidations by operators and a surge of secondhand cards flooding resale channels.

Simultaneously, next-generation GPU production from AMD and Nvidia ramped up considerably by late 2022, matching easing logistical bottlenecks. This paired supply increase and drop in cryptomining demand finally restored enticing options for mainstream gamers.

Upgrading Aging GPUs

If you’re still soldiering on with an older card, the silver lining is there are outstanding current-generation values primed to deliver superb 1080p or even 1440p gaming.

For example, Nvidia’s RTX 3050 brings competitive rasterization and modern RT/DLSS support from $300. AMD’s Radeon RX 6600 punches well above its weight for under $230. And the venerable GTX 1660 Super splits the difference here with solid Frame rates if found discounted under $200.

Upgrading from a 900 or 1000 series card to one of these used would breathe new life into most gaming rigs. Based on Steam figures from November, systems with GTX 900 and 1000 series GPUs still make up nearly 31% of the surveyed install base. So tens of millions could benefit even from cheaper modern cards.

And if money is no object, both Radeon RX 7900 XTX and GeForce RTX 4080 deliver astounding 4K prowess for $900 or less. Their next-gen architectures banks efficiency refinements enabling big performance leaps without the insane peak power demands of last generation. Whatever your budget, there are better values emerging.

Outlook for Mainstream GPUs

Nvidia and AMD have both pledged beefed-up GPU lineups catering specifically to the mainstream in 2023 and beyond. These will leverage chiplet manufacturing techniques and refined architecture to push enhanced 1080p gaming down to even lower price bands.

And while the GTX 1650 somehow climbed into the top spot amid the tumult, its reign seems guaranteed to prove short-lived. RDNA 3 and Lovelace successors will continue claiming market share at an immense pace.

By combining the above trends – lower prices, widening access and unrelenting new hardware iterations – sub-$300 graphics cards are gearing up to deliver an outstanding value proposition over coming years.

For PC gamers sticking to 1920 x 1080 screens, visual splendor and buttery smooth frame rates are on the horizon even if not yet warranted.

So while the GTX 1650 taking #1 makes for a captivating headline right now, it’s merely a fleeting moment highlighting the dawn of a new age delivering immersive mainstream gaming to the masses. Much more exciting times are ahead!

Data in this piece was compiled utilizing Steam‘s public hardware survey information, Jon Peddie Research reporting, archived Toms Hardware reviews and aggregate GPU pricing trackers. The analysis and opinions contained herein belong solely to the author.