The Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Super and 1650 Super are the new 1080p champions

Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Super
(Image credit: Future)

Now that Nvidia Turing graphics cards have been out for a while, it'd be easy to just assume Nvidia was done with the lineup, working tirelessly on the rumored Ampere graphics cards. Well, not quite. 

Nvidia has announced two new graphics cards in the Turing lineup: the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Super and the GeForce GTX 1650 Super. The former is out today, and starts at $229 (about £180, AU$340), while the 1650 Super will come out on November 22 at an undisclosed price. 

Both of these graphics cards are targeting 1080p gaming, which is still the most popular PC display resolution. The 1660 Super, as we discovered in our review, is perfectly capable of branching into 1440p gaming, but at that resolution, you'll have to turn down some settings. The 1650 Super, however, will likely be the perfect companion for anyone looking to play some esports

We haven't had a chance to play with the GTX 1650 Super yet, obviously, but it has to be better than the GTX 1650, which struggles to justify its existence next to AMD's last-generation graphics cards like the Radeon RX 560. 

And, with a release date right in the heyday of everyone shopping for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, we think it might be one of the most popular components this holiday season – it'll be affordable, easy to power, and performant enough for most mainstream PC users. 

What's so Super about GTX Super, anyway?

So, what makes the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Super and GTX 1650 Super so much different than their non-Super predecessors? Well, it's basically all in the memory. 

Both new graphics cards have been upgraded to use much faster GDDR6 VRAM, though at the same capacities: 6GB for the GTX 1660 Super and 4GB for the GTX 1650 Super. This sees memory speeds get a massive bonus for both graphics cards, up to 14Gbps and 12Gbps on the 1660 Super and 1650 Super, respectively. 

That's about the only upgrade offered by either of these graphics cards, though. Both cards are running the same TU116 and TU117 GPUs as their predecessors, so improvements aren't going to be similar to a generational leap. Still, in our own testing there is a sizable boost, as much as 15% faster in 3DMark Fire Strike.

If the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 sees a significant boost in its own Super variant, it might be a lot easier to recommend to entry-level buyers. But, we'll have to wait and see for that one. 

Bill Thomas

Bill Thomas (Twitter) is TechRadar's computing editor. They are fat, queer and extremely online. Computers are the devil, but they just happen to be a satanist. If you need to know anything about computing components, PC gaming or the best laptop on the market, don't be afraid to drop them a line on Twitter or through email.