Nvidia has kept its budget GTX 1650 and 1630 graphics cards, the last remaining models in the GTX 16 series, if the rumors are correct.
If this sounds familiar, it's because in December 2023 we heard that Nvidia was preparing to stop production lines for these GTX GPUs in the first quarter of 2024.
And again, according to the same source – the much-cited Board Channels (in China) – this measure has been carried out as planned (grab the salt shaker, as always, with news of the vine).
VideoCardz noticed a new forum post stating that Nvidia's product roadmap shows the discontinuation of these GPUs in the first quarter and that, going forward, no more chips for the GTX 16 models will be available or supplied to graphics card manufacturers.
This means that the GTX brand is disappearing, as no more will be manufactured; once the GPUs still on the shelves are sold out, that will be it for the Series 16 and the GTX brand. All graphics cards Nvidia is producing will be RTX models from now on.
How long will it take for the GTX 16 to be out of stock? The source assumes that the remaining inventory will be depleted in perhaps as little as a month, or perhaps as long as three months. So in theory, if you don't grab your GTX 16 series GPU before June 2024, you're out of luck. (Or maybe, if we're lucky, some might joke; we'll discuss that further in the next section.)
Analysis: Nvidia's budget GPUs get even more 'meh'
Don't panic: Even if this is true (and it may not be), these GTX graphics cards are getting a bit outdated at the moment (the GTX 1650 in particular is five years old). That's why the rumor is quite credible, of course, and backed up by the situation, if you take a quick look at stock levels in the US. Newegg, for example, only has two GTX 1650 models that are still in stock. stock, and the GTX 1630 has practically disappeared (and was never a good choice for a budget GPU anyway).
Also, current owners of these GPUs don't worry: there is no need to combine the termination of sale GTX 16 series graphics cards and Nvidia actually stops supporting the cards. Nvidia will continue to support these cards in its driver updates for some time.
With the release of these GTX models, Nvidia's budget option is now the RTX 3050, of which there is a new version with 6 GB of VRAM (instead of 8 GB) and a cheaper price, presumably an introduction made with the scrapping of the GTX. 16 models in mind.
The RTX 3050 6GB isn't much more expensive than the GTX 1650 in the US currently, but it's also not great value for money and lacks gaming performance. The 8GB version of the RTX 3050 is much snappier for gaming, and in fact, so is the RTX 2060. (By the way, the latter is the faulty GPU in our team; well, the RTX 2060 Super to be precise, (which we really need to update soon, but we're looking forward to RDNA 4 right now, which should bring some major improvements). mid-range goodness to the table).
If you're looking for a budget GPU, meaning something really affordable, there are better options from AMD (like the budget RX 6600) or, frankly, even from Intel's Arc range.
