TU117 Silicon Shortage Makes NVIDIA Partners Use TU106 GPUs For GeForce GTX 1650

NVIDIA partners have switched from the TU117 GPU silicon to TU106 for the GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card due to shortages.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Graphics Cards Are Now Shipping With TU106 GPUs Due To TU117 Silicon Shortages

One might wonder why the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card is being talked about in 2023. It is an entry-level card with 4 GB GDDR5 memory but despite all of that, the card is among the top 10 graphics cards being used by gamers on Steam as shown in the latest Hardware Survey report.

It should be noted that while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 16 series GPUs utilize the Turing graphics architecture, they don't offer DLSS or hardware raytracing support. But the lack of such features can bring the prices down by a huge margin and under the sub-$100 US. As such, NVIDIA's AIBs, especially with APAC, may have found a need to repurpose the last remaining TU106 GPU dies in GeForce GTX 1650 graphics cards, reports Board Channels Forums.

In the States, we have practically written off the need for an older graphics card like the NVIDIA GTX 1650 and have looked at newer but still affordable graphics cards especially when solutions such as the RX 6300 / RX 6400 and the Arc A310 / Arc A380 are priced relatively better now and offer better performance and features.

NVIDIA has asked partners to offer GeForce GTX 1650 graphics cards with TU106 GPUs as TU117 silicon has run out of inventory. (Image Credits: Videocardz)

Outside the US, such as in China, companies are not planning to halt the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 GPU production. This could draw manufacturers to change the base to a higher-performing TU106 or TU116 GPU, albeit with some modifications to specifications. Don't expect the new chip to offer any additional features. The Board Channels report does not clarify if the new NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 graphics cards will have GDDR5 or GDDR6 memory but memory specs are likely to remain the same unless they are talking about a completely new SKU.

NVIDIA GeForce 16 Series Specifications

	GeForce RTX 2060 FE	GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB	GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER 6GB	GeForce GTX 1660 6GB	GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER 4 GB	GeForce GTX 1650 4 GB	GeForce GTX 1630 4 GB
Architecture (GPU)	TU106	TU116-400	TU116-300	TU116-300	TU116	TU117	TU117
CUDA Cores	1920	1536	1408	1408	1280	896	512
Tensor Cores	240	N / A	N / A	N / A	N / A	N / A	N / A
RT cores	30	N / A	N / A	N / A	N / A	N / A	N / A
Texture Units	120	96	88	88	80	56	32
ROPs	48	48	48	48	32	32	32
Base Clock	1365 MHz	1500 MHz	1530 MHz	1530 MHz	TBD	1485 MHz	TBD
GPU Boost	1680 MHz	1770 MHz	1785 MHz	1785 MHz	TBD	1665 MHz	1800 MHz
Memory	6GB GDDR6	6GB GDDR6	6GB GDDR6	6GB GDDR5	4GB GDDR5	4GB GDDR5	4GB GDDR6?
Memory Bus	192-bit	192-bit	192-bit	192-bit	128-bit	128-bit	64-bit
Memory Clocks	14 Gbps	12 Gbps	14 Gbps	8 Gbps	12 Gbps	8 Gbps	12
L2 cache	3 MB	1.5 MB	1.5 MB	1.5 MB	1.5 MB	1.5 MB	1.5 MB
TDP	160 W	120W	125W	120W	100W	75W	>75W
Transistors	10.8 billion	6.6 billion	6.6 billion	6.6 billion	6.6 billion	4.7 billion	4.7 billion
Die Size	445 mm²	284mm2	284mm2	284mm2	284mm2	200mm2	200mm2
Price	$349	$279	$229	$229	$159	$149	$119?

Written by Jason R. Wilson