Update: The GeForce GTX 1660 Ti, GeForce GTX 1660, and GeForce GTX 1650 reviews are now live, if you want to know more.
Now that Nvidia has popped the cork on a cheaper version of Turing that lacks RT and Tensor cores, the question is, will the company bolster its non-RTX lineup with more models? We don't have a definitive answer, but rumors of two new parts—GeForce GTX 1660 and 1650—are starting to pour in.
We've seen these models show up in leaks before, though now that the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti is official (and is one of the best graphics cards on a sub-$300 budget), there is a bit more credibility to the rumors. Just as we saw marketing materials for the GTX 1660 Ti pop up before its release, Andreas Schilling from Hardwareluxx has posted what he claims is the first batch of marketing images for the GTX 1660 and 1650.
In addition to that: #GeForceGTX1650 will use 4 GB of GDDR5. First marketing material is on its way. https://t.co/LI3vSlDsfw pic.twitter.com/1AorT2NljaFebruary 26, 2019
It wouldn't be difficult to Photoshop those marketing materials, so as always, take this stuff with a grain of salt.
In addition to the images, though, Digitimes has passed along some information it purportedly obtained from "industry sources." According to those sources, the GTX 1660 will launch on March 15 starting at $229, followed by the GTX 1650 launching on April 30 starting at $179.
Depending on how performance breaks down, those prices would put added pressure to AMD's Radeon RX 570, 580, and 590 cards, and of course there is still the GTX 1660 Ti and RTX 2060 to contend with at higher price points.
As it relates to graphics hardware, the midrange and low-end are where most gamers mingle. We see this represented in Steam's monthly hardware and software report. As of January 2019, the combined usage of RTX 2080 Ti, 2080, and 2070 is a fraction of a percent, whereas most gamers run a GTX 1060, followed by a GTX 1050 Ti and 1050.
We can only guess at the specs of the upcoming cards, assuming they exist. Schilling surmises the GTX 1660 will use a cut down version of the TU116 GPU found in the GTX 1660 Ti, also with 6GB of memory. The GTX 1650, meanwhile, could wield 4GB of slower and cheaper GDDR5 memory, on a narrower memory bus.
It's all speculation at this point, though we'd be surprised if the GTX 1660 Ti ended up being the only GTX Turing card when all is said and done.
