Dual Memory, Dual Power: the GeForce GTX 1650 Amazes Simply by Replacing the GDDR6 Modules

We have reported on many experiments with graphics cards, and increasing VRAM is certainly not a novelty. However, in the case of the modified GeForce GTX 1650 by YouTuber Paulo Gomes, a similar improvement was perhaps unexpected. Moreover, it involved a relatively simple operation for those familiar with electronics.

Some necessary premises must be made. The experiment conducted by the YouTuber is not replicable on all GTX 1650 models. The card has been distributed in different variants, distinguished by the installed chip: TU117, TU116, or TU106. Only the latter supports memory upgrades through the replacement of existing chips with higher capacity modules. This chip can only be found in the most recent productions and belongs to the same family of chips used for NVIDIA's RTX 2000 series. This enables the use of 2 GB GDDR6 memory modules to replace the 1 GB ones.

The intervention thus consists of removing the four chips on the card and replacing them with four Samsung HC16 GDDR6 modules of 2 GB. In this way, the total capacity increases from 4 GB to 8 GB of VRAM, without requiring modifications to the graphics card's firmware. During the procedure, it was initially necessary to replace two defective memory chips, but the project ultimately concluded successfully.

Benchmark Results

The results obtained in the Unigine Superposition benchmark show a significant increase. The modified GTX 1650 reached 1,245 points compared to the 624 points recorded in the original 4 GB configuration. The score has nearly doubled thanks to the mere increase in memory capacity.

The test does not include gaming tests, an aspect that would have allowed for a more precise evaluation of the practical impact of the upgrade. It is unlikely to expect a performance increase equal to that observed in the synthetic benchmark, but the availability of 8 GB of VRAM could offer interesting benefits in various modern titles, which are increasingly demanding in terms of video memory.