Card Layout and Photos

One thing is for sure, MSI is very consistent. The cooler on the GTX 1650 Gaming X looks just like the RTX 2060 Gaming Z I took a look a while back. Being their highest end GTX 1650 model it is a full-length card with a dual fan Twin Frozr 7 design. Both fans are very large, extending up past the top of the PCI bracket in addition to the shroud as well. The shroud design is plastic with a black design covering most of the card with two dark grey areas around the fans. The entire design is very angular, especially around the fans. The card is 245mm long, 127mm tall, and 39mm thick which is the length and width of a normal card but taller than normal.

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For fans, MSI calls these fans their TORX Fan 3.0 and they have a steep curved blade design. They also have small fins on every other blade to help direct the airflow down along with a fan shroud design that if you look closely tunnels down to the heatsink. Most video card fan shrouds are tin, having that thickness here helps better focus the airflow from the fans. While the card is all black and dark grey, the fan does have a touch of red in the center where MSI has put their gaming dragon logo as well.

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Here is a look at the extra height of the card. As I mentioned before in addition to this being a full-sized card when most GTX 1650’s are short ITX form factor cards. The Gaming X, like most of MSI’s higher end cards, is taller than a standard PCI device. Most cases support taller cards so it isn’t a concern, but make sure the case you are planning on using has that extra space above the PCI area.

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For cooling, the Twin Frozr 7 design includes a proper sheet metal fin heatsink. MSI didn’t go crazy with too many heatpipes though, using just one in an S shape to run over the top of the GPU and to pull heat out to the ends of the heatsink. The overall design uses the two axial fans to blow down towards the PCB across the heatsink. There is a gap at the bottom of the heatsink that leaves room for airflow to go out all directions and as you can see the fan shroud doesn’t go down that far as well so there is plenty of room for airflow. That airflow does vent directly into your case though unlike a blower design, so plan to have enough cooling to dissipate it. This isn’t an ultra high-end card, so that shouldn’t be a problem but I will find out more later in testing.

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The top edge of the card has the Geforce GTX branding on the fan shroud in a glossy finish to stand out from the textured finish of the shroud. Next to that is also an MSI logo with Twin Frozr 7 branding and a gold MSI Gaming dragon. All of that is on a white background which is also LED backlit with RGB lighting and then small red accents on each side of it. I’ve talked before about how I would prefer just accent lighting, not just lighting up branding and the white used here isn’t my favorite as well, it takes a lot away from the otherwise dark card design in my opinion.

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Also up on the top edge is a PCI power plug. This might be a surprise to some given the GTX 1650s 75-watt TDP. The GTX 1650 is designed to only need to run off the PCI slot for power, but MSI went with additional power on the Gaming X because this is a highly overclocked model and to leave even more room for overclocking if needed. The connection is a 6-pin and it is flipped around backward with the clip on the PCB side. The PCB is notched to match. This keeps it tighter up against the card and makes it easier to get your finger on the clip.

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The back of the PCB shows us a few things. For starters I love the flat black finish that MSI went with, given that this is very visible in most cases I am happy to see that. A backplate would have been nicer though. You can see that the entire heatsink is attached using the four screws around the GPU. You can also see that most of the PCB traces are over on the right side of the board because the GTX 1650 is mostly a short card. MSI just extended things out to match the larger heatsink. With that, some of the power circuitry does move over on the left. There is also a white dragon logo screen printed on here as well.

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For display connections, the GTX 1650 Gaming X doesn’t really go overboard. You get two DisplayPort and one HDMI which I would really prefer to have a fourth connection. DVI if possible. Given the price point, I can see a lot of people needing the now old but still used connection. Beyond that, the rest of the rear bracket does have ventilation, but given the cooler design, it isn’t all that needed.

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Here is a look at that backlit section up on top of the card.

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