The idea of a $250 graphics card seems like a pipe dream today when unprecedented demand, scalpers and the global chip shortage have propelled GPU prices into the stratosphere. That doesn’t stop NVIDIA from trying it, though new RTX3050. It’s the company’s cheapest ray-traced GPU to date, and aims to rival AMD’s even cheaper ones Radeon RX6500XT, which has a suggested retail price of $200. While it’s unclear if the 3050 will actually sell for $250 once it hits stores, it will at least cost less than that RTX3060, which launched at $329 but is now around $1,000 (no typo) at Newegg and other retailers.
Gallery: NVIDIA RTX 3050 | 6 photos
Gallery: NVIDIA RTX 3050 | 6 photos
Like NVIDIA’s hugely popular GTX 1050 and their other 50-class GPUs, the 3050 aims to be an affordable way to hit 1080p/60fps while playing modern games. With newer titles like Control demanding more power from our systems, it makes sense for NVIDIA to finally deliver a cheap entry into the 30-series. The 3050 has 2,560 CUDA cores, a 1,777MHz boost speed, and 8GB of GDDR6 RAM, putting it well below the 3,584 CUDA cores and 8GB of RAM of the 3060 (not to mention its significantly faster memory interface). However, as a 30-series GPU, it also has ray tracing and tensor cores that allow it to take advantage of more realistic lighting, as well as the company’s DLSS technology to boost performance.
benefits
- Great 1080p performance
- Decent 1440p gaming
- Quiet and cool
- Low recommended price
disadvantage
- Can be hard to find at $250
NVIDIA is positioning the new card as an important update for the GTX 1650, which only had 896 CUDA cores and no ray tracing or tensor capabilities. (There was no RTX 2050 desktop GPU, although the company surprised us all when there was announced a laptop version at CES this year.) The RTX 3050 is also more compelling on paper than the Radeon 6500 XT, which only has 4GB of memory, a much slower memory bus, and only taps into 4 PCIe lanes instead of the typical 16. AMD has clearly cut as much as it could to create an affordable GPU for entry-level gamers, but that also makes it less future-proof than the slightly more expensive RTX 3050.
During my testing, the EVGA RTX 3050 XC Black GPU (NVIDIA doesn’t make Founder’s Editions this time) was able to handle any game at 1080p, even when I cranked the graphics settings all the way up. It averaged 140 fps in Hitman 3’s Dubai benchmark, making it well-suited to monitors with a 144Hz refresh rate. Increasing the resolution to 1,440p halved the performance to 74 fps, a notable drop from the 3060’s 110 fps average. That higher resolution is definitely playable, but it’s clear that the 3050 is best for 1080p gaming, especially if you’re trying to get enough performance to justify a high refresh rate monitor.
|
3DMark TimeSpy |
destiny 2 |
hit man 3 |
Port Royal (ray tracing) |
|
|
Nvidia RTX 3050 |
6,702 |
1080p: 90| 1440p: 60-65 |
1080:140| 1440p: 74 |
3,643/17 fps |
|
AMD Radeon RX6600 |
8,521 |
1080p: 110-120 | 1440p: 75-85 |
1080p: 138 | 1440p: 94 |
3846/17 fps |
|
NVIDIA RTX 3060 Ti |
11.308 |
1440p: 85-110 fps 4K: 45-60 fps |
N / A |
6,989/32.36 fps |
All benchmarks were tested on a system with Ryzen 7 5800X, 32 GB RAM and Samsung 970 EVO Plus SSD.
In Destiny 2, the 3050 averaged 90 fps at 1080p and 65 fps at 1440p on the highest graphics settings. Those are decent results if you want the best visual flourishes, but I’d bet many gamers would dial down some of these settings for better frame rates. What impressed me the most was how the GPU handled Control, which is still one of the more demanding games. It averaged 65 fps in 1080p with the graphics maxed out (but no ray tracing). When I turned on DLSS, which rendered the game at 720p, and used AI to upscale to 1080p, the framerate jumped to a silkier 90fps. And surprisingly it was perfectly playable at 70fps when I turned on medium ray tracing settings along with DLSS. Not bad for a (supposedly) $250 graphics card!
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget
As for typical benchmarks like the 3DMark suite, it’s best if you don’t look at them. The 3050 is clearly a lot slower than the rest of NVIDIA’s lineup, so it’s best to ignore what you’re missing. Importantly, this is an affordable card that can play demanding games well at 1080p, and in some cases it will even take you to 1440p. And thanks to its relatively tame performance, it doesn’t generate much heat or noise either. It stays at a surprisingly cool 60 degrees Celsius under load.
I didn’t have an RTX 6500 XT to compare but judging by the reviews and its specs, you will have a hard time hitting ultra-level 1080p games with this GPU. AMD deliberately hampered its memory to make it less attractive to cryptominers. This plan may actually have been successful as its price now hovers in between $250 and $300 on Newegg.
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget
It will be interesting to see how far the price of the RTX 3050 jumps once it’s released. But based on what we know so far, if you can snag it for $250, it’s an absolute steal, and for many players it will be worth paying several hundred more. Right now it’s the only way to get an NVIDIA 3000 series card without paying more than $1,000.
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