Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 price, restocks, specs, performance and more
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(Image credit: Nvidia)
The GeForce RTX 3050 is one of Nvidia’s latest desktop GPUs. Unlike the premium RTX 3090 Ti, the RTX 3050 is a moderately specced and moderately priced entry-level GPU.
In a world where people are clamoring to get their hands on cards like the RTX 3080 Ti and RTX 3090, the RTX 3050 is somewhat of an oddity. A card specializing in 1080p/60fps gaming isn’t something most hardcore PC gamers want in 2022. Sure, ray tracing is a great addition, as is DLSS and Nvidia G-Sync, but outside of those features, the card isn’t all that impressive on paper.
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However, the $249 asking price makes the GPU enticing, especially for folks who’ve been unable to get their hands on any of Nvidia’s RTX 30-series cards due to the never-ending chip shortage. As such, from the moment we saw the GeForce RTX 3050 go on sale it flew off the shelves and is now seemingly out of stock in the U.S. and the U.K.
So with that in mind, here’s everything you need to know about the Nvidia RTX 3050.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050: Price and release date
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 launched on January 27, 2022 for a retail price of $249. Sadly, high demand saw it sell out rather quickly, meaning it joins its fellow RTX 30-series graphics cards in being challenging to find in stock.
But to help you out, we have our guide on where to buy the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050; check it out as you never know when you might stumble across a quiet restock. Though GPU prices have dropped in recent months, be aware that some cards are going for heavily inflated prices.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050: Restocks and deals
As it stands, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 appears to be sold out pretty much everywhere. But restocks are likely to happen, even if it’s just sporadically.
Our product tracker tool below will flag any retailers that have the GeForce RTX 3050 in stock, as well as highlight any deals for it — just don’t expect to find a bargain price any time soon.
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Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050: Specs and performance
The RTX 3050 is designed to deliver 1080p resolution at 60 frames per second with ray tracing enabled.
The RTX 3050 is built on Ampere architecture and uses 8GB of GDDR6 VRAM. This is the same memory found in the RTX 3060 Ti. The card has 2,560 CUDA cores with a base clock of 1.55 GHz and a boost clock of 1.78 GHz. It also has a 128-bit memory interface width seen in GPUs targeting 1080p.
(Image credit: Nvidia)
Features like DLSS AI upscaling and Nvidia G-Sync will help the card maintain high frame rates, even with ray tracing enabled. This means games will run silky smooth. Nvidia Reflex paired with G-Sync, will all but eliminate input latency – making games feel more responsive.
Other features like Shadowplay, Broadcast, Freestyle, Highlights and Ansel exist for the esports crowd.
Of course, we’d need to test the RTX 3050’s performance for ourselves to judge, but based on Nvidia’s claims, the card should be suitable for budget-minded players.
Below, we compare the RTX 3050 to other RTX 30 series cards.
Swipe to scroll horizontally
| Row 0 — Cell 0 | Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 | Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 | Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti | Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 | Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 | Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 |
| Nvidia CUDA Cores | 2,560 | 3,584 | 4,864 | 5,888 | 8,704 | 10,496 |
| Boost Clock (GHz) | 1. 78 |
1.78 | 1.67 | 1.73 | 1.71 | 1.70 |
| Memory Size | 8 GB | 12 GB | 8 GB | 8 GB | 10 GB | 24 GB |
| Memory Type | GDDR6 | GDDR6 | GDDR6 | GDDR6 | GDDR6X | GDDR6X |
| Dimensions | 9.5 x 4.4 inches | 9.5 x 4.4 inches | 9.5 x 4.4 inches | 9.5 x 4.4 inches | 11.2 x 4.4 inches | 12.3 x 5.4 inches |
| Power Draw | 130W | 170W | 200W | 220W | 320W | 350W |
| Price | $250 | $330 | $400 | $500 | $700 | $1,500 |
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050: Outlook
Even though the RTX 3050 isn’t meant to be a powerhouse of a graphics card, it should still deliver the 1080p/60fps experience Nvidia promises – hopefully without fiddling too much with a game’s graphical settings.
The asking price of $249 makes it compelling despite its modest specs. And though certain retailers are selling the card for well above its MSRP, the fact it isn’t attractive to crypto miners should (in theory) keep costs moderate.
It’s difficult to speak on the card’s availability due to the ongoing semiconductor shortage, but if things ease up in 2022 as some analysts and reports suggest, then perhaps it won’t be an impossible task.
We’ll bring you more on the RTX 3050 after we’ve had a chance to run it through our own performance tests.
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Tony is a computing writer at Tom’s Guide covering laptops, tablets, Windows, and iOS. During his off-hours, Tony enjoys reading comic books, playing video games, reading speculative fiction novels, and spending too much time on Twitter.
His non-nerdy pursuits involve attending Hard Rock/Heavy Metal concerts and going to NYC bars with friends and colleagues. His work has appeared in publications such as Laptop Mag, PC Mag, and various independent gaming sites.
RTX 3050: price, specs, release date, and everything else you need to know
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(Image credit: Nvidia)
Nvidia has officially released the RTX 3050. Currently, at the time of writing, the only US retailer holding RTX 3050 stock is part of the Newegg Shuffle where several RTX 3050 GPUs are available for MSRP. That’s looking like your best bet right now. We saw the shuffle go live yesterday, so today marks another chance to get your hands on the new budget Ampere video card in extremely limited quantities.
The RTX 3050 is unlikely to go down as one of the best graphics cards for gaming, especially when stacked up against the likes of the RTX 3060 Ti and RTX 3070 Ti.
However, for those who are able to secure RTX 3050 stock for MSRP, they are going to be able to experience Nvidia’s newest technologies at budget prices.
Below, you’ll find everything that you need to know about the RTX 3050 from its launch price to specs, and overall availability. We’ve also got an RTX 3050 stock page up and running to get a headstart on which retailers to watch out for first.
(Image credit: Nvidia)
RTX 3050 price
The RTX 3050 carries a starting MSRP of $249 / £239 which is consistent with the launch prices of the previous generation of budget GTX video cards. Much like with the launch of the RTX 3060, this is no Founders Edition RTX 3050 on the market. This means that the prices are largely dictated by the partners using Nvidia’s starting MSRP as a guideline. We have already seen some models sell for the actual retail price, albeit briefly. We’ll be updating you should anything change in this regard.
If we’ve learned anything from the current situation surrounding RTX 3060 stock and RTX 3070 stock, it’s that the RTX 3050 at its launch price point will be in heavy demand.
The previous cheapest RTX 30 series GPU was the RTX 3060 12GB model, however, the RTX 3050 will be $80 / £61 cheaper at release.
(Image credit: Gigabyte / Nvidia)
RTX 3050 release date
The RTX 3050 was officially released on January 27 at 6am PT / 9am ET (or 2pm GMT) as had been rumored for some time. It should be stated, though, that very limited quantities of RTX 3050 stock were available from only a handful of retailers at most.
The previous RTX 30 series stock launches happened in November 2020 and June 2021 respectively, so this new Ampere video card is getting a headstart on the new year. We are not currently sure as to when (or if) RTX 3050 stock will launch at more retailers, but will be bringing you all the news as soon as we receive word at the first available opportunity.
RTX 3050 specs
The RTX 3050 specs have been tailored towards targeting 60 FPS in 1080p (Full HD) while making use of the latest RTX advancements. On the technical side, RTX 3050 is built on Ampere architecture which uses 8GB GDDR6 VRAM, the same memory type found in the RTX 3060 Ti.
The RTX 3050 features 2560 CUDA cores with a base clock of 1.55 GHz and a boost clock of 1.78 GHz. The GPU is built on a 128-bit memory interface width, which is consistent with entry-level video cards targeting this resolution (such as the GTX 1660).
As with the rest of the RTX 30 series of video cards, RTX 3050 features second-generation Ray Tracing cores and third-generation Tensor cores (which powers DLSS A.I. upscaling technology). These two technologies in tandem, ray tracing, and DLSS, make up the foundation of RTX technology used in video games, alongside the likes of Reflex, Broadcast, and DirectX 12 Ultimate support.
(Image credit: Nvidia)
RTX 3050 performance
For those of you wondering how powerful the RTX 3050 performance capabilities are going to be, the proposed benchmarks are certainly promising. The RTX 3050 is built with pushing RTX in demanding modern games at a rock-solid 60 FPS in Full HD.
Nvidia appears to be living up to those goals as this video card is capable of hitting 60 or above when maxed out in games such as Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Doom Eternal, and Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War with ray tracing and DLSS on.
The same can be said for Borderlands 3, Control, and Minecraft with RTX on, achieving frame rates equal to, or above, 60 FPS.
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Aleksha McLoughlin served as the Hardware Editor for GamesRadar from June 2021 until August 2022. Her main area of expertise was the PC gaming platform, which comprised buying guides, features, reviews, and news coverage on components and prebuilt machines. She was also responsible for gaming chairs and storage. She now works on a freelance basis while studying to become a university lecturer specializing in English for foreign territories. Prior to joining GamesRadar, she wrote for the likes of Expert Reviews, The Rory Peck Trust, No Clean Singing, Vinyl Chapters, and Tech Spark while also working with the BBC.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050:
graphics card specifications
NVIDIA started selling the GeForce RTX 3050 in 2022. This is a desktop video card based on the Ampere architecture with an 8 nm process technology. It has 4 GB of GDDR6 memory with a frequency of 1750 MHz, a 128-bit bus, which provides a bandwidth of 14 Gb / s.
The card occupies 2 slots and is connected via PCIe 4.0 x16 interface. The reference version is 242mm long and 112mm wide. The card requires one 6-pin auxiliary power cable, the declared maximum power consumption is 90 W.
Specifications
GPU
- GPU option
- GA107-300-A1
- Architecture
- Ampere
- Manufacturer
- Samsung
- Process
- 8 nm
- Number of transistors
- 13250 million
- Crystal area
- 276 mm²
Graphic card
- Year of manufacture
- 2022
- Generation
- GeForce 30
- Predecessor
- GeForce 20
- Data bus interface
- PCIe 4.
0 x16
Frequencies
- Base frequency
- 1545 MHz
- Boost frequency
- 1740 MHz
- Memory frequency
- 1750 MHz
Memory
- Memory capacity
- 4 GB
- Memory type
- GDDR6
- Memory bus
- 128 bit
- Memory speed
- 14 Gb/s
- Memory bandwidth
- 224 GB/s
Render configuration
- Shader units
- 2304
- Texture blocks
- 72
- Screen blocks
- 40
- Streaming Multiprocessors
- 18
- Tensor cores
- 72
- RT core
- 18
- L1 cache
- 128 KB
- L2 cache
- 2MB
Rated capacity
- Pixel fill rate
- 69.
60 HP/s
- Texture Fill Rate
- 125.3 GT/s
- Performance FP16
- 8.018 Tflops
- Performance FP32
- 8.018 Tflops
- Performance FP64
- 125.3 GFlops
Graphics
- DirectX
- 12 Ultimate (12_2)
- OpenGL
- 4.6
- OpenCL
- 3
- Vulcan
- 1.2
- CUDA
- 8.6
- Shader model
- 6.6
Video card design
- Occupied slots
- 2
- Length
- 242 mm
- Width
- 112 mm
- Heat Sink Requirements
- 90 W
- Recommended PSU power
- 250 W
- Outlets
- 1x HDMI 3x DisplayPort
- Power supply
- 1x 6-pin
Comparison with other graphics cards
Map 1:
Map 2:
Video reviews and tests
Is it worth buying a GeForce RTX 3050 in 2022?
Should I get a GeForce RTX 3050 in 2022?
Is the RTX 3050 still relevant in 2023?
GET IT! RTX 3050 Review
Your next GPU — RTX 3050
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What It Feels Like To Get a RTX 3050
GeForce RTX 3050 8GB Test in 30 Games at 1080p (Ryzen 5 3600)
Is the Cheapest RTX GPU Worth It? RTX 3050 Review
RTX 3050 vs RTX 3050 Ti vs GTX 1650 vs GTX 1650 Ti — Gaming Test — How Big is the Difference?
RTX 3050 Laptop Test in 24 Games in 2023 — is it Enough for Gaming?
RTX 3050 vs RTX 2060 vs RTX 3060 // Test in 9 Games
RTX 3050 Test in 40 Games in 2023
If you find a bug or have something to add, write in the comments.
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performance overview and gaming performance tests
The GeForce RTX 3050 4GB graphics card was released by NVIDIA, release date: 2022. The graphics card is designed for desktop computers and is built on the Ampere architecture, codenamed GA107.
Core frequency — 1545 MHz. The core frequency in Boost mode is 1740 MHz. Texturing speed — 125.3 GTexel/s. Number of shader processors — 2304. Technological process — 8 nm. Power consumption (TDP) — 90 Watt.
Memory type: GDDR6. The maximum memory size is 4 GB. The memory bus width is 128 bit. Memory frequency — 1750 MHz, 14 Gbps effective. The memory bandwidth is 224.0 GB/s.
Benchmarks
| PassMark G2D Mark |
|
||||
| PassMark G3D Mark |
|
||||
| Geekbench OpenCL |
|
|
| Name | Meaning |
|---|---|
| PassMark — G2D Mark | 958 |
| PassMark — G3D Mark | 13003 |
| Geekbench — OpenCL | 49592 |
Features
| Architecture | Ampere |
| Codename | GA107 |
| Production date | 2022 |
| Place in the rating | 64 |
| Type | Desktop |
| Boost core clock | 1740 MHz |
| Core frequency | 1545 MHz |
| Process | 8nm |
| Peak Double Precision (FP64) Performance | 125. 3 GFLOPS (1:64) |
| Peak Half Precision (FP16) Performance | 8.018 TFLOPS (1:1) |
| Peak Single Precision (FP32) Performance | 8.018 TFLOPS |
| Number of shaders | 2304 |
| Pixel fill rate | 55.68 GPixel/s |
| Texturing speed | 125.3 GTexel/s |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 90 Watt |
| Video connectors | 1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a |
| DisplayPort support | |
| HDMI | |
| Form factor | Dual slot |
| Interface | PCIe 4. 0 x8 |
| Length | 242 mm, 9.5 inches |
| Recommended power supply | 250 Watt |
| Additional power connectors | 1x 6-pin |
| Width | 112 mm, 4.4 inches |
| DirectX | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |
| OpenCL | 3.0 |
| OpenGL | 4.6 |
| Shader Model | 6.7 |
| Vulcan | |
| Maximum memory size | 4GB |
| Memory bandwidth | 224.
|