(Credit: Zotac)
Nvidia is gearing up to release a new budget PC graphics card with the GeForce RTX 5050, which the company says will start at $249.
On Tuesday, Nvidia published a new web page dedicated to the RTX 5050, which is slated to arrive in the "second half of July." Several vendors, including Zotac and Inno3D, also introduced their RTX 5050 models.
Specs released by Nvidia show that the RTX 5050 uses the same Blackwell architecture as the rest of the 5000 series. However, the RTX 5050 is built with older 8GB GDDR6 memory for only a 320GB-per-second memory bandwidth—a contrast from the 8GB GDDR7 found in the RTX 5060, which has a 448GB-per-second bandwidth.
(Credit: Nvidia)The 8GB of GDDR6 is the same amount of memory Nvidia built into the RTX 3050. Another compromise is that the RTX 5050 features fewer CUDA cores at only 2,560, down from the 3,840 in the RTX 5060.
Still, Nvidia’s web page notes the RTX 5050 features “4th-gen ray tracing and 5th-gen Tensor Cores for game-changing AI capabilities and performance in top games and apps.”
(Credit: Nvidia)A company benchmark also compares the card's performance with the older RTX 3050. It shows huge 4x gains from the RTX 5050 — but only when the company's frame-rate boosting DLSS 4 technology is activated. Otherwise, the performance uplift is lower, closer to 50%.
(Nvidia)The new product is scheduled to arrive about two months after Nvidia launched the RTX 5060, which starts at $299. However, the RTX 5060 faced a cloud of controversy because Nvidia took measures to stop tech publications from reviewing the card normally. Instead, it required them to first publish a “preview” that tested the product in only narrow conditions.
Later reviews found the RTX 5060’s 8GB GDDR7 to be a limiting factor that could prevent the graphics card from running graphics-heavy AAA games at adequate frame rates. In some games, the card also performed similarly to the older RTX 3060 Ti, which is available on eBay for a lower price.
We’ll have to see whether Nvidia supplies review units for the RTX 5050. In the meantime, the company also launched a laptop version of the RTX 5050, which ironically features 8GB of GDDR7 memory. Acer says its notebooks with the GPU arrive next month, with more models to follow in the coming weeks. Acer laptops with the RTX 5050 will range from $899 to $1,199.
(Credit: Nvidia)Nvidia itself noted: "GDDR7 memory can be up to 2X more energy efficient than GDDR6, helping our partners include RTX 5050 Laptop GPUs in thin and light models with extended battery life. Better memory efficiency also reduces heat output, enabling laptops to run quieter and cooler while gaming and creating."
The company has also published a benchmark for the laptop-focused RTX 5050, which again shows the GPU posting huge performance improvements when DLSS4 is activated, but more muted gains in other games where it's turned off.
(Nvidia)