The New Nvidia RTX 3050 Sub-$200 Graphics Card

It’s been a long time since we’ve seen a video card from Nvidia for lower than $200.  But this is not an exciting card considering its specifications:

  • 2,048 or 2,304 Cuda cores (the previous 3050 had 2,560 Cuda cores)
  • 6GB of GDDR6 ram (the previous 3050 had 8gb)
  • 96-bit memory busy width (the previous 3050 has 128-bit)
  • Boost clock of 1,470 MHz (the previous 3050 has 1,777 MHz)
  • TGP of 70W (versus 130W of the previous 3050)
  • Approximate price of $179

However, it’s good to have options at this market segment.  This is probably okay as a budget 1080p card that will let you play games at medium settings.  It will definitely be an improvement over any integrated graphics.  But would would recommend you save up a bit more and get something that will last you for a longer period of time.  This is, after all, based on 3.5 year old architecture.

One interesting situation to consider is, do you buy a Ryzen 8700G or a cheap processor and a new Nvidia RTX 3050?  Trick question.  Wait for the 8700G to drop in price.

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