Nvidia's RTX 50-series may offer true budget-friendly laptop and desktop options as early as next month.
Of course, Nvidia has not officially confirmed the existence of the RTX 5050, but the rumor mill has been in overdrive lately.
New details on Nvidia's entry-level RTX 5050 GPU have appeared this week and have been posted on VideoCardz. Combined with the RTX 5050 laptop specs leaked last week, we've got a pretty clear picture of the full RTX 50-series lineup.
And the RTX 5050 just might be the bargain you've been waiting for this generation.
But don't just take my word for it. Let's take a closer look at how the RTX 5050 compares to its higher-tier counterparts on both desktop and laptop.
Nvidia RTX 5050 Desktop GPU specs
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | RTX 5060Ti (8GB) | RTX 5060 | RTX 5050 |
Price: | $379 | $299 | TBD |
CUDA (compute unified digital architecture) cores: | 4,608 | 3,840 | 2,560 |
VRAM: | 8GB GDDR7 | 8GB GDDR7 | 8GB GDDR6 (possibly GDDR7) |
Memory bus: | 128-bit | 128-bit | 128-bit |
Max clock speed: | 2.57 GHz | 2.50 GHz | TBD |
TGP: | 180W | 145W | 130W |
Nvidia RTX 5050 Laptop GPU specs
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | RTX 5070 Laptop GPU | RTX 5060 Laptop GPU | RTX 5050 Laptop GPU |
Price: | $1,299 | $1,099 starting | TBD |
CUDA (compute unified digital architecture) cores: | 4,608 | 3,328 | TBD |
VRAM: | 8GB GDDR7 | 8GB GDDR7 | 8GB GDDR7 |
Memory bus: | 128-bit | 128-bit | 128-bit |
Max clock speed: | 2.347 GHz | 2.497 GHz | TBD |
TGP: | up to 100W | up to 100W | up to 100W |
Nvidia RTX 5050: Outlook
If Nvidia decides to opt for 8GB of GDDR7 (graphics double data rate 7) VRAM for the desktop variant, as rumors suggest, it'll be a better bargain in terms of performance and price than the RTX 5060.
The RTX 5050 laptops were already rumored to come with GDDR7 memory, so it would be a surprise if Nvidia didn't upgrade the VRAM on the desktop variant, but only time will tell.
While the RTX 5050 on both laptop and desktop will be underpowered compared to the other RTX 50-series GPUs, the 5050 does still have access to Nvidia's DLSS 4 and frame generation software, which can provide significant gains in frame rates if you're willing to use AI super sampling tech.
Most often, Nvidia's entry-level GPUs become the most popular in each generation as the -50 and -60 cards often hit the right price-to-performance sweet spot, while the higher-end cards tend to retail at astronomical prices.
As of last month, the most popular GPU on Steam is the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060. Given the usual four-year upgrade cycle for computer hardware (especially gaming GPUs), it's expected that either the RTX 5050 or RTX 5060 will eventually take that slot.
The RTX 5050 desktop GPU is expected to retail in the range of $199-249.
Based on current estimations, RTX 5050 gaming laptops are expected to cost about $999.
We do not currently have exact dates for when these GPUs will be available, but if the RTX 5060 launch is anything to go by, the desktop GPUs and RTX 5050 laptops will likely go on sale around the same time next month.
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