If you’ve been trying to build or buy an entry-level gaming PC in the past couple of months, you’d probably realise by now that graphics card options are few and far between. Both AMD and NVIDIA have yet to release the entry-level options of their latest lineup of consumer graphics cards, meaning that for many seeking a simple, no-nonsense gaming rig, they’ve been having to look at previous generation GPUs like the RTX 2060 and GTX 1660 Super.
However, it seems as though there’s been word of a new graphics card from NVIDIA. According to a new leak from VideoCardz, word is that the RTX 3050 is set to appear sometime in Q2 of 2022. Performance-wise, it should stand somewhere above the GTX 1660 Super, but still be worse than the RTX 3060 and the still-rumoured RTX 2060 refresh with 12GB of VRAM. They claim that it will have 3072 FP32 cores, and that it will use the GA106 Ampere silicon built on the 8nm process, with potentially 8GB of VRAM. As expected with a 50-class NVIDIA graphics card, this will target the casual and e-sports crowd looking to game at Full HD.
This shouldn’t be confused with the current lineup of mobile RTX 3050 and RTX 3050 Ti GPUs that’s currently in the market for laptops of course. The desktop RTX 3050 has taken quite a while to appear, with it having first been reported earlier this year. However, the timing of its new release date though would make a lot of sense. AMD is also reportedly planning to launch their own entry-level graphics card, the RX 6500 XT, sometime in early next year, while Intel’s own lineup of Intel Arc GPUs will also arrive in the first half of next year.
Intel Arc would especially be interesting competition to both NVIDIA and AMD, as it’s unchartered territory for Team Blue. With their lineup of GPUs will target both the entry-level and mid range gamer, it’s perhaps no wonder then that NVIDIA are planning to launch their own entry level GPU around the same time. If so, it could be a boon for the budget gamer seeking an alternative to older parts from yesteryear. That being said, until there’s official word from NVIDIA themselves about the RTX 3050, it remains speculation for now.
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