Released less than a month ago, Nvidia's RTX 3050 budget-friendly GPU offering already seems to have some variant options in the pipeline. At a mere $250, the RTX 3050 vies to be a relatively cheap offering for PC enthusiasts, allowing for the base minimum of 60 FPS targets on full HD 1080p perspectives.
Quietly, it seems, Nvidia is tinkering with its RTX 3050 in order to deliver something even far less expensive than its base predecessor, taking on AMD's own Radeon RX 6500 XT. According to one Twitter user by the name of harukaze5719, Nvidia has a super secret GA107 graphics processor option on the RTX 3050 build.
— 포시포시 (@harukaze5719) February 13, 2022
Said user shares a TechPowerUp GPU database showing the leaked RTX 3050 build featuring the aforementioned GA107 die and 4GB of VRAM. Additional RTX 3050 4GB variant specs include a base clock of 1545MHz, which can be overclocked to about 1740MHz, 2,304 CUDA cores, and a 128-bit memory bus. It certainly won't be rocking Doom Eternal at the highest graphical settings, but it will keep several bills in your wallet.
If the rumor is in fact true, it would give those still hesitant of entering the PC-building space a relatively affordable option to try out. Most of the surrounding 4GB RTX 3050s in circulation can be found in laptops, so an RTX 3050 desktop GPU 4GB variant might prove worthwhile if the price tag can be made at about $150-$200. This one would also be made on the GA107 die as opposed to the base RTX 3050 options currently utilizing the GA106 die.
Yet another rumor has surfaced via Igor Wallossek of Igor's Lab. In an article posted yesterday, Feb. 13th, Wallossek describes an 8GB form factor for the RTX 3050 on the GA107 die. This die divergence allows the new card a reduced power rating of 115W as opposed to the 130W of its GA106 formal variant. This 8GB form of the RTX 3050 would only come with x8 PCIe3 link due to the GA107 die.
Given the still ongoing supply chain and chip shortage issues racking the consumer electronics world, these new concepts only make sense from both a marketing and a design standpoint. Even Wallossek agrees that Nvidia is clearly attempting to fill out its stock with these two newer options. It's also an attempt to go toe-to-toe with AMD with more affordable offshoots and updates to already-existing cards.
The RTX 3050 is certainly among the best entry-level GPUs, but it's no bullet on the benchmark. The 4GB RTX 3050 offshoot is an attempt by Nvidia to make something even more affordable for consumers with as much wiggle room in the specs department as possible, whereas the secondary 8GB RTX 3050 might just be an updated form for the already existing card - potentially itself at a more reasonable MSRP.
All of these revelations, however, should be taken with a grain of salt. Nvidia hasn't made any announcements as of yet and the main RTX 3050 GPU was only just released, so it will take time before any of this is proven fact.
This article is written by Tech Times
Written by Ryan Epps
