Geforce RTX 3050 appeared: GA106, 8 GB and faster than GTX 1660 Super?

Nvidia is said to be working on a Geforce RTX 3050, which will come onto the market with a trimmed GA106 GPU and 8 GB of RAM. In terms of performance, the model should be classified between a GTX 1660 Super and an RTX 2060 Super.

If you want to buy a cheap graphics card at the moment, you face two problems. On the one hand, the prices are immensely high due to a poor delivery situation, and on the other hand, there is a lack of proper entry-level models. From the current generation of AMD and Nvidia, there is only the RX 6600 for an RRP of 339 euros and the RTX 3060 for an RRP of 329 euros. If you want to spend less, you have to switch to an older generation or directly to the used market. RTX 3050 between GTX 1660 Super and RTX 2060

The situation could at least get a little better if AMD and Nvidia brought an RX 6500 and an RTX 3050 onto the market. And that's exactly what Nvidia is planning: With reference to an unspecified source, the Videocardz website claims that a Geforce RTX 3050 is currently in the works. However, it is emphasized that the information is a rumor - so it could also be wrong.

According to the leak, Nvidia's RTX 3050 is to be internally referred to as "PG190 SKU 70" and is based on a trimmed GA106 GPU (GA106-150). So far, the GA106 has only been used in the RTX 3060, where it competes with 3,584 shaders and a 192-bit memory interface. For the RTX 3050, however, there should be significantly fewer shaders, and the memory interface should also be limited to 128 bits.

At the end of the day, the RTX 3050 will be delivered with 8 GB of RAM and will be between a GTX 1660 Super and the new RTX 2060 12 GB in terms of performance. This would make the graphics card a conceivable competitor for a future Radeon RX 6500 XT. According to Videocardz, this Radeon graphics card could appear in the first quarter of 2022. The RTX 3050, on the other hand, is not expected to come onto the market until the second quarter of 2022.