The RTX 3050 from Nvidia is probably one of the most interesting graphics cards on the market for PC gamers right now – and it seems that the cheap model will become even better with a hardware upgrade in the future.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050: New chip to reduce power consumption
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 offers enough performance for gaming beginners to play in Full HD and is also significantly more powerful than the RX 6500 XT from AMD. This makes them palatable to many PC gamers.
However, if you believe hardware expert Igor Wallossek, the graphics card comes in two different configurations: Once with a GA106 and once with the GA107 chip. The latter appears to have only recently entered the production chain, but it offers a distinct advantage over its close relative: The chip consumes less power.
While the TDP specification of the normal RTX 3050 is around 130 watts, the power consumption of the model with the GA107 chip is said to be only 115 watts – a saving of almost 12 percent. Incidentally, this change should not have a negative effect on the performance of the card. In fact, the opposite might even be true as long as manufacturers don’t put software restrictions on PC gamers for overclocking (source: Igor’s Lab).
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Why is Nvidia going for the other chip?
In fact, the GA106 chip is actually used in the RTX 3060. However, the yield rate of chips without a large error rate does not seem to be very high. But instead of throwing the partially defective hardware straight into the bin, the chips are used in the RTX 3050 – and that should continue to be the case.
According to Wallossek, the new and energy-saving GA107 is only a fallback solution, should stocks of GA106 chips run out. If the card continues to sell so well, significantly more models with the better chip should appear in stores in the future. The street price of the RTX 3050 is currently around 400 euros, the RRP is 279 euros.