Nvidia could launch a new GeForce RTX 3050 desktop variant soon

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 is the lowest-specced desktop graphics card from the Ampere lineup, but not for long. Igor's Lab has heard about a cut-down GeForce RTX 3050 variant from several sources. Given Nvidia's penchant for launching multiple variants of the same graphics card, it is entirely within the realm of possibilities. The primary difference between the two GeForce RTX 3050 variants will be the GPU, with the cut-down variant using a GA107 chip, the same one found on the laptop RTX 3050.

Igor's Labs has also heard that the new GeForce RTX 3050 will draw only 115 W of power, 15 W lesser than the current version. Other specs are expected to remain the same, but that is unlikely. Rumours prior to the GeForce RTX 3050 launch talked about two SKUs, one with 4 GB of VRAM and the other with 8 GB. The latter ended up as the RTX 3050 we know of now, and the former will very likely be the cut-down variant mentioned in the post. For those out of the loop, the graphics card was expected to pack 2,304 CUDA cores, 72 Stream Multiprocessors (instead of 80) and use a 128-bit memory bus.

As always, the above information is a rumour and should be treated as such until an official confirmation arrives. Currently, there is no word about when the new GeForce RTX 3050 variant will see the light of day. Nvidia could unveil it alongside the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti 16 GB variant, right around when Intel is slated to debut its Arc Alchemist lineup and AMD its Radeon RX 6950 XT. As far as the price is concerned, one can expect it to retail around the US$200 mark to take the fight to the AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT and yet-to-be-launched Radeon RX 6400.