AMD Radeon 890M vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 (Desktop) vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (Desktop)

AMD Radeon 890M

The Radeon 890M is the most powerful AMD iGPU, as of mid 2024. It features 16 RDNA 3.5 architecture CUs (1024 unified shaders) running at up to 2,900 MHz. Ray tracing, AI image generation and other modern features are all supported here, as are the most popular video codecs including first and foremost AVC, HEVC, VP9 and AV1. The latest addition to that list, the VVC codec, is not HW-supported unlike it is with Intel Lunar Lake chips.

The AMD iGPU is capable of driving four SUHD 4320p60 monitors simultaneously. It also supports Miracast and FreeSync. RDNA 3.5-based iGPUs are projected to be fully supported by AMD until some time in 2027.

Performance

Performance-wise, the graphics adapter can be as slow as the Arc 8 or as fast as the RTX 2050 Laptop depending on the benchmark or game. On average, the 890M finds itself very close to the GTX 1650 Laptop making it possible to play 2024 AAA games at 1080p with most settings set to Low. Baldur's Gate 3 is playable on medium settings, as are several other 2023 games.

Power consumption

Strix Point chips are a single-die design, meaning the iGPU is built with the same TSMC N4P process as the CPU cores for very decent, as of mid 2024, power efficiency.

The 890M delivers as much performance as an entry-level desktop graphics card while consuming just 10 to 20 Watts.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 (Desktop)

The Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 is an entry level graphics card for desktops based on the Pascal architecture. It uses the same GP107 chip as the GTX 1050 Ti, but with only 640 instead of 768 shaders. The chip is manufactured at Samsung in 14 nm (opposed to the 16 nm TSCM based Pascal chips of the 1060 and up). The performance and specs should be similar to the GTX 1050 laptop version, that will be released later (early 2017). Compared to the faster GTX 1050 Ti, the 1050 offers less shaders (640 instead of 768) and only 2 GB of GDDR5 (instead of the 4 GB of the 1050 Ti).

Gaming benchmarks by Nvidia state that the GTX 1050 is about 30% faster on average than the Radeon RX 460 with 2 GB VRAM. The 4 GB version of the RX 460 should be about 10% slower and the older GTX 950 should reach a similar performance level as the new GTX 1050. Therefore, the GTX 1050 should be ideal for 1080p gaming with high detail settings (but not max settings).

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (Desktop)

The Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (N17P-G1) for desktops is an entry level gaming graphics card that was announced late 2016. It is based on the GP107 chip using the Pascal architecture and manufactured in 14nm FinFET at Samsung (the bigger Pascal chips are manufactured in 16nm at TSMC). Usually it is equipped with 4 GB GDDR5 memory with a 7 Gbps data rate. The mobile GTX 1050 Ti version should be announced later (beginning of 2017) and feature similar specs.

The performance of the GTX 1050 lies between the Radeon RX 460 and the RX 470 on a similar level of the old GeForce GTX 960 (or 970M). Therefore, the card is most suited for 1080p gaming at high detail settings (but not maximum settings).

See our extensive review of the MSI GeForce GTX 1050 Ti for more information on power consumption, benchmarks and noise level.