GeForce RTX 3050 is the youngest member of the RTX 30 series GPU lineup. The card sits below the RTX 3060 in the series and comes with almost all the features that are present in higher RTX 30 series graphics cards. The card is mainly targeted towards eSports and 1080p gaming and is quite power efficient. The main competitors of RTX 3050 are the GTX 1660 Ti and GTX 1660 SUPER which are the one generation older cards based on the Turing GPU architecture. Surprisingly, right now there are no serious competitors of RTX 3050 from AMD because RTX 3050 is quite faster than the RX 6500 XT which is the youngest member of the latest AMD Radeon 6000 series GPU lineup.
RTX 3050 is built on the Ampere GPU architecture on the 8nm fabrication process and uses a cut-down version of GA106 GPU. The card comes with 2560 CUDA Cores, 20 RT Cores, and 80 Tensor Cores. It is equipped with 8GB GDDR6 memory with a bus width of 128-bit and the memory runs at 14Gbps. The card supports PCIe 4.0 but only eight PCI-Express lanes (x8) are supported. The graphics APIs supported by the card include DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan. Coming to features the card supports Real-Time Ray Tracing, Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS 2.0), HDMI 2.1, AV1 decode, Microsoft DirectStorage API (to reduce game loading times), G-Sync/FreeSync, and Resizable BAR. The power consumption of the card is rated at 130W and the official PSU recommendation is of 550W. The card is available from supported AIB partners and there are various models of the card available. So, to help you pick the best RTX 3050 card for your specific requirements, I am listing down the best RTX 3050 cards based on various important parameters that include cooling, size, budget, and noise.
Best RTX 3050 [Most Silent, Coolest, Most Overclocked]
ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3050 OC Edition
[Super Silent, Very Low Temperatures, Feature Rich, Highly Overclocked, RGB Lighting, Two HDMI 2.1 Ports]
ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3050 OC Edition is unarguably the best RTX 3050 you can get. It is the most overclocked, most silent, and coolest running RTX 3050 card and comes with a great number of features. The card has got GPU Boost clock of 1890 MHz (in OC Mode) which is 113 MHz more than the reference GPU clock speed. The card uses a massive cooler that comprises a large aluminum heatsink with five copper heatpipes. The heatsink is cooled by three Axial-tech fans that feature a smaller hub with longer blades and a barrier ring to increase downward air pressure. These are alternate spinning fans which means the middle fan spins in opposite direction than the two to reduce air turbulence and allow smoother airflow for better cooling. The semi-passive cooling tech on the card stops the fan from spinning when the GPU temperature falls below 42 degrees Celsius during idle or low load. The fans start spinning automatically when the temperature crosses the threshold value to keep the card cool. The card features Dual BIOS and you can easily switch between Performance Mode (P mode) and Quiet Mode (Q mode) using a physical BIOS selection switch present on the side of the card. The cooling on this card is so good that even in Performance Mode the card remains super silent and very cool.
It is a massive card and the biggest RTX 3050 card on the market right now. The card has a 2.7 slot design and is 300mm in length. A vented metal backplate protects the card during handling, enhances structural strength and integrity, and also aids in cooling. The Stainless I/O Bracket at the back further enhances the card’s robustness and is also resistant to corrosion. The card also features RGB lighting that you can customize using the Armoury Crate software and syn with other ROG devices on your computer. The card requires one 8-pin PCI-Express connector and 550W PSU for power. Using the ASUS GPU Tweak II utility, you can tweak critical parameters of the card that include GPU core clocks, memory frequency, and voltage settings, with the option to monitor everything in real-time through a customizable on-screen display. Display connectivity options are also very generous as the card has three DisplayPort 1.4a ports and two HDMI 2.1 ports. Overall the best RTX 3050 card on the market but is also the most expensive RTX 3050 too.
| ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3050 OC Specifications | |
| CUDA Cores | 2560 |
| GPU Clock | 1890 MHz Boost (OC Mode) |
| Memory Clock | 14Gbps |
| Memory Size | 8GB GDDR6 |
| Memory Interface | 128-bit |
| Bus Interface | PCI Express 4.0 (x8) |
| DirectX | 12 |
| OpenGL | 4.6 |
| PCI-E Power Connector | 8-pin x 1 |
| Output Ports | HDMI 2.1 x 2, DisplayPort 1.4a x 3 |
Buy ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3050 OC Edition
Compact RTX 3050
Palit GeForce RTX 3050 StormX OC
[Dual Slot, RGB Lighting, Good Cooling for the Size]
Palit GeForce RTX 3050 StormX OC is a super-compact RTX 3050 card for use in small form factor (SFF) or mini-ITX cases. The small form factor graphics card is 170mm in length and has a dual-slot design. It is an overclocked card that comes with a GPU Boost clock of 1807 MHz, 30 MHz more than the reference GPU Boost clock. For cooling, the card uses a compact aluminum fins heatsink with three copper heatpipes, and over it there here is a single large fan that cools the heatsink very efficiently. The 0-dB Tech provides semi-passive cooling operation which means the fan stops automatically at lower GPU load and temperature and starts automatically when the GPU temperature increases beyond a threshold value. The card also features RGB LED Lighting and can be customized by the users based on their liking. For power, the card requires a single 8-pin PCIe connector. Display connectivity options include one HDMI 2.1 port and three DisplayPort 1.4a ports.
| Palit GeForce RTX 3050 StormX OC Specifications | |
| CUDA Cores | 2560 |
| GPU Clock | 1807 MHz Boost |
| Memory Clock | 14Gbps |
| Memory Size | 8GB GDDR6 |
| Memory Interface | 128-bit |
| Bus Interface | PCI Express 4.0 (x8) |
| DirectX | 12 |
| OpenGL | 4.6 |
| PCI-E Power Connector | 8-pin x 1 |
| Output Ports | HDMI 2.1 x 1, DisplayPort 1.4a x 3 |
Buy Palit GeForce RTX 3050 StormX OC
Other good Compact RTX 3050 card
Best Value RTX 3050
ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 3050 Twin Edge
[Runs Cool and Quiet, Priced Competitively, Compact, Good Overall Performance]
ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 3050 Twin Edge is the best value RTX 3050 because it has got everything under one package. The card is silent, runs cool, comes with a good number of features, and has a very competitive price. Also, the card is on the compact side as it is 224mm in length and has a strict dual-slot design. It is a non-overclocked card and the GPU Boost Clock runs at 1777 MHz which is the stock or reference Boost clock for RTX 3050. The card uses IceStorm 2.0 Advanced Cooling System that uses an aluminum fin-array heatsink with three copper heatpipes and dual fans. The Freeze Fan Stop feature is semi-passive cooling and it stops the fans from spinning when the GPU is idle or under low load. The fans start spinning automatically when the GPU load and temperature increase. Moreover, the Active Fan Control features allow users to control the individual fan speed by using the Zotac Gaming Firestorm software.
A metal backplate is provided to increase the card rigidity and it also prevents damage during handling. For power, an 8-pin PCIe power connector is needed and the PSU recommendation is of 450W only. Display connectivity options include three DisplayPort 1.4a ports and a single HDMI 2.1 port. Overall, a good card that is on the affordable side and delivers good performance in every area.
| ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 3050 Twin Edge Specifications | |
| CUDA Cores | 2560 |
| GPU Clock | 1777 MHz Boost |
| Memory Clock | 14Gbps |
| Memory Size | 8GB GDDR6 |
| Memory Interface | 128-bit |
| Bus Interface | PCI Express 4.0 (x8) |
| DirectX | 12 |
| OpenGL | 4.6 |
| PCI-E Power Connector | 8-pin x 1 |
| Output Ports | HDMI 2.1 x 1, DisplayPort 1.4a x 3 |
Buy ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 3050 Twin Edge
Other Competitively Priced RTX 3050 models
Other RTX 3050 Cards
Here are some other good RTX 3050 cards that are worth checking out.
- MSI GeForce RTX 3050 GAMING X 8G – Most Overclocked Dual-Fan Model
- Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3050 Gaming OC – Triple Fan Model
- Palit GeForce RTX 3050 DUAL OC – Dual Fan Model
Need Help?
If you have any queries regarding the models of RTX 3050 from various AIBs or having trouble selecting the right RTX 3050 card for your gaming needs then you can ask me your queries in the comment section below.
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