NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Graphics Card Specs, Performance, Price & Availability – Everything We Know So Far
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 will be the next-generation mainstream gaming graphics card, offering the latest graphics architecture based on Ada Lovelace GPUs. The graphics card will be replacing the RTX 3050, a very popular gaming graphics card in the sub-$300 US segment which is aimed at the mass consumer segment.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Graphics Card - Purely Designed For Enthusiast Gamers
[Updated- 28/05/22]
While there's no denying the enthusiasm around the higher-end GeForce RTX 4090, GeForce RTX 4080 & GeForce RTX 4070 series, or even the more mainstream RTX 4060 graphics cards that offer the best of the best gaming performance, the RTX 4050 series graphics cards will be designed around the $250 US segment which is a mainstream priced range aimed at the budget gamer who wants the same features as higher-end cards minus the performance, at a much lower price point.
It's simple, the RTX 4090 series will be aimed at users who want the best of the best without worrying about the amount of money they are spending while the RTX 4080 series is aimed at users who want the best performance at the best possible price. The RTX 4070 will be the sweet spot for high-end gaming, while the RTX 4060 is designed for the gaming masses at a price that will be hard to ignore given its performance, and the RTX 4050 is aimed at those who want to enter the new series at a budget tier pricing without losing the next-gen feature set.
Just like the generation before it, the RTX 3050 managed to offer performance close to the RTX 2060 but was hurt by its 128-bit memory interface. The RTX 3050 did offer better performance, features, and value (at MSRP) versus its competition, the RX 6500 XT but it took months to reach a price close to the MSRP. Overall, the RTX 3050 was a 1080p-focused and eSports-aimed graphics card and the same should be expected of the RTX 4050.
The '50-class' segment is the share-cow for NVIDIA and it's definitely something that NVIDIA wants to have priced right in its given performance.
We should expect similar things with the next-generation gaming solution too but an important factor to consider is that GPUs are becoming more power-hungry and more pricey. It is a trend that might continue into the future as we get better products but in return, there's always a cost to pay for end consumers. So starting with what we know so far, first we should take a look at the brand new Ada Lovelace or AD10* class GPUs that will be powering the next-gen GeForce RTX 40 series cards.
NVIDIA's AD107 'Ada Lovelace' GPU - Entry-Tier Focused Next-Gen Chip
Starting with the GPU configuration, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 series graphics cards may utilize both AD106 and AD107 GPUs. We don't think there would be a 'Ti' configuration in the lineup as we didn't get that during the Ampere family but it could change. The reason I mention both AD106 and AD107 GPU for the same card is that the RTX 3050 did the same. The card was produced on GA106 GPUs before GA107 became widely available in the market after its mobile debut.
The RTX 3050 was always meant to utilize the GA107 GPU but NVIDIA made good use of the GA106 dies that couldn't reach the yields required for the higher-end cards. The GPU is said to measure around 150mm2 and will utilize the TSMC 4N process node which is an optimized version of TSMC's 5nm (N5) node designed for the green team.
The NVIDIA Ada Lovelace AD107 GPU is expected to feature up to 3 GPC (Graphics Processing Clusters). This is the same GPC count as the GA106 GPU. Each GPC will consist of 4 TPCs and 8 SMs which is the same configuration as the existing chip. Each SM (Streaming Multiprocessor) will house four sub-cores which is also the same as the GA106 GPU. What's changed is the FP32 & the INT32 core configuration. Each sub-core will include 128 FP32 units but combined FP32+INT32 units will go up to 192. This is because the FP32 units don't share the same sub-core as the IN32 units. The 128 FP32 cores are separate from the 64 INT32 cores.
So in total, each sub-core will consist of 32 FP32 plus 16 INT32 units for a total of 48 units. Each SM will have a total of 128 FP32 units plus 64 INT32 units for a total of 192 units. And since there are a total of 24 SM units (8 per GPC), we are looking at 3,072 FP32 Units and 1,536 INT32 units for a total of 4,608 cores.
NVIDIA AD103 'Ada Lovelace' Gaming GPU 'SM' Block Diagram (Image Credits: Kopite7kimi):
Moving over to the cache, this is another segment where NVIDIA has given a big boost over the existing Ampere GPUs. The Ada Lovelace GPUs will pack 192 KB of L1 cache per SM, an increase of 50% over Ampere. The L2 cache will be increased to 16 MB as mentioned in the leaks. This is an 8x increase over the Ampere GA106 GPU that hosts just 2 MB of L2 cache. The cache will be shared across the GPU.
Finally, we have the ROPs which will stick to 16 per GPC. You are looking at up to 48 ROPs, the same as the current GA106 GPUs. There are also going to be the latest 4th Generation Tensor and 3rd Generation RT (Raytracing) cores infused on the Ada Lovelace GPUs which will help boost DLSS & Raytracing performance to the next level. Overall, the Ada Lovelace AD107 GPU will offer:
- Same Number of GPCs as GA106 GPU
- +20% Cores vs GA107 GPU
- 50% More L1 Cache (Versus Ampere GA107)
- 8x L2 Cache (Versus Ampere GA107)
- 50% More ROPs (Versus Ampere GA107)
- 4th Gen Tensor & 3rd Gen RT Cores
NVIDIA AD107 'Ada Lovelace' Gaming GPU Block Diagram Mock-Up (Image Credits: SemiAnalysis):
Do note that clock speeds, which are said to be between the 2-3 GHz range, aren't taken into the equation so they will also play a major role in improving the per-core performance versus Ampere.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Series Preliminary Specs:
| Graphics Card Name | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 |
|---|---|---|
| GPU Name | AD107? | Ampere GA106-150 Ampere GA107-300? |
| Process Node | TSMC 4N | Samsung 8nm |
| Die Size | ~150mm2 | 276mm2 (GA106) |
| Transistors | TBD | 13.2 Billion (GA106) |
| CUDA Cores | ~3072 | 2560 |
| TMUs / ROPs | TBD / 48 | 80 / 32 |
| Tensor / RT Cores | TBD / TBD | 80 / 20 |
| Base Clock | TBD | 1552 MHz |
| Boost Clock | TBD | 1777 MHz |
| FP32 Compute | ~14 TFLOPs | 9.1 TFLOPs |
| RT TFLOPs | TBD | 18.2 TFLOPs |
| Tensor-TOPs | TBD | 72.8 TOPs |
| Memory Capacity | 8 GB GDDR6X? | 8 GB GDDR6 |
| Memory Bus | 128-bit? | 128-bit |
| Memory Speed | 20 Gbps+? | 14 Gbps |
| Bandwidth | 320 GB/s+? | 224 GB/s |
| TGP | ~150W | 130W (GA106) 115W (GA107) |
| Price (MSRP / FE) | ~$249 US | $249 US |
| Launch (Availability) | 2023 | 27th January 2022 |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Graphics Cards Specifications
NVIDIA may or may not offer two variants of the GeForce RTX 4050 graphics cards. That depends on whether they have enough chips or defective dies at hand to turn into discrete graphics cards but we know that there is indeed going to be an RTX 4050 graphics card. The laptop side may see more configurations but for RTX 4050 on desktops, we can expect the following specs.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 'Expected' Specifications
Based on NVIDIA's decision to do a mix of AD106/AD107 or go AD107 across its RTX 4050 series lineup we can see up to a total of 3072 cores. The AD107 GPU will come packed with 16 MB of L2 cache and up to 48 ROPs.
The clock speeds are not confirmed yet but considering that the TSMC 4N process is being used, we are expecting clocks between the 2.0-3.0 GHz range. The higher than usual clock speed bump comes from the fact that NVIDIA is making a two-node jump considering the Ampere GPUs with Samsung 8nm node was in reality a 10nm process node with some optimizations. NVIDIA is skipping 7nm and going straight for a 5nm node and not even the vanilla variant but an optimized version of it. With Pascal on the TSMC 16nm node, NVIDIA delivered a huge frequency leap and we can expect a similar jump this time around too.
As for memory specs, the GeForce RTX 4050 is expected to rock 8 GB GDDR6X capacities that might come at faster 20+ Gbps speeds across a 128-bit bus interface for over 320 GB/s of bandwidth. The thing is that you can either go 8 GB for such a graphics card in the given 128-bit bus or cut down to 96-bit for either 6 GB or 12 GB configurations.
The GeForce RTX 4050 graphics card is also said to rock a TGP of around 150W which is an increase of 30% over the RTX 3050 on the GA107 GPU. This is a massive TGP increase and the performance needs to be really good for NVIDIA to keep its efficiency numbers up.
As for its feature set, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 graphics cards will rock all the modern NV feature sets such as the latest 4th Gen Tensor Cores, 3rd gen RT cores, and the latest NVENC Encoder, and NVCDEC Decoder, and support for the latest APIs. They will pack all the modern RTX features such as DLSS, Reflex, Broadcast, Resizable-BAR, Freestyle, Ansel, Highlights, Shadowplay, and G-SYNC support too.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Series Preliminary Specs:
| Graphics Card Name | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GPU Name | Ada Lovelace AD104? | Ada Lovelace AD106 | Ampere GA104-200 | Ampere GA106-300 |
| Process Node | TSCM 4N | TSCM 4N | Samsung 8nm | Samsung 8nm |
| Die Size | ~300mm2 | ~200mm2 | 395.2mm2 | TBC |
| Transistors | TBD | TBD | 17.4 Billion | TBC |
| CUDA Cores | 5120? | 4608 | 4864 | 3584 |
| TMUs / ROPs | TBD / 64 | TBD / 48 | 152 / 80 | 112 / 64 |
| Tensor / RT Cores | TBD | TBD | 152 / 38 | 112 / 28 |
| Base Clock | TBD | TBD | 1410 MHz | 1320 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 2.2-2.6 GHz | 2.2-2.6 GHz | 1665 MHz | 1780 MHz |
| FP32 Compute | ~24 TFLOPs | ~21 TFLOPs | 16 TFLOPs | 13 TFLOPs |
| RT TFLOPs | TBD | TBD | 32 TFLOPs | 25 TFLOPs |
| Tensor-TOPs | TBD | TBD | 192 TOPs | 101 TOPs |
| Memory Capacity | 12 GB GDDR6? | 8 GB GDDR6? | 8 GB GDDR6 | 12 GB GDDR6 |
| Memory Bus | 192-bit | 128-bit | 256-bit | 192-bit |
| Memory Speed | TBD | TBD | 14 Gbps | 16 Gbps |
| Bandwidth | >448 GB/s | >320 GB/s | 448 Gbps | 384 Gbps |
| TGP | ~265W | ~220W | 175W | 170W |
| Price (MSRP / FE) | ~$399 US | ~$329 US | $399 US | $329 US |
| Launch (Availability) | 1H 2023 | 1H 2023 | 2nd December 2020 | 25th February 2021 |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Graphics Cards Performance
As for the performance of the gaming GPUs, we can only use theoretical numbers here since the launch is a bit far away but based on what we know, the RTX 40 series cards might be the first gaming cards to hit the 100 TFLOPs compute horsepower limit.
Just for comparison's sake:
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Ti: ~103 TFLOPs (FP32) (Assuming 2.8 GHz clock)
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090: ~90 TFLOPs (FP32) (Assuming 2.8 GHz clock)
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080: ~50 TFLOPs (FP32) (Assuming 2.5 GHz clock)
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti: 40 TFLOPs (FP32) (1.86 GHz Boost clock)
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti: ~38 TFLOPs (FP32) (Assuming 2.5 GHz clock)
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070: ~36 TFLOPs (FP32) (Assuming 2.5 GHz clock)
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090: 36 TFLOPs (FP32) (1.69 GHz Boost clock)
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080: 30 TFLOPs (FP32) (1.71 GHz Boost clock)
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti: 22 TFLOPs (FP32) (1.77 GHz Boost clock)
- NVIDIA GForce RTX 4060: 20 TFLOPs (FP32) (Assuming 2.2 GHz clock)
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070: 20 TFLOPs (FP32) (1.72 GHz Boost clock)
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti: 16 TFLOPs (FP32) (1.65 GHz Boost clock)
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050: 14 TFLOPs (FP32) (Assuming 2.2 GHz clock)
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060: 13 TFLOPs (FP32) (1.77 GHz Boost clock)
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050: 9 TFLOPs (FP32) (1.77 GHz Boost clock)
Based on a theoretical clock speed of 2.2 GHz, you get up to 14 TFLOPs of compute performance and the rumors are suggesting even higher boost clocks. Now, these are definitely sounding like peak clocks, similar to AMD's peak frequencies which are higher than the average 'Game' clock. A 14+ TFLOPs compute performance means more performance on a '50-class' GPU than a '60-class flagship' which will be a good bump. But one should keep in mind that compute performance doesn't necessarily indicate the overall gaming performance.
This will be around a 55% compute performance uplift for the GeForce RTX 4050 graphics card versus its predecessor and this is without even factoring in the RT and Tensor core performance which is expected to get major lifts too in their respective department. Now FLOPs aren't necessarily reflective of the graphics or gaming performance but they do provide a metric that can be used for comparison.
Gamers should most realistically expect good 1080p performance from the RTX 3050. The '50' series has always been targeted at budget 1080p solutions that are popular amongst eSports with technologies such as Reflex, DLSS, and various streaming capabilities at a mainstream price point.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Graphics Cards Price & Availability
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 was launched at $249 US. We can expect NVIDIA to retain the same prices for these cards with a $10-$20 US pricing adjustment here and there.
NVIDIA really needs to secure more gamers in the $200-$300 US segment but they have to deliver a product that's worth the price. The RTX 3050 was a decent upgrade path given and what made it really interesting was its expansive 'GeForce RTX' feature set. This time, NVIDIA should focus on both the feature and performance side of things to lure more gamers into their ecosystem as this is going to be a really heated segment with Intel entering the space with its Arc lineup.
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 series graphics cards are rumored for a Q3 reveal and a launch is expected in Q4 2022 so we will know for sure what NVIDIA is up to in the next few months.
NVIDIA GeForce GPU Segment/Tier Prices
| Graphics Segment | 2014-2016 | 2016-2017 | 2017-2018 | 2018-2019 | 2019-2020 | 2020-2021 | 2021-2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Titan Tier | Titan X (Maxwell) | Titan X (Pascal) | Titan Xp (Pascal) | Titan V (Volta) | Titan RTX (Turing) | GeForce RTX 3090 | GeForce RTX 3090 Ti GeForce RTX 3090 |
| Price | $999 US | $1199 US | $1199 US | $2999 US | $2499 US | $1499 US | $1999 US $1499 US |
| Ultra Enthusiast Tier | GeForce GTX 980 Ti | GeForce GTX 980 Ti | GeForce GTX 1080 Ti | GeForce RTX 2080 Ti | GeForce RTX 2080 Ti | GeForce RTX 3080 Ti | GeForce RTX 3080 Ti |
| Price | $649 US | $649 US | $699 US | $999 US | $999 US | $1199 US | $1199 US |
| Enthusiast Tier | GeForce GTX 980 | GeForce GTX 1080 | GeForce GTX 1080 | GeForce RTX 2080 | GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER | GeForce RTX 3080 10 GB | GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB |
| Price | $549 US | $549 US | $549 US | $699 US | $699 US | $699 US | $999 US |
| High-End Tier | GeForce GTX 970 | GeForce GTX 1070 | GeForce GTX 1070 | GeForce RTX 2070 | GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER | GeForce RTX 3070 Ti GeForce RTX 3070 | GeForce RTX 3070 Ti 16 GB |
| Price | $329 US | $379 US | $379 US | $499 US | $499 US | $599 $499 | TBA |
| Mainstream Tier | GeForce GTX 960 | GeForce GTX 1060 | GeForce GTX 1060 | GeForce GTX 1060 | GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER GeForce RTX 2060 GeForce GTX 1660 Ti GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER GeForce GTX 1660 | GeForce RTX 3060 Ti GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB | GeForce RTX 3060 Ti GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB |
| Price | $199 US | $249 US | $249 US | $249 US | $399 US $349 US $279 US $229 US $219 US | $399 US $329 US | $399 US $329 US |
| Entry Tier | GTX 750 Ti GTX 750 | GTX 950 | GTX 1050 Ti GTX 1050 | GTX 1050 Ti GTX 1050 | GTX 1650 SUPER GTX 1650 | GTX 1650 SUPER GTX 1650 | RTX 3050 |
| Price | $149 US $119 US | $149 US | $139 US $109 US | $139 US $109 US | $159 US $149 US | $159 US $149 US | $249 US |