RTX 3050: price, specs, release date, and everything else you need to know

Nvidia has officially released the RTX 3050. Currently, at the time of writing, the only US retailer holding RTX 3050 stock is part of the Newegg Shuffle where several RTX 3050 GPUs are available for MSRP. That's looking like your best bet right now. We saw the shuffle go live yesterday, so today marks another chance to get your hands on the new budget Ampere video card in extremely limited quantities.

The RTX 3050 is unlikely to go down as one of the best graphics cards for gaming, especially when stacked up against the likes of the RTX 3060 Ti and RTX 3070 Ti. However, for those who are able to secure RTX 3050 stock for MSRP, they are going to be able to experience Nvidia's newest technologies at budget prices.

Below, you'll find everything that you need to know about the RTX 3050 from its launch price to specs, and overall availability. We've also got an RTX 3050 stock page up and running to get a headstart on which retailers to watch out for first.

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RTX 3050 price

The RTX 3050 carries a starting MSRP of $249 / £239 which is consistent with the launch prices of the previous generation of budget GTX video cards. Much like with the launch of the RTX 3060, this is no Founders Edition RTX 3050 on the market. This means that the prices are largely dictated by the partners using Nvidia's starting MSRP as a guideline. We have already seen some models sell for the actual retail price, albeit briefly. We'll be updating you should anything change in this regard.

If we've learned anything from the current situation surrounding RTX 3060 stock and RTX 3070 stock, it's that the RTX 3050 at its launch price point will be in heavy demand. The previous cheapest RTX 30 series GPU was the RTX 3060 12GB model, however, the RTX 3050 will be $80 / £61 cheaper at release.

RTX 3050 Gigabyte — (Image credit: Gigabyte / Nvidia)

RTX 3050 release date

The RTX 3050 was officially released on January 27 at 6am PT / 9am ET (or 2pm GMT) as had been rumored for some time. It should be stated, though, that very limited quantities of RTX 3050 stock were available from only a handful of retailers at most.

The previous RTX 30 series stock launches happened in November 2020 and June 2021 respectively, so this new Ampere video card is getting a headstart on the new year. We are not currently sure as to when (or if) RTX 3050 stock will launch at more retailers, but will be bringing you all the news as soon as we receive word at the first available opportunity.

RTX 3050 specs

The RTX 3050 specs have been tailored towards targeting 60 FPS in 1080p (Full HD) while making use of the latest RTX advancements. On the technical side, RTX 3050 is built on Ampere architecture which uses 8GB GDDR6 VRAM, the same memory type found in the RTX 3060 Ti. The RTX 3050 features 2560 CUDA cores with a base clock of 1.55 GHz and a boost clock of 1.78 GHz. The GPU is built on a 128-bit memory interface width, which is consistent with entry-level video cards targeting this resolution (such as the GTX 1660).

As with the rest of the RTX 30 series of video cards, RTX 3050 features second-generation Ray Tracing cores and third-generation Tensor cores (which powers DLSS A.I. upscaling technology). These two technologies in tandem, ray tracing, and DLSS, make up the foundation of RTX technology used in video games, alongside the likes of Reflex, Broadcast, and DirectX 12 Ultimate support.

RTX 3050 performance

For those of you wondering how powerful the RTX 3050 performance capabilities are going to be, the proposed benchmarks are certainly promising. The RTX 3050 is built with pushing RTX in demanding modern games at a rock-solid 60 FPS in Full HD.

Nvidia appears to be living up to those goals as this video card is capable of hitting 60 or above when maxed out in games such as Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, Doom Eternal, and Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War with ray tracing and DLSS on. The same can be said for Borderlands 3, Control, and Minecraft with RTX on, achieving frame rates equal to, or above, 60 FPS.

Get your RTX fix for less with the cheapest RTX 3050 laptop deals and cheap gaming PC deals.

Aleksha McLoughlin served as the Hardware Editor for GamesRadar from June 2021 until August 2022. Her main area of expertise was the PC gaming platform, which comprised buying guides, features, reviews, and news coverage on components and prebuilt machines. She was also responsible for gaming chairs and storage. She now works on a freelance basis while studying to become a university lecturer specializing in English for foreign territories. Prior to joining GamesRadar, she wrote for the likes of Expert Reviews, The Rory Peck Trust, No Clean Singing, Vinyl Chapters, and Tech Spark while also working with the BBC.