GeForce RTX 3050 6GB graphics card will have 2304 cores, 96-bit bus, and 70W TBP

As the announcement of the most affordable RTX graphics card – GeForce RTX 3050 6GB – approaches, we are getting more and more detailed information about the technical characteristics of the upcoming model.

Unlike the base model GeForce RTX 3050 8 GB, which was introduced in January 2022 and is based on the GA106 chip with 2560 CUDA cores, the GeForce RTX 3050 6 GB version will use the more compact GA107 GPU with 2304 active cores. In fact, this is a GPU modification for the mobile version of the RTX 3050.

With the reduction of memory capacity to 6 GB, additional functional transformations are obviously required, in particular, a change in the bit depth of the memory bus. So instead of a 128-bit backbone, a 96-bit channel will now be used. Taking into account that the type of memory and the effective frequency of DRAM chips will remain unchanged, the reduction in bit depth will lead to a decrease in bandwidth from 224 GB/s to 168 GB/s. This means that, proportionally to the 25% reduction in memory capacity, its bandwidth will change by the same value.

According to the data obtained from the manufacturers, the power consumption of the GeForce RTX 3050 6 GB is only 70 watts. Compared to the 130W of the GeForce RTX 3050 8GB, this is a great figure. However, in addition to reducing the memory capacity, bus bit depth, and number of processors, the GPU operating frequencies will also be significantly reduced. Instead of the recommended formula of 1552/1777 MHz, 1042/1470 MHz is expected. The base value is 32% lower, and the average speedup is 17% lower.

Such a variant of the video card definitely has the right to exist. The very low TBP will allow you to do without connecting additional power at all, and even offer versions of adapters with passive cooling systems. However, such adapters would be better suited to a name like GeForce RTX 3040 6GB, because the difference with the basic GeForce RTX 3050 8GB is extremely large. Let’s assume that the difference in gaming performance will be more than 30%. It is noticeable, as for models that differ “only” in memory capacity in the model name. This is not the first time NVIDIA has used this technique, but this time there seems to be a difference.

The official announcement of the GeForce RTX 3050 6GB is due in February, so in a few weeks we will have more detailed information about the consequences of such transformations. Of course, the recommended price has not yet been announced, but according to various sources, the MSRP is expected to be $179. Will there be queues for the cheapest RTX?