The new RTX 3050 is the new budget graphics card from Nvidia. This is a great graphics card if you need one now and are interested in sticking to 1080p. In this article, we are going to go over some of the best RTX 3050 graphics cards that you can buy right now.
The RTX 3050 comes with 2560 CUDA cores and a boost clock speed of around 1775 MHz, which depends on the model that you buy. All cards come with 8GB of GDDR6 memory with a 224GB/s memory bandwidth. These cards support PCI-E x8 Gen 4 and require 130W to power. The graphics card comes with the NVENC encoder engine and a couple of display outputs.
The RTX 3050 comes with features such as Ray Tracing and DLSS. In terms of performance, it beats the AMD RX 6500 XT in most games and even trades blows with the GTX 1660 Ti.
Do note that the pricing of graphics cards is all over the place right now and you might end up paying double or even more than MSRP.
Best RTX 3050 Graphics Cards You Can Buy Right Now
GIGABYTE RTX 3050 Gaming OC
This graphics card comes with a triple-fan cooler which might seem like overkill for a budget graphics card but I for one like the beefy look. It also comes with minimal RGB lighting.
The graphics card is overclocked out of the box and is rated to boost to 1822 MHz. While playing games, you can see it boost higher than 1900 MHz. If you overclock this graphics card then you can get a clock speed of more than 2100 MHz.
The graphics card comes with a backplate. For display output, you get a pair of HDMI 2.1 ports and a pair of DisplayPorts. A single 8-pin connector is used to power the graphics card.
MSI RTX 3050 VENTUS 2X OC LHR
The VENTUS 2X OC LHR has a design that we have seen in other Nvidia graphics cards. I for one have a very similar RTX 3060 Ti. The design is sleek and should blend in with the rest of your build very well. It comes with a pair of fans that are more than capable of keeping the temperature in check when the graphics card is under load.
To match the stealthy look, the graphics ard does not come with RGB lighting. It does come with a backplate. The rated boost clock speed of the card is 1807 MHz.
For display output, the card has three DisplayPorts and a single HDMI 2.1 port. A single 8-pin connector is used to power the graphics card.
GIGABYTE RTX 3050 Eagle OC
The Eagle variant of the graphics card comes with an industrial design which some people are going to appreciate. The graphics card has a minor overlock out of the box and the rated boost clock speed is 1792 MHz.
The graphics card comes with a backplate. For display output, you get a pair of HDMI 2.1 ports and a pair of DisplayPorts. A single 8-pin connector is used to power the graphics card.
ZOTAC RTX 3050 Twin Edge
The Twin Edge has a design that is very similar to other Zotac graphics cards that we have seen over the last year or so. There are two fans that cool the graphics card. The color scheme is stealthy and it should blend in with the rest of your parts. The graphics card has a rated boost clock speed of 1777 MHz and comes with a backplate.
The card does not feature RGB lighting. For display output, the card has three DisplayPorts and a single HDMI 2.1 port. A single 8-pin connector is used to power the graphics card.
ZOTAC RTX 3050 Twin Edge OC
The OC edition is similar to the non-OC but the rated clock speed is higher at 1807 MHz.
MSI RTX 3050 AERO ITX OC
The AERO ITX from MSI is a very compact graphics card with dimensions of 172 x 125 x 43 mm. There is a single fan on the card to keep the thermals in check. Even though this is a very small card it still comes with a backplate. The form factor makes it ideal for small form factor builds.
The rated boost clock speed of the graphics card is 1807 MHz and for display output, you get three DisplayPorts and a single HDMI 2.1 port. A single 8-pin connector is used to power the graphics card.
These are some of the best Nvidia RTX 3050 graphics cards that you can buy right now. You can also check out our recommended B660 motherboards for Intel 12th generation Alder Lake CPUs.