Nvidia GeForce RTX 5050 Review: Overkill for Gaming PCs

Nvidia’s latest 50-series GPU, the GeForce RTX 5050, has been released, but is it worth considering for gaming PCs? The card boasts impressive specs, including 2560 CUDA cores, 20Gbps memory clock, and 8GB of GDDR6 RAM. However, our review suggests that this GPU’s power might be overkill for mainstream gaming PCs.

The RTX 5050 features a new silicon from NVIDIA called the GB207, which is slightly larger than its counterpart in the 40-series lineup. While it offers impressive performance at 1080p resolutions, we couldn’t shake off the feeling that this card should have come with more RAM, considering its size and power consumption.

Our benchmark tests showed mixed results, with some games running smoothly and others struggling with frame rate issues. The inclusion of Frame Gen, a feature designed to reduce lag in certain games, proved to be useful but also introduced new problems. In many cases, tweaking settings to optimize DLSS performance became necessary.

While the RTX 5050 can handle 1080p gaming, pushing it to higher resolutions or demanding titles proves challenging. The card’s cooling system, which includes three fans, is efficient but unnecessary for a GPU that shouldn’t be running at full capacity.

In conclusion, we recommend considering alternative options, such as refurbished RTX 4060 or RTX 4070 GPUs, for those seeking better performance and future-proofing. For notebook users targeting 1080p gaming, the RTX 5050 might still be a viable option, but it falls short of expectations for desktop gaming PCs.

The review highlights that the RTX 5050’s performance is decent at 1080p but struggles with more demanding titles or higher resolutions. With its power consumption and cooling system, we wonder why this GPU was designed as a PC component rather than being reserved for notebooks. Nevertheless, it remains an option for those seeking a budget-friendly 50-series GPU, albeit with some caveats.

Source: https://www.glitched.online/gigabyte-geforce-rtx-5050-gaming-oc-review