NVIDIA RTX 3050 Could Arrive With 4 GB & 8 GB Memory Variants

[Uskompuf]

The desktop RTX 3050 is now rumored to arrive in two variants with the GA106-140 featuring 4 GB of GDDR6 video memory and 2304 CUDA cores while the GA106-150 would include 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 2560 CUDA cores according to Twitter leaker @kopite7kimi. These two new models will both feature a 128-bit memory bus however further details such as the memory speed or TDP have not yet been leaked. We don't have any information on the MSRP or availability for these two cards at launch but as with all other recent launches we wouldn't expect anything radical. The most likely announcement date for these cards is currently January 4th alongside various other new products from NVIDIA at CES 2022, with availability from January 27th.



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[PLSG08]

I don't really see the point of a 4gb model in 2021 especially now that we're seeing 1440p as one of the more common resolutions. A 6Gb model I would understand a little more, but imo 8gb should now be the defacto standard for GPU memory size.

Performance wise I hope i performs somewhere near a 2060/super. If Nvidia can do that it'll prolly be a "decent" buy at the right price point (but we all know it's gonna be marked up to death)

 

[jeremyshaw]

4GB is too small for ETH to mine efficiently, afaik. Sure, there are probably others, but nothing like ETH to drive prices.

 

[Keullo-e]

I don't really see the point of a 4gb model in 2021 especially now that we're seeing 1440p as one of the more common resolutions. A 6Gb model I would understand a little more, but imo 8gb should now be the defacto standard for GPU memory size.

Performance wise I hope i performs somewhere near a 2060/super. If Nvidia can do that it'll prolly be a "decent" buy at the right price point (but we all know it's gonna be marked up to death)

It would need mixed density chips (like 550 Ti and 660/660 Ti) for 6GB as it has a 128-bit bus.

4GB is too small for ETH to mine efficiently, afaik. Sure, there are probably others, but nothing like ETH to drive prices.

Which is great as there's more GPUs for those who really need them instead of toy money nonsense. I hope that these will be LHR cards from the beginning.

 

[Selaya]

[ ... ]
Performance wise I hope i performs somewhere near a 2060/super. If Nvidia can do that it'll prolly be a "decent" buy at the right price point (but we all know it's gonna be marked up to death)

We have that already. It's called the 3060. I wouldn't expect the 3050(Ti) to be more than like, a 1660S. (w/ RTX.)

 

[efikkan]

I don't really see the point of a 4gb model in 2021 especially now that we're seeing 1440p as one of the more common resolutions. A 6Gb model I would understand a little more, but imo 8gb should now be the defacto standard for GPU memory size.

Performance wise I hope i performs somewhere near a 2060/super. If Nvidia can do that it'll prolly be a "decent" buy at the right price point (but we all know it's gonna be marked up to death)

If the past is any indication, memory bandwidth will become a bottleneck long before memory capacity.
Having extra memory capacity without extra bandwidth isn't very useful for gaming.

 

[ExcuseMeWtf]

Should be good enough for 1080p with some detail tweaking, hopefully not too much sacrifice in texture department as this is where 1060 3G needed tweaking down most, and those SUCK for image quality.

And hopefully true about VRAM not being enough to be a good miner.

 

[Keullo-e]

If the past is any indication, memory bandwidth will become a bottleneck long before memory capacity.
Having extra memory capacity without extra bandwidth isn't very useful for gaming.

For this I'm actually interested for the 2060 12GB reviews (though the GPU has the amount of shaders and TMUs as 2060S) to see how much the 192-bit bus affects between 6GB and 12GB in modern titles.

 

[Legacy-ZA]

I think I should get myself the 4GB variant, just in case this GPU breaks down, it's a shame AMD didn't release their iGPU CPU's here sooner, I wouldn't have minded the performance knock as much, as long as I had a backup.

 

[Solid State Soul ( SSS )]

The 4Gb version will be dead on arrival, unles you play e sport games from 2016 or still play csgo, i wouldn't buy that thing.
The 8gb version is the most sensable, but it'll be overpriced....
They should have planned it with a basic model of 6Gb

 

[Keullo-e]

The 4Gb version will be dead on arrival, unles you play e sport games from 2016 or still play csgo, i wouldn't buy that thing.
The 8gb version is the most sensable, but it'll be overpriced....
They should have planned it with a basic model of 6Gb

It would need to have mixed density chips (I don't know does the GPU support it) or a 96-bit bus for 6GB configuration.

 

[Solid State Soul ( SSS )]

It would need to have mixed density chips (I don't know does the GPU support it) or a 96-bit bus for 6GB configuration.

1660 Super has 6Gb 192bus, the 3050 should have used the configuration, bare minimum

 

[Keullo-e]

1660 Super has 6Gb 192bus

What does it have to do with this? So does 2060. But actually as these use GA106 and the chip does have a 192-bit controller, 6GB & 12GB models would be possible with 192-bit bus. They could just let the shader amount be as is that they wouldn't cannibalize 3060 sales being too close to it in performance.

 

[watzupken]

The 4Gb version will be dead on arrival, unles you play e sport games from 2016 or still play csgo, i wouldn't buy that thing.
The 8gb version is the most sensable, but it'll be overpriced....
They should have planned it with a basic model of 6Gb

I feel 8GB makes the most sense now. As you mentioned, 4GB VRAM is too little in today's context even for 1080p High IQ settings. 6GB is really not that far off since we are seeing mostly 8GB or 12GB low to mid range cards recently.

Should be good enough for 1080p with some detail tweaking, hopefully not too much sacrifice in texture department as this is where 1060 3G needed tweaking down most, and those SUCK for image quality.

And hopefully true about VRAM not being enough to be a good miner.

If you are going for the 4GB version, then you will surely have to sacrifice on texture. Texture quality hits VRAM quickly. That's why high texture packs tend to favour GPUs with high amount of VRAM. In recent AAA titles, you can also see that 4GB cards plunge in performance at 1080p with high IQ settings. The next safety net will be 6GB VRAM. You can enable DLSS, but then again, that is upscaling from 720p or lower, which generally have their pitfalls in terms of image quality.

 

[efikkan]

The 4Gb version will be dead on arrival, unles you play e sport games from 2016 or still play csgo, i wouldn't buy that thing.
The 8gb version is the most sensable, but it'll be overpriced....
They should have planned it with a basic model of 6Gb

People keep making these bold claims pretty much any time such a card is released, yet time after time it proves to be plenty.
Keep in mind we are talking about a lower mid-range card here, it wouldn't have the computational performance nor the bandwidth needed to run high details with high resolutions and frame rates. For most realistic workloads for which this card is intended, 4GB is probably going to be plenty.

I still run my old GTX 1060 3GB (the one "everyone" hated) and GTX 680 4GB, guess which one performs better?

I feel 8GB makes the most sense now. As you mentioned, 4GB VRAM is too little in today's context even for 1080p High IQ settings. 6GB is really not that far off since we are seeing mostly 8GB or 12GB low to mid range cards recently.

To emphasise feel here would be appropriate.
4GB is probably going to be plenty.

 

[ExcuseMeWtf]

still run my old GTX 1060 3GB (the one "everyone" hated) and GTX 680 4GB, guess which one performs better?

What about more fair comparison vs 1060 6GB?

 

[efikkan]

What about more fair comparison vs 1060 6GB?

Thanks for missing the whole point
I wasn't making a fair comparison, I was bursting people's bubble of misconceptions about how much VRAM a card needs. The GTX 1060 3GB outperforms GTX 680 4GB easily.

 

[looniam]

i have no idea where people think *any* entry level card should play AAA titles w/1440p and ultra settings.

1080p at med/high settings at best, ultra for indie games= entry level. DLSS/NIS in supported games will help but i wouldn't expect it across the board.

 

[docnorth]

I don't really see the point of a 4gb model in 2021 especially now that we're seeing 1440p as one of the more common resolutions. A 6Gb model I would understand a little more, but imo 8gb should now be the defacto standard for GPU memory size.

Performance wise I hope i performs somewhere near a 2060/super. If Nvidia can do that it'll prolly be a "decent" buy at the right price point (but we all know it's gonna be marked up to death)

4gb of gddr6 should be more than enough for this level of processing power. Besides that the "small" gpu could stay below 75w or else we should put our hopes on Intel (ok, that's a little bit selfish, I still need 1 or 2 gpu's without 6-pin connector).

 

[TheHughMan]

I think every piece of hardware has to suffer shortages before they even get to the GPU issues.

 

[ExcuseMeWtf]

Thanks for missing the whole point
I wasn't making a fair comparison, I was bursting people's bubble of misconceptions about how much VRAM a card needs. The GTX 1060 3GB outperforms GTX 680 4GB easily.

It outperforms a card 3 generations back? Wow, who knew? /s
That's all you proved. You haven't proved 1060 GPU doesn't need more than 3GB RAM. That's exactly what a comparison with 1060 6G would prove.

 

[Caring1]

It outperforms a card 3 generations back? Wow, who knew? /s
That's all you proved. You haven't proved 1060 GPU doesn't need more than 3GB RAM. That's exactly what a comparison with 1060 6G would prove.

if they had the same chip.

 

[efikkan]

It outperforms a card 3 generations back? Wow, who knew? /s
That's all you proved. You haven't proved 1060 GPU doesn't need more than 3GB RAM. That's exactly what a comparison with 1060 6G would prove.

It proves a more powerful card can make due with less VRAM, which gives a good indication whether that card is bottlenecked by VRAM or not. Keep in mind that when a card is actually out of VRAM the performance plummets and it gets terrible latency (or you may get popping assets depending on the game), it's not like it looses 5% performance.

What is clear to me is that many of you don't understand how VRAM works. Allocated VRAM doesn't mean actually used VRAM. Many buffers used in games are mostly emptiness, for which the GPU can compress heavily and take up less VRAM. Other buffers are only temporary, and may only be used for a specific render pass every frame, and will be cleared and compressed to virtually nothing when they are not in use. This is why GPUs may allocate ~10-30% more than their physical VRAM and still run without any problem.

 

[chrcoluk]

4gig seems too low, now days 6-8 gig is budget level.

But at least there is a ampere x050 model in the works, long overdue.

Now what about 3030 GPU?

 

[ExcuseMeWtf]

if they had the same chip.

Right. Though difference is small enough it's not that big of a deal compared to what other poster was suggesting (680 vs 1060 )

It proves a more powerful card can make due with less VRAM, which gives a good indication whether that card is bottlenecked by VRAM or not. Keep in mind that when a card is actually out of VRAM the performance plummets and it gets terrible latency (or you may get popping assets depending on the game), it's not like it looses 5% performance.

It does not prove what you think.

It proves, again, that 1060 3GB is faster card than 680 4GB. Which is nothing new.

It does not prove that 1060 3GB GPU is not bottlenecked by VRAM. To prove that you'd have to take the same GPU and repeat tests with, drum roll, more VRAM.

1060 6GB almost does that actually, as Caring1 mentioned, there are some small differences in GPU, so even then it's not entirely apples to apples, but it's MUCH closer than comparing cards generations apart, not even same architecture, let alone other specs. When you make a claim about testing specific issue, you're supposed to isolate unrelated factors that could influence test results. Otherwise you're not proving what you think you prove. And that's exactly the case with comparing 680 vs 1060 LMAO.