Is RTX 3050 worth it?

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The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 is the RTX 30-series entry-level card. Although it’s better than almost any older Nvidia GPU, it’s not worth buying.

The main reason for this is the pricing. At the $300 price range, it is possible to find better-suited GPUs from AMD. Even a different Nvidia GPU will perform a lot better.

If you are looking for a graphics card that can handle most modern games at 1080p resolution with high or medium graphics settings. Then the RTX 3050 may be a good choice. It may also be able to handle some games at higher resolutions. Such as 1440p, but you may need to lower the graphics settings in order to maintain a smooth frame rate, which still will be a bit low.

The RTX 3050 is also well-suited for other graphics-intensive tasks, such as video editing, 3D modeling, and streaming. It features ray tracing technology, which allows for more realistic lighting and reflections in games and other applications.

However, there’s not much to expect from this card. The minute you start asking for more demanding tasks it will start falling short.

Is RTX 3050 Weak?

Overall, the RTX 3050 is a good choice for those who are looking for reasonable performance at a low price. Although, it may not be the best choice for those who are looking to play the latest and most demanding games at the highest settings or even play at more than 100 FPS.

If you have a higher budget and are looking for the best performance possible, you may want to consider a higher-end graphics card such as the RTX 3060 or 3070.

PC Guide Expert view

This takes me to the main point that shows why the RTX 3050 is not worth it. With the heavy competition, the pricing of GPUs has started to settle. We can now see great and powerful graphics cards with stunning price tags.

The RTX 3050 is around the $300 price range and just for $50 extra you can buy the RTX 3060 and get a lot more performance out of the GPU. Considering the low price difference we can’t recommend the 3050 for any tasks. Even if your budget is really tight, you can find ways to cut prices from other components to upgrade the GPU.

Camilo is a contributor for PC Guide. He's been into tech since he was a teen, surfing through the web and local stores trying to find the cheapest way to play the latest Half-Life on his old Windows