NVIDIA announces the entry-level RTX 5050, but it’s a tough sell at US$249

NVIDIA’s long-rumoured GeForce RTX 5050 is finally official, and if you’ve been waiting for a new entry-level GPU that doesn’t cost a small fortune (and that’s saying a lot, in today’s context), this is the one you’ve probably been waiting for. That said, it’s also the kind of launch that leaves me feeling a bit conflicted – mostly because the value proposition isn’t as clear-cut as it looks.

The RTX 5050 lands at US$249, arriving sometime in the second half of July, and fills the gap NVIDIA left open during the entire RTX 40 series cycle. There was never a desktop RTX 4050, which means this is technically the x50-class card since the RTX 3050, and based on the specs that the company shared, it doesn’t stray very far from it either. It still comes with 2,560 CUDA cores, 8GB of GDDR6 memory, and a 128-bit bus. Boost clocks reach up to 2,570MHz, and while you’ll need an 8-pin power connector to run it, that’s par for the course.

What’s new is, of course, the Blackwell architecture and support for DLSS Multi-Frame Generation, which is making its debut at this tier. NVIDIA’s banking on DLSS doing a lot of heavy lifting here for all of its lower-end GPU including this one, especially in games that support it. Outside of that, I’m sure the performance uplift over the RTX 3050 won’t be too dramatic, unless you’re counting the generational gains from higher clock speeds and architectural efficiency. The specs alone aren’t going to wow anyone, and the decision to go with GDDR6 (instead of GDDR7 for the RTX 5050 Laptop GPU version) is obviously a clear attempt to keep costs low.

But here’s the bigger issue: US$50 more gets you the RTX 5060, which offers 50% more cores and significantly better memory bandwidth. And it’s not just NVIDIA’s. There’s also the AMD Radeon RX 9060, with its SRP US$299 not too far off either. Both also has a bit more to offer in specs, especially in memory capacity.

So it really comes down to what you’re building for. If you’re upgrading an older system or just want something that can handle 1080p gaming without too much drama, the RTX 5050 might fit the bill. But for anyone already on the fence, it’s a tough sell when the next tier up is just within reach and objectively better-specced.