In terms of technical specifications, the GA106-150 chip does not fall short at all, after all it is a version with lower specifications of the same GPU as the RTX 3060, so NVIDIA has not fallen into the trap of creating a low-power chip with anemic 64-bit bus. Its specifications in figures are: 20 units with GeForce Ampere architecture with a total of 2560 ALUs in FP32 or CUDA cores, 20 RT Cores and 80 Tensor Cores. All this in an average TGP of 130 watts.
So it is the best graphics card in the entry range that you can get today.
The best custom models
Apart from the standard model sold by NVIDIA itself, the different graphic card manufacturers make custom or personalized versions based on the specifications given by the GPU manufacturer, but with aesthetic changes and even with their own cooling systems with the idea of arriving to reach the maximum possible speed and catch the attention of the most enthusiastic PC gamers.
Regarding performance, all the graphics card models that we are going to show you have similar performance and in some cases there are improved overclock versions. We have to start from the fact that the consumption of 130 watts making use of a 150 connector allows a certain level of additional clock speed, unfortunately this does not happen in all models and only in those that are not Mini-ITX.
Having made the short introduction, we are going to see the most prominent RTX 3050 custom models of the different brands and in what parts each one of them differs from the rest.
ASUS
We start as always with the Taiwanese multinational that brings us three custom variants of the RTX 3050, where it has been the first to show more catalog than the rest of the manufacturers and therefore is possibly the most attractive for options and prices.
ROG Strix RTX 3050 8GB
This ASUS graphics card model has a triple 9-blade fan where the two outer ones rotate clockwise and the central one in the clockwise direction to recycle the air that enters and leaves it and maintains the GPU, VRAM and its VRMs. as cool as possible most of the time. Plus, a 2.7 heatsink for faster heat dissipation and high-quality VRM and SAP-II type capacitors to give you an extremely long life even with continued gaming use.
RTX 3050 Phoenix (Dual)
One of the advantages that the graphics cards of the more modest ranges have is that shorter versions can be created for cases of the Mini-ITX and Micro-ATX types and this is the case with the ASUS Phoenix models. Both models have the ability to be totally silent when the temperature and workload allow it by turning off the fan.
Palit
Palit has also decided to make two versions of the RTX 3050, one with a double fan and the other for Mini-ITX cases with a single fan. The dual version has two 90mm long fans and achieves a large open space to expel the air more efficiently and customizable RGB lighting. As for the version, they are a single fan, it is only 17 cm long, which makes them perfect if you want to mount a compact system such as an HTPC.
EVGA
EVGA is famous for its high-end graphics cards with extreme overclocking capabilities, which they have not left out in their RTX 3050 XC and RTX 3050 XC Black. It is a dual-fan graphics card that is complemented by a series of holes in strategic areas of the PCB and the Backplate to aid air circulation in these graphics cards.
M: YES
In the case of MSI we have three different models, two with a double fan and one with a single fan for Mini-ITX boxes. The difference between the two-fan models is the type of fan used, where the Gaming X makes use of TORX 4.0 fans and the Ventus 2X TORX 3.0. Each of the models except for the Mini-ITX one have sister OC models with higher clock speeds. Which at the moment we do not know in the absence of confirmation from the manufacturer.
Zotac
In the case of Zotac, they have opted for the only custom model of the RTX 3050 with its Twin Edge model with a length of 224.1 mm in a double fan configuration. Its cooling system makes use of an aluminum heat sink and copper heat pipes added to a 90 fan with 11 blades for each one. Yes we talk about the video outputs we have 3 HDMI 2.1 ports and a DisplayPort port.
INNO3D
INNO3D’s RTX 3050 TWIN X2 makes use of a dual 90mm fan and a heatsink that can dissipate heat by 360,477mm². As for the TWIN XC, its design is exactly the same, but at a higher clock speed, but a series of temperature control and energy consumption functions have been added to allow higher clock speeds in said model.
