Nvidia’s RTX 5050 May Use Same VRAM as Radeon RX 9000

We now have details on the memory specifications for Nvidia's upcoming RTX 5050 graphics card, thanks to user @Zed__Wang on Twitter/X. According to this leak, Nvidia's GeForce RTX 5050 is set to include 8GB of 20 Gbps GDDR6 memory, matching the memory speed found in AMD's RX 9000 series GPUs.

Interestingly, this indicates that AMD's RX 9060 XT 8GB shares the same memory setup as Nvidia's RTX 5050. Both cards come with 8GB of GDDR6 memory across a 128-bit memory bus. This raises the possibility that AMD may now deliver superior memory compression and bandwidth efficiency compared to Nvidia, which has historically excelled in this area.

Nvidia's RTX 5050 is expected to be the most budget-friendly model in the RTX 50 series lineup. This new GPU is rumored to have 2560 CUDA cores and 8GB of GDDR6 memory, providing Nvidia’s RTX 5060 with a 50% increase in CUDA cores and enhanced memory bandwidth. However, it has fewer CUDA cores than Nvidia’s previous generation RTX 4060, which boasted 3072 CUDA cores.

With increased memory bandwidth and fewer CUDA cores compared to the RTX 4060, it will be intriguing to see how Nvidia's GeForce RTX 5050 performs in real-world scenarios. According to reports, Nvidia intends to unveil the RTX 5050 next month. Given its specifications, we anticipate this GPU will be priced around $200, as a GPU with two-thirds the CUDA cores of a $300 GPU logically merits a $200 price tag (ideally less).

The upcoming RTX 5050 is poised to become an excellent entry-level option for gamers looking to access the RTX ecosystem. Nonetheless, for those ready to play the latest titles at high settings with fast ray tracing, DLSS 4, and performance poised for the future, the RTX 5080 stands out in its own class. As always, for the latest news on hardware launches and industry developments, be sure to follow our dedicated hardware coverage.