Introduction
Today for evaluation, is the GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 3050 GAMING OC 8G video card. This is one of four offerings from GIGABYTE. This video card sits second from the top of the shelf. The RTX 3050 was released in January of 2022, aimed at 1080p gaming with an MSRP of $249. The GeForce RTX GAMING OC 8G is currently selling for $349 and features a Windforce three-fan cooling system and a factory overclock of 1822MHz versus the reference of 1777MHz. Our video card is the retail boxed version.
GeForce RTX 3050 Specifications
Briefly, the GeForce RTX 3050 is based on NVIDIA’s Ampere architecture manufactured on SAMSUNG 8nm FFN. It has 2,560 CUDA Cores, 48 ROPs, 80 Texture Units, 20 2nd Gen RT Cores, and 80 3rd Gen Tensor Cores. The boost clock is set at 1777MHz. It has 8GB of GDDR6 memory at 14GHz on a 128-bit memory bus at 224GB/s of memory bandwidth. The TGP is rated at 130W. This GeForce 3050 has, of course, Ray Tracing and DLSS support to improve its performance at 1080p.
GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 3050 Gaming OC 8G
The GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 3050 GAMING OC 8G is the number two in the family of RTX 3050 GPUs from Gigabyte. Currently, there are the AORUS ELITE, the EAGLE OC 8G, and the EAGLE 8G.
Only the ELITE has a faster overclock out of the box. The ELITE and the GAMING models feature a three-fan cooling system that has alternate spinning fans and a vented backplate. The EAGLE models are shorter, more compact cards, and have two fan cooling. While the RTX 3050 GAMING OC has RGB lighting, the ELITE has more and has additional heat pipes in the cooling system.
The GAMING OC 8G has a factory overclock of 1822MHz compared to the reference 1777MHz. Power consumption is rated at 130W. GIGABYTE recommends a 450W PSU. Additional power is from a single 8-pin PCIe connector. Measurements of the GPU are 11.1 x 4.6 x 1.6 inches. The PCB is noticeably shorter than the cooler. There are two HDMI 2.1 and two Display Port 1.4a connections.
As stated the cooler for the GAMING 8G is quite robust. It features the Windforce design and the middle fan spins opposite the outside two fans, creating a unique cooling solution. The fans are also designed to push more air quietly. GIGABYTE adds a full metal backplate to the mix. The PCB is advertised to utilize GIGABYTE’s UltraDurable design for better performance and overclockability.
Overclocking features and RBG support are easily provided in the Aorus Engine software.
