Introduction
The ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 5050 SOLO is a small, compact video card from ZOTAC, based on the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 GPU. In our review today, we will take a look at this video card, test default performance, and overclock it, and show 1080p native resolution, DLSS upscaling, and ray tracing performance in 11 games. If you aren’t familiar with the GeForce RTX 5050 GPU, check out our in-depth GeForce RTX 5050 Review, which shows performance and 1% Lows in games at multiple game quality settings.
If we check out ZOTAC’s GeForce RTX 5050 lineup, you’ll find that there are three distinct variants, and five total SKUs or models with different specs. In the lineup, there are three different Twin Edge models. ZOTAC’s Twin Edge video cards feature dual-fans and a bigger heatsink area, so the physical size of the video card is larger than the SOLO model. In the Twin Edge models, you’ll find two factory overclocked models, one black and one white, and then one Twin Edge that is clocked at the reference clocks.
Other than the Twin Edge, ZOTAC also has the SOLO model (the one we are reviewing) and a Low Profile model. Both of these cater to different segments and interests. The ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 5050 SOLO is designed to be a small, compact video card with a single-fan, and thus is sized with a regular card height, just shorter than the Twin Edge. The ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 5050 Low Profile is designed to be a half-height, or low-profile video card, but it does use three smaller fans.
The one we are focusing on today is the ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 5050 SOLO (ZT-B50500G-10L), which offers a great solution for small form factor or mini-PC builds. One great thing about the ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 5050 SOLO is that its pricing is set at the base-MSRP for GeForce RTX 5050, $249.99, and it is available at that pricing online. In fact, the video card we are reviewing today was purchased by us for this review; it was not sampled, and that is the price we paid.
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 launched in July of 2025, and is based on the GB207 die and Blackwell Architecture. This being NVIDIA’s entry-level GPU at $249 MSRP, it has 20 SMs, 2560 CUDA Cores, 20 RT Cores, 80 Tensor Cores, 32 ROPs, 80 Texture Units, and runs at a GPU Boost of 2572MHz. It has 8GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus at 20Gbps, delivering 320GB/s of memory bandwidth. The TDP is 130W.
ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 5050 SOLO
The ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 5050 SOLO is not a factory overclocked video card; it runs at the NVIDIA reference spec of 2572MHz boost clock. It also has the standard 8GB of VRAM at 20Gbps on board. The key point of the ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 5050 SOLO is its super compact nature with a single-fan and dual-slot footprint. This sizing makes it ITX-ready, and ZOTAC claims that the video card will fit in 99% of PC builds. It is also energy efficient, with power consumption at 130W and the recommended power supply of 550W.
You can see in the pictures above how small the video card really is; it’s compact in length, but still double-slot for better cooling. It measures 164.5mm x 111.2mm x 36.4mm (6.5in x 4.4in x 1.4in). It does require external power via a 1x 8-pin standard PCIe power connector. It supports PCIe 5.0 x8. For display out, it has 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1b with UHBR20.
The ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 5050 SOLO has a heatsink and shroud on the top, with a single-fan, and there is no backplate; the PCB is exposed. The ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 5050 SOLO uses ZOTAC’s BladeLink fan, which uses interconnected blades. The BladeLink fan spins stronger, quieter, and more stable, providing focused, consistent airflow, and has a rigid structure to increase fan blade durability. You can also see that the heatsink has three heatpipes that extend out to the edges to help distribute heat. All of the air from the fan gets blown out the edges, not the back of the I/O.
The ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 5050 SOLO also supports ZOTAC’s FireStorm utility for controlling overclocking, fan speed, and profiles, so we will take a look at that as well. With the ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 5050 SOLO installed, it takes up very little space, and does not require exorbitant cooling in your case, and the traditional 8-pin power connector is welcomed.