NVIDIA launches GeForce RTX 5050 laptop GPU, 18% slower than RTX 5060

While current rumors point to the desktop GeForce RTX 5050 8GB GPU launching next week, NVIDIA has officially launched the laptop variant, with devices with the GeForce RTX 5050 laptop GPU now available for sale. The GeForce RTX 5050 laptop GPU ships with 2560 CUDA Cores, 8GB GDDR7 VRAM, 128-bit Memory Bus, and 115W TDP.

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And with the embargo lifted on sales in China, we're starting to see some early benchmark results for the new RTX 5050 compared to the RTX 5060 and RTX 5070 laptop GPUs, all running at 115W. One outlet has posted synthetic 3DMark benchmark scores covering the FireStrike Extreme, TimeSpy, and Port Royal tests, and the results are interesting.

TimeSpy is widely considered one of the better synthetic benchmarks for determining real-world gaming performance, and here we see the GeForce RTX 5050 laptop GPU (with Core i7 14650HX CPU) deliver a score that is 17% lower than the RTX 5060 and 29% lower than the RTX 5070.

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The FireStrike Extreme and Port Royal tests deliver similar results, with the RTX 5050 providing scores 18% lower than the RTX 5060 and 30-33% lower than the RTX 5070. It's a definite step down, performance-wise, and with reports that laptops with an RTX 5050 are only 30-40 dollars cheaper than RTX 5060 laptops, consumers might be better off spending a bit more money for a decent bump to performance.

The desktop variant is set to feature similar specs, with the same CUDA Core count and 8GB of GDDR6 memory instead of GDDR7 memory. It will be interesting to see how the performance differs. The desktop variant will probably ship with higher clock speeds and more power, 130W versus 115W - though that doesn't sound like enough for the vast difference you find when comparing a desktop RTX 5090 to a laptop RTX 5090.