NVIDIA explains why the laptop RTX 5050 has GDDR7 and the desktop variant has GDDR6 memory

Yesterday, NVIDIA formally announced the new GeForce RTX 5050 desktop and laptop GPU, positioned as a successor to the GeForce RTX 3050 and an affordable entry-level option for PC gaming, backed by the latest DLSS 4 technology. Performance-wise, NVIDIA claims that the GeForce RTX 5050 is 60% faster than the RTX 3050, the last 50-class GPU. And that's without DLSS 4 or Multi Frame Generation being enabled.

Interestingly, this is one of those rare GeForce RTX GPUs where the desktop and laptop variants share the same core specifications, except for a couple of notable differences. Both feature the same CUDA, Tensor, and RT cores, as well as 8GB of memory capacity; however, the laptop variant's memory is the newer GDDR7, whereas the desktop variant's memory is GDDR6.

This makes the desktop GeForce RTX 5050 the only GPU in the GeForce RTX 50 Series lineup that uses older GDDR6 memory. As for why, NVIDIA's Director of Global PR for GeForce, Ben Berraondo, responded to this very question on social media.

He did so by responding to a post by Hardware Canucks pointing out that the only difference between the two GPUs (outside of the higher power draw on the desktop variant) was the lack of GDDR7 memory on the desktop RTX 5050. The reason for the difference comes down to power efficiency, which means the laptop variant is opting for GDDR7 memory to deliver improved thermal performance and battery life.

"The RTX 5050 notebook GPU has been optimized for the best power efficiency for portable laptops with great battery life," Ben Berraondo writes. "Therefore, G6 is the best choice for desktops, and the more power-efficient G7 is the best choice for laptops."

In a follow-up question, pointing out that GDDR7 is faster, he added that factors such as battery life and thermal performance are "crucial for our OEM partners," so speed wasn't a primary consideration. This makes sense, as one of the key reasons for shifting to a more efficient technology in the mobile space is to improve performance without sacrificing efficiency.

Of course, NVIDIA might have opted for GDDR6 in the desktop RTX 5050 variant because it was cheaper and more readily available. And the slight difference in memory bandwidth might not have degraded performance enough to be noticeable.