Rumor suggests RTX 3050 6GB is nerfed so much we wonder why NVIDIA is bothering with this GPU

NVIDIA's RTX Super refreshes might be grabbing all the limelight right now, but there's a budget move afoot (in theory) that's much more under the radar with the old RTX 3050.

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The original RTX 3050 with 8GB of VRAM is pretty much sold out at this point in time (Image Credit: NVIDIA)

Rumors have been circulating for a while now about a new take on Ampere's RTX 3050 which has 6GB of VRAM (rather than 8GB), but a new leak suggests that the spec could be cut down more than just having the video memory reduced.

This isn't the first time we've heard theorizing that the RTX 3050 6GB might be reined in quite a bit, disappointingly for gamers on a budget, but the new specs here are quite a drop down indeed.

And they're confusing in that they both agree with, and simultaneously contradict, another recent leak from a Russian retailer.

This new leak highlighted by VideoCardz (via Tom's Hardware) shows the RTX 3050 6GB having its CUDA cores dropped to 2304 (from 2560), on top of having both the base and boost clocks hugely reduced. Supposedly the new boost speed is 1470MHz and the base clock is just 1042MHz (a third slower than the RTX 3050 8GB).

Now, the previous leak from the retailer did show a base clock of 1,042MHz, but according to those product listings (for Palit models), the CUDA core configuration is the same as the 8GB version of the RTX 3050.

So, we're not sure if this CUDA core reduction is happening, but if so, it's certainly going to compound the misery of much slower clock speeds and a 2GB drop in video memory.

Frankly, the end result could end up so hamstrung by these cutbacks that it makes us wonder why NVIDIA would bother with it - which gives us some doubt around the accuracy of this new leak.

With a previously rumored price of $179 in the US - add plenty of salt here, and with all of this - an RTX 3050 6GB reduced in power by this much wouldn't make sense compared to the rivals from AMD in this space. (Notably the RX 6600).

Maybe NVIDIA is mulling a cheaper price tag than that? Or maybe these spec rumors are considerably off the mark?

Whatever's the truth behind this, we'll find out soon enough, because we aren't far off the launch of the RTX 3050 6GB, at least not if the grapevine is right. We're told this refreshed graphics card is due to arrive in February 2024, so it's right around the corner.

Meanwhile, throughout the rest of January, that trio of RTX Super refreshes are set to emerge, starting with the RTX 4070 Super which is out on January 17.

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