ASRock, PowerColor, and SAPPHIRE launch new entry-level Radeon RX 9050 GPUs

With official driver support and AMD's product page live, the company has quietly launched a new entry-level PC gaming GPU in the form of the Radeon RX 9050. Based on the same RDNA 4 architecture as the rest of the Radeon RX 9000 Series, the Radeon RX 9050 features 16 Compute Units, 1024 Stream Processors, and 8GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus. On paper, it's a significantly cut-down version of the Radeon RX 9060 XT, with half the Compute Units and half the memory.

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And with that, we've already got details on models from AMD partners ASRock, PowerColor, and SAPPHIRE. As an entry-level SKU, these Radeon RX 9050 GPU variants are all compact dual-slot, dual-fan cards from each partner's more affordable designs. Even so, the compact ASRock Radeon RX 9050 Challenger 8GB still sports a vented, reinforced metal backplate alongside an LED strip that adds some style to the design.

It also sports the company's Striped Axial Fans, a copper base for the GPU, and premium thermal pads for heat transfer. The compact Challenger design is one we're familiar with, with the specs confirming that it ships with the reference Boost Clock speed of 2600 MHz, alongside two DisplayPort 2.1a ports and one HDMI 2.1b port.

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Interestingly, ASRock briefly had a product page for an ASRock Radeon RX 9050 Challenger 4GB variant live, which many suspect will be an OEM-only variant for builders. Moving on to PowerColor's Radeon RX 9050 Reaper 8GB, this is also a compact offering, with custom 'silent' fans and Honeywell phase-change thermal pads to enhance cooling. It sports a minimal all-black design that should have no problem fitting into some of the most compact builds out there.

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Finally, there's the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 9050 8GB, which looks to be the only model to ship with an out-of-the-box overclock, with the specs detailing a Boost Clock speed of 2760 MHz. This is a notable 160 MHz increase over the 2600 MHz reference spec and should lead to slightly faster in-game performance. Also, SAPPHIRE's model offers a different video out layout with dual HDMI 2.1b ports and a single DisplayPort 2.1a port. From a build quality and cooling perspective, it looks identical to the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB PULSE OC we reviewed last year, which ran cool and quiet.

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As of writing, the price for the new Radeon RX 9050 8GB GPU is reportedly $279 USD. Although that's higher than expected, with the current memory crisis, GPU prices have risen over the past year, pushing the $349 MSRP of the Radeon RX 9060 XT closer to $450 to $480.