There are significant savings over just lowering memory capacity in comparison to the 8 GB variant of NVIDIA’s rumored full specifications for the company’s future GeForce RTX 3050 6 GB graphics card. If accurate, performance could be behind the existing RTX 3050 8 GB SKU by up to 25%, making it inferior competition even for AMD’s cheap RX 6500 XT. According to earlier speculations, the only variations between the 3050 variants’ partially disabled memory bus would be in capacity and bandwidth, resulting in a memory reduction from 8 GB and 128-bit bus to 6 GB and 96-bit bus. However, leaked specifications show that the next 6 GB version would experience reductions in TDP, clock speeds, and CUDA core counts. The impact appears more severe than anticipated, with 18 SMs and 2304 cores instead of 20 SMs and 2560 cores at lower base and boost frequencies. In comparison to the 130 W architecture of the 3050 8 GB, a 70 W TDP reduces performance but still permits passive cooling.

According to some napkin calculations, the 3050 6 GB could only achieve 75% of the frame rates of its older sister, placing it closer to the entry-level 6500 XT. Even while having 50% more VRAM is beneficial, significant core and clock downgrades negate the memory benefit. According to speculations, the RTX 3050 6 GB is set to ship in February, providing lower-end Ampere to even more budget-focused builders. However, given that its specs appear to be limited to only capacity, its actual gaming worth is yet unknown. With the RTX 3060 6 GB, NVIDIA most likely intended it for esports games that aren’t as demanding. The magnitude of the reductions and the suggested specs for a contemporary AAA title make mainstream AAA gaming performance appear unlikely.