NVIDIA’s AIB partners are expected to increase the prices of GeForce RTX 3050 6 GB GPUs amid huge demand in the Chinese gaming market.
NVIDIA’s Recently-Released GeForce RTX 3050 6 GB GPU Becomes Popular Among Budget Consumers Replacing Their Older “GTX” Options
The debut of the GeForce RTX 3050 6GB was meant to be a solid contender in the low-to-mid budget segment for gamers. However, despite facing some heated competition in the sub-$200 segment with the likes of Intel’s Arc A580/A750 and AMD’s RX 6000 options, the GPU managed to gain massive popularity among Chinese consumers, as it is intended to replace older GTX 1650 and GTX 1050 GPUs, which are still highly adopted in the region. Now that the demand is there, it seems like NVIDIA’s AIB partners are looking at a price correction, increasing the GeForce RTX 3050 6 GB prices by a decent margin.
It is reported on the Chinese Board Channels forums that NVIDIA has notified partners to bump up the price of its GPU from its original MSRP of 1,399 RMB ($195 US) to 1,499 RMB ($210 US), marking a 100 RMB bump. The increase certainly isn’t huge, but it shows that the SKU has gained immense popularity, and we could expect such price bumps in the future if the GPU manages to keep up in the markets. This could give competitors like the Intel Arc A580 and Radeon RX 6600 8 GB an edge here since the price bump could be a demotivating move for those looking to buy the RTX 3050 6 GB.
Regarding the specifications, NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3050 6 GB features a GA107-325 SKU with 2304 cores onboard, marking a reduction of 10% compared to the 8 GB model. The core clock is set at 1470 MHz, 17% lower than the 8 GB model. Regarding memory, we are looking at 6 GB VRAM & a 96-bit bus interface, which is a decrease compared to the 8 GB VRAM 128-bit featured on the original model. The cut-down in specifications ultimately means that you are looking at lower TDPs here, set mostly around 75W, depending upon the model you opt for.
In terms of performance, the graphics card is around 20% slower than the 8 GB model due to a reduction in the core count and memory spec plus the lower TDP. US retailers have still listed the GPU at its starting price of $169 with most of the variants starting at $179 US. The difference is mostly due to the added taxes in China and it is also likely that the card may not be as popular as it is in China and Asian regions.