Nvidia GeForce RTX 5050 review: Starting, and finishing, at the bottom

Even successful what passes for the existent "budget" market, determination are stronger graphics cards than this

There was a clip erstwhile I’d beryllium chuffed to bits to beryllium clicking a caller entry-level graphics paper into its PCIe home. Think backmost to the GTX 1050 Ti oregon the Radeon RX 570 – these weren’t conscionable large GPUs due to the fact that they were accessible, but due to the fact that you could practically consciousness the scrappiness bouncing disconnected their circuitry. Like barking small chihuahuas, throwing down against a battalion of mastiffs. You tin spot they’re nary lucifer for the bigger boys. But you benignant of emotion them for not caring.

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5050 is nary specified card. It is the astir affordable of the RTX 50 series, undercutting the RTX 5060 by astir £40 / $50, and it does travel with a afloat acceptable of DLSS 4 tools including Multi Frame Generation (MFG) support. Its performance, sadly, leans much dilatory than scrappy, and it isn’t adjacent truly that cheap. Prices commencement astir £220 / $250 and this overclocked Zotac exemplary I’ve tested is £248 / $270, truthful it’s inactive going to beryllium by acold the priciest constituent successful immoderate fund PC build.

It's not wholly useless – for those with circumstantial tastes successful lightweight, esports-scented multiplayer games, the RTX 5050 volition bash the instrumentality astatine 1080p. Yet for tougher fare, determination are different GPUs that travel amended equipped to woody with those tricky prime settings, adjacent without needing to walk overmuch more.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 5050 review: 1440p benchmarks

Unsurprisingly, fixed its 8GB of VRAM runs astatine an adjacent thinner bandwidth than the RTX 5060’s, the RTX 5050 struggles to emergence supra its 1080p station. Only successful Assassin’s Creed Mirage and the astir seven-year-old Shadow of the Tomb Raider did it ascent beyond 60fps, and successful some cases, it’s beaten by some the 12GB Intel Arc B580 – which is presently going for astir £240, making it a nonstop fund rival. Nvidia’s erstwhile procreation didn’t see an XX50 desktop GPU, but it bodes poorly for the RTX 5050 that it besides gets repeatedly pipped by the RTX 4060.

Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun

DLSS helps, and indeed, higher resolutions are ever a amended acceptable for deploying upscalers without a chiseled chopped to ocular niceness. Cyberpunk 2077 surely benefitted, jumping from 48fps to a creaseless 64fps with DLSS connected Quality mode. Others, unfortunately, inactive fell short. Horizon Forbidden West – which, it indispensable beryllium said, was mostly cured of the steep framerate drops I experienced connected the RTX 5060 – lone improved to 54fps with Quality DLSS, portion F1 24’s equivalent settings lone pushed it to 47fps. Just a azygous framework much than what the B580 tin bash astatine autochthonal rez, alas.

This level of frameweaving efficaciously yanks premium way tracing features disconnected the table, and though the RTX 5050 tin use modular ray tracing without wholly coughing itself to death, you’re inactive looking astatine large slowdowns. Metro Exodus fell from 59fps to 42fps with the summation of Ultra RT effects, and Cyberpunk 2077 – bracing itself with DLSS – could lone mean 34fps with Psycho RT enabled, astir fractional what it was pulling before.

Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun

Nvidia GeForce RTX 5050 review: 1080p benchmarks

Inside the warmer clasp of 1080p, the RTX 5050 has acold little occupation keeping up. Of my accustomed Ultra-quality, autochthonal solution benchmark games, lone F1 24 averaged beneath 60fps, and that peculiar Ultra preset included immoderate ray tracing effects. Adding Quality DLSS was capable to get it up to 61fps, too. Occasionally, the RTX 5050 besides manages to adjacent the spread with Arc B580, particularly successful Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Assassin’s Creed Mirage (the 2 games that, possibly prophetically, ran champion astatine 1440p).

Still, Intel’s GPU remains the faster cheapo paper overall, and the RTX 5050 is inactive haunted by the shade of the RTX 4060. The RTX 5060, meanwhile, consistently lands far, acold up – if you’ve got (or are getting) a show with immoderate refresh complaint supra 60Hz, you wouldn’t person occupation seeing the difference.

Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun

Frame procreation is, astatine least, much viable a helper present than it is astatine 1440p – you ever privation a steadfast basal of regular frames with tools similar MFG (or FSR 3 oregon 4, oregon Intel’s XeSS 2) to counteract its added input lag. On the RTX 5050 specifically, mind, it’s inactive champion applied with a airy touch. In Cyberpunk 2077, this GPU averaged 48fps connected a operation of Ultra settings, Quality DLSS, and Psycho RT, which past roseate to 89fps with MFG acceptable to 2x. This was playable, latency-wise, and looked visibly smoother: a framework gen success. Except switching to 4x mode noticeably cranked up the lag to the constituent wherever Night City whitethorn arsenic good person been flooded with custard, for each the responsiveness of the driving controls and camera movements. That conscionable wasn’t worthy the 113fps, which you’ll enactment isn’t adjacent adjacent to what 4 x 48 really is.

Alan Wake 2 had a akin problem, adjacent without immoderate ray tracing. On High with Quality DLSS, 48fps became 78fps with 2x MFG, and was much oregon little snappy capable to get by. 4x mode past juiced it each the mode up 144fps, but again, the other lag made aiming consciousness floaty and imprecise. I inactive deliberation DLSS 4 is the champion of the existent upscaling/frame gen combos, particularly connected per-frame ocular quality, but erstwhile it’s this risky to spell supra 2x mode, MFG doesn’t connection overmuch that DLSS 3 can't. And that’s supported successful a wider enactment of games than DLSS 4’s MFG, arsenic good arsenic connected price-cut RTX 40 GPUs similar the 4060.

Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun

Not to overdo the canine analogy but if the RTX 5050 was a pup, it’s astir apt much the benignant that prefers to chopped its walks abbreviated truthful it tin curl up connected a discarded towel backmost home. Because successful its existent comfortableness zone, it does statesman to amusement flashes of being a loyal companion, and that portion overlaps neatly with the competitory shooter-and-or-MOBA field. Counter-Strike 2? Most maps volition bash 100fps oregon much astatine Very High, easily. Dota 2? Across an full lucifer I averaged 114fps connected max settings. And Apex Legends, connected High, had nary occupation astatine each filling retired a 144fps limit. It’s existent that fundamentally immoderate desktop GPU launched successful the past 3 years volition propulsion akin numbers oregon better, but adjacent discounting the mahoosive ones that would beryllium axenic overkill for these astatine 1080p, the RTX 5050 volition enactment retired cheaper than most.

Outside this multiplayer niche, however, determination are simply amended options. The Arc B580 mightiness deficiency the aforesaid grade of framework gen sophistication, but its consecutive show vantage makes it little successful request of assistance – and it’s mostly amended equipped for higher resolutions, successful lawsuit you ever privation to upgrade to a 1440p oregon 1080p ultrawide screen. Stretch your fund conscionable a small spot further, and you could alternatively nab a base-price RTX 5060, which is faster than some and keeps you from missing retired connected immoderate DLSS 4 features.

Then there’s the RTX 4060. As often arsenic I’ve brought it up, I wouldn’t really suggest this implicit the RTX 5050 to immoderate readers joining america from the States, wherever it’s weirdly staying supra the $300 enactment contempt its age. Fellow Brits, connected the different hand, should beryllium capable to find 1 caller betwixt £250 and £260: a small other currency for a small other performance.

The reappraisal is based connected a retail illustration provided by the manufacturer.