For the first time in several years, Nvidia is rumored to be making a properly affordable gaming GPU for gamers on tight budgets. The new Nvidia GeForce RTX 5050 will reportedly sit below the RTX 5060 in the company's graphics card product stack, and will hopefully cost under $250.
Comparatively, the only RTX 4050 GPU in the last generation was a severely cut-down laptop model, with the desktop RTX 4000 range stopping at the best graphics card for those who can't afford to spend big bucks.
RTX 5050 release date estimate
Our best estimate for the RTX 5050 release date is May 2025, based on leaks and speculation, as Nvidia hasn't even officially announced this GPU yet. Initial RTX 5060 now isn't rumored to be out until May 2025, we'd expect the RTX 5050 to launch in the same timeframe, or perhaps even later.
RTX 5050 specs rumors
Here is our best estimate for the RTX 5050 specs, based on rumor and speculation, as Nvidia hasn't announced this GPU yet.
| Rumored RTX 5050 specs | |
| CUDA cores | 2,560 |
| RT cores | 20 |
| Tensor cores | 80 |
| SMs | 20 |
| VRAM | 8GB GDDR6 |
| Memory interface | 128-bit |
| TGP | 130W |
According to recent RTX 5050 specs leaks, the new budget gaming GPU is equipped with 2,560 CUDA cores. This figure was shared by often-reliable tech leaker kopite7kimi on X (formerly Twitter), who has previous good form for Nvidia leaks, even if he isn't always 100% accurate.
If that 2,560 figure is indeed correct, then we can use our knowledge of existing Blackwell GPUs to work out that those CUDA cores are likely to be spread across 20 of Nvidia's streaming multiprocessor (SM) units. That would give it 80 Tensor cores for AI tasks such as neural rendering on DLSS 4, including multi frame gen, as well as 20 RT cores for ray tracing.
The leak also claims that the new GPU will come equipped with 8GB of GDDR6 VRAM attached to a 128-bit memory interface. That's a good step up from the RTX 4050 laptop GPU, which has a paltry 6GB of VRAM connected to a tight 96-bit bus (as did the original RTX 3050).
GDDR6 VRAM will, of course, be slower than the GDDR7 memory rumored to be used with the RTX 5060, but our recent AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT review has already demonstrated that you can still get decent gaming performance from GDDR6 VRAM, and that capacity is sometimes more important.
Meanwhile, those rumored 2,560 CUDA cores will have much less collective rendering power than the 3,840 rumored to be in the RTX 5060 – a 33% drop, in fact. However, if Nvidia sets a fair price for the RTX 5050, then that may well turn out to be justifiable. There are limited options in the sub-$250 price range right now, with the Intel Arc B580 impossible to find in stock at its MSRP.
RTX 5050 price estimate
Our best estimate for the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5050 price is $249, based on speculation and the price of the RTX 3050, as Nvidia hasn't announced this GPU yet.
As neither AMD nor Nvidia have launched a sub-$249 gaming GPU for a number of years now, Nvidia wouldn't have to price the RTX 5050 super-competitively for it to be a success, as there's so little realistic choice in the budget sector.
We'd love to see it cost $199, but realistically, the RTX 3050 cost $249 when it launched, and the RTX 4060 launched at $299. Assuming the RTX 5060 has a similar $299 price to its predecessor, a $249 price would be in line with expectations, although $219 would be more reasonable when you consider the big drop in the rumored specs.
While we eagerly await more details to drop about the RTX 5050, check out our full how to install a GPU takes you through the whole process of upgrading your graphics card.
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