Asus this week became the latest PC graphics card manufacturer to announce a sub-75W graphics card based on NVIDIA’s recently released low-power GeForce RTX 3050 6GB design. ASUS is taking things a step further for small PC users, using NVIDIA’s low-power GPU configuration to produce a low-profile graphics card that can be installed into thin systems.
As Asus says, the GeForce RTX 3050 LP BRK 6GB GDDR6 is “big productivity in a small package,” and for a low-profile dual-slot card, that’s certainly true. The unit features three display outputs, including DVI-D, HDMI 2.1, and DisplayPort 1.4a with HDCP 2.3 support, making the card a viable option for dual-monitor desktops and home theater PCs (Nvidia’s GA107 graphics processor supports all popular codecs except AV1). Additionally, the DVI-D output enables the card to drive outdated monitors that still exist as spare parts even five years after DVI-D was retired. Also, since the card draws only around 70W, it doesn’t require any secondary PCIe power connectors, which are sometimes unavailable on budget systems from big PC manufacturers.
Underlying the card is the aforementioned GeForce RTX 3050 6 GB, which uses a GA107 GPU with 2304 CUDA cores and is paired with 6GB of GDDR6 memory connected to a narrower 96-bit memory bus (the full 8GB version has 128 bits) (down) The RTX 3050 6GB has a lower boost clock frequency of 1470 MHz (1500 MHz in OC mode), so computing performance is reduced, offering 6.77 FP32 TFLOPS compared to the full-blown RTX 3050’s 9.1 FP32 TFLOPS.
The low-profile GeForce RTX 3050 6 GB is therefore essentially an entry-level card, although the low power requirements of such a card are also what make it special. That should be enough for low-end gaming—beating an integrated GPU—though arguably, it won’t compete with high-end, power-hungry graphics cards either.
The Asus GeForce RTX 3050 LP BRK 6 GB GDDR6 is smaller in size and looks to be ideal for upgrading OEM budget systems as well as repairing outdated PCs. What remains to be seen is how competitive it will be on price. The card already has a low-key competitor from MSI – priced at $185 – so Asus isn’t the only vendor in the game.