Graphics Cards

MSI RTX 3050 Gaming X 8G Review

With the launch of the NVIDIA RTX 3050 officially behind us now, we are taking a look at an offering from MSI, who are veterans in the GPU scene, having been making graphics cards since 1989. Yes, it’s been that long. For perspective. I wasn’t even born at that point.

In this review, we’ll be taking a look at the latest card to join their line up; the MSI RTX 3050 Gaming X 8G! Featuring 2nd generation RT cores, 3rd generation Tensor and that all-important Ampere architecture, you can take full advantage of the RTX ecosystem by using technologies like DLSS and NVIDIA Reflex to get higher frame rates and better system latency in compatible games. Compared to the 4GB of memory found on the Radeon RX 6500 XT series of cards from AMD, the RTX 3050 from NVIDIA features 8GB of GDDR6 memory, which should allow it to pull ahead in memory-intensive games and programs, but of course, this brings a higher MSRP than the competition. I also suspect that the cost of this card will be on the higher side given the prices of other MSI graphics cards currently available, but that is if you can actually get one at the MSRP and not for twice what it’s worth.

MSI RTX 3050 Gaming X 8G

Featuring the same new design aesthetic introduced with their other RTX 30 series cards that have been adjusted since the last generation of GPUs, MSI has designed this to fit in with the other cards in their gaming range but with a smaller and more modest design. It features less RGB and one less fan than its bigger brothers like the RTX 3060 or 3080 Gaming X Trio GPUs. The card features the robust Twin Frozr 8 cooling solution with their Torx 4.0 fan design and an aluminium backplate that aids with the dissipation of heat, so while I expect the card to perform well without turning into a space heater it’s yet to be seen whether it can stand up against some of the other 3050s that we’ve already looked at.