Nvidia is seemingly planning to release its entry-level Blackwell GPU next week. Hot on the heels of its mobile counterpart, the desktop RTX 5050 is expected to pack the same CUDA core count but paired with slower GDDR6 memory.
The information comes from two hardware leakers, indicating that Nvidia has settled for July 1, 2025 as a launch date for its cheapest GeForce RTX 50 Series GPU. For reference, the previous launch date was set for the end of July. Apparently, this decision was made suddenly, catching board partners by surprise. As a result, some brands are reportedly unable to ship cards on time, which could affect initial availability. More so, considering that Nvidia doesn’t seem to have plans for a Founders Edition model, leaving partners to handle all the demand.
Another impact of this sudden change is the potential lack of review samples, as partners won’t have lede time to send cards for testing. With barely a week remaining until this rumoured release, reviewers likely don’t have enough time to thoroughly put the card through the ringer, even if they receive one, not to mention the mystery of supported drivers.
Now, as for Nvidia’s reasons, your guess is as good as ours. The brand seems disinterested in sampling its low-tier GPUs, especially those with 8GB of VRAM. Plus, looking at the reception of RTX 5060 Ti 8GB and RTX 5060 8GB, Nvidia may be trying to avoid another series of unfavourable reviews. Even when the GPU is strong enough, such as the case of RTX 5060 Ti, limiting the memory pool to only 8GB is very detrimental to frame rates whenever the game demands exceed it.
| RTX 5050 | RTX 5060 | RTX 5060 Ti | |
|---|---|---|---|
| CUDA Cores | 2,560 | 3,840 | 4,608 |
| Mem. | 8GB | 8GB | 16GB or 8GB |
| Mem. Type | GDDR6 | GDDR7 | GDDR7 |
| Mem. Clock | 20Gb/s | 28Gb/s | 28Gb/s |
| Mem. Bus | 128-bit | 128-bit | 128-bit |
| Mem. Bandwidth | ~320GB/s | 448GB/s | 448GB/s |
| TDP | 130W | 150W | 180W |
Aside from its smaller 8GB of memory, RTX 5050 is also expected to be the only RTX 50 Series card to use the older 20Gb/s GDDR6 memory, instead of 28Gb/s GDDR7 like the rest of the lineup. Heck, even its mobile variant is said to feature GDDR7 memory. These chips are rumoured to be paired with the smallest GB207-300 Blackwell GPU, packing 2,560 CUDA cores via a 128-bit bus, which should result in about 320GB/s. For comparison, RTX 5060, despite using the same 128-bit bus, boasts 40% more bandwidth simply due to its faster GDDR7 memory.
Regarding pricing, RTX 5050 should slot below RTX 5060’s $299, likely between $199 and $249. This should put it right against Intel’s Arc B580 and Arc B570, both of which carry more VRAM. It will be interesting to see how these GPUs fare in real-world tests.
