Not long ago at the CES 2022 show NVIDIA officially released the RTX 3050 graphics card, positioning the entry-level, is the first "50" level of light-chasing desktop graphics card, to know that there are still 75% of players still using GTX GPU, and this has become a great opportunity for them to upgrade to RTX. Since then, Rainbow has also launched a number of new RTX 3050 graphics cards, including 2 iGame Ultra series and 2 Tomahawk series.
Among them, the Tomahawk series can be said to be the pursuit of the ultimate cost-effective "dessert" artifact, this time the first tomahawk series has two models, one is the Tomahawk GeForce RTX 3050 8G Deluxe Edition, this is a three-fan heatsink, and the other Tomahawk GeForce RTX 3050 DUO 8G is a dual fan heatsink.
For RTX 3050 this entry-level graphics card, most users are preferring a cost-effective series, this review is the pursuit of the ultimate cost-effective Tomahawk GeForce RTX 3050 DUO 8G, to see if it can also guarantee a good variety of performance test performance while providing low prices, the specifications of this graphics card can refer to the following table:
GA106-150 core introduction
GeForce RTX 3050 uses the new GA106-150 core, in fact, the complete GA106 core with 3 sets of GPC shielded 1 group of GPC and obtained, so a total of 10 groups of TPC is 20 groups of SM units, the production process of silicon wafers is still Samsung's 8nm process customized for NVIDIA.
Here's a table of specifications for the GeForce RTX 3050 versus the GeForce GTX 1650 and GeForce RTX 3060:
Compared with the previous generation of the same positioning of gtX 1650, the biggest change in the macro of the RTX 3050 is the addition of Tensor Core and RT Core, which is a qualitative change from 0 to 1, not only that, this big step change is directly to the use of the third generation of Tensor Core and the second generation of RT Core, it is such a leap forward, so that the RTX 3050 may also be able to position the entry card but can also be competent for the mission of running ray tracing games smoothly.
In addition to the addition of Tensor Core and RT Core from 0 to 1, the RTX 3050 is also a huge improvement over the GTX 1650 in other aspects, the process process has been increased from 12nm to 8nm, and the number of CUDA units has increased from 896 to 2560, which is nearly 3 times that of gtX 1650! Texture units increased from 56 to 80, while raster units remained unchanged at 32.
The video memory part of the RTX 3050 compared to the GTX 1650 is a huge improvement, the memory type evolved from GDDR5 to GDDR6, the memory capacity increased from 4GB to 8GB, in terms of the memory bandwidth that best reflects the video memory performance, from 128GB/s to 224GB/s, which is 1.75 times that of the GTX 1650.
The number of CUDA units has increased to nearly 3 times, the memory bandwidth has increased to 1.75 times, and the third generation tensor Core and the second generation of RT Core have also been added, and the clock frequency has also increased by a certain range, and subsequently, its price and power consumption have also increased by a certain range, and the new RTX 3050 has a suggested retail price of 1899 yuan.
The GeForce RTX 3050 graphics card based on the new generation ampere architecture also has some common features of this generation of Ampere graphics cards, and is a great improvement over the previous generation of Turing architecture.
Introduction to the NVIDIA Ampere architecture
Evolution of SM units
The biggest change from the SM unit on the RTX 30 Series graphics card compared to the RTX 20 Series is the doubling of the FP32 unit for traditional computing, the introduction of the second generation RT Core, and the third generation Tensor Core.
As we all know, in the Turing architecture, NVIDIA integer (INT32) and single-precision floating-point (FP32) two different data types are handed over to two different ALU for computation. However, the most common in modern gaming applications is FP32, so in order to improve computing efficiency, NVIDIA has introduced a new ALU that can support both INT32 or FP32 data types on the NVIDIA Ampere architecture. That is, there are now two different data paths, one that can handle integers or single-precision floating-point at the same time, and the other that simply handles single-precision floating-point calculations.
The dedicated hardware unit RT Core, which performs real-time ray tracing operations, has also been updated to the second generation on the NVIDIA Ampere architecture, most notably with the addition of dynamic blur accelerated computing support. NVIDIA's new interpolation algorithm can improve the efficiency of real-time ray tracing while ensuring the accuracy of motion blur, and the official said that it can reach up to 8 times the speed of the previous generation. In addition, in the basic BVH calculation, the second generation of RT Core can also be 2 times faster than the first generation.
Tensor Core, the hardware unit responsible for running AI computing, has also been upgraded to the third generation on the NVIDIA Ampere architecture. In fact, the previously released A100 computing card has used the new third-generation Tensor Core, which can provide 4 times more performance than the second-generation Tensor Core, but the Tensor Core on the game card has been streamlined to a certain extent, and the throughput of its FP16 FMA calculation is only half of the Tensor Core in the GA100 core.
And what is the use of the more powerful AI operations brought by the third generation Tensor Core? The answer is DLSS. The full name of DLSS is Deep Learning Super Sampling, which translates to Chinese is deep learning super sampling, which is to improve the frame rate by reducing the rendering resolution in the game and improving the display resolution with stretching, such as 1080P rendering resolution and 4K (2160P) display resolution.
In addition, the idea of handing different types of computations to different units was adopted from the NVIDIA Volta architecture, when tensor Core diverted a lot of AI-related operations, and later RT Core shunted real-time ray-tracing-related calculations. However, on the Turing architecture GPU, not all operations can be performed in parallel, to the Ampere architecture, NVIDIA has improved the parallelism between various units inside the GPU, and now the three major units of traditional computing units, RT Core and Tensor Core can work at the same time, and continue to shorten the frame rendering time on the original basis.
Then there's HDMI 2.1, the highly anticipated new output port. Under HDMI 2.1, graphics cards can achieve an output of 8K60Hz or 4K120Hz with a single cable. It's a good boon for players who want to play games on a large-size TV.
NVIDIA Reflex
Released along with the RTX 30 series graphics cards, there's something new that's important for esports games, or more importantly for esports players, and that's NVIDIA Reflex. So what exactly is this NVIDIA Reflex? In fact, it is divided into two parts, one part is hardware and the other is software.
The hardware part is the Reflex Latency Analyzer, which can actually be seen as an advanced version of the LDAT, which is pre-installed directly in the monitor and can be used to measure the time difference between the player's mouse click and the change in the picture, that is, all the delays of the entire system.
The software part is the NVIDIA Reflex SDK. The NVIDIA Reflex SDK reduces and measures rendering latency, and developers can integrate it directly into the game. When its low-latency mode is turned on, the CPU can be synchronized with the graphics card, which greatly reduces the rendering sequence, thereby reducing rendering latency.
NVIDIA Broadcast
NVIDIA Broadcast is for live streamers, which uses the AI capabilities of RTX GPUs to remove or replace the background of live streamers, as well as camera reconstructions, and even helps microphones to remove background noise.
After installing NVIDIA Broadcast software, it will establish an intermediary role between the camera, headset and live broadcast software, so that external devices can use the AI capabilities of the RTX GPU to do some AI enhancement effects, headphones and microphones now support noise reduction, AI will analyze which is the main audio, which is the background noise for noise reduction, to the live broadcaster and the audience to present a clear, useful sound.
The camera now has automatic reconstruction of the map and background processing capabilities, from the camera acquisition to the picture, can be set through the Broadcast processing, and then transmitted to OBS these live broadcast software, which can make the background of the live broadcast owner more vivid and flexible, but also can reduce the construction cost of the live broadcast scene.
Graphics card appearance
Rainbow Tomahawk GeForce RTX 3050 DUO 8G uses an overall black and red color, although red is also the iconic color of Rainbow, but the author and at the same time at first glance saw this card and felt that it was MSI's graphics card. And in the middle axis of the fan, you can also see the pattern of the dragon, if it is not a colorful text reminder, it really feels like MSI's graphics card.
The graphics card uses a dual fan design, the fan diameter is about 88mm diameter, the overall thickness is 41mm, about the thickness of the double slot, the whole body is relatively slender, in fact, this is the RTX 3050 should have the body design, completely enough, there is no need to get bigger, too big but the compatibility with the chassis is worse. In terms of fans, the Rainbow Tomahawk GeForce RTX 3050 DUO 8G has a fan intelligent start-stop function.
Rainbow Tomahawk GeForce RTX 3050 DUO 8G is equipped with a metal backplane, on which in addition to the brand trademark colorful word and GeForce RTX trademark, there is also its tomahawk series logo pattern, the metal backplane is quite thick, in addition to reinforcing the PCB and protecting the graphics card from external forces, it can also assist in the heat dissipation of electronic components on the PCB.
The interface part maintains the same 3 DP 1.4a and 1 HDMI 2.1 interface as the RTX 3050 public version, the most important significance of HDMI 2.1 is that it can play games in HDR mode under 4K 144Hz, which is very popular in the case of many gaming TVs having HDMI 2.1 interfaces today. And there are also a large number of triangular hollow designs here, which provide stability and are also conducive to heat dissipation.
Rainbow Tomahawk GeForce RTX 3050 DUO 8G power supply interface is a single 8pin power supply interface, with the PCIE interface can provide 75W power supply, a total of 225W power supply, far enough for about 130W RTX 3050 core use.
Graphics card disassembly: 2 heat pipes, 5+1 power phase design
Rainbow Tomahawk GeForce RTX 3050 DUO 8G disassembly is not complicated, there are a total of 8 screws on the back, all removed can separate the radiator part from the PCB, although the body size is relatively slim, but the Rainbow Tomahawk GeForce RTX 3050 DUO 8G radiator still feels very heavy, it uses a total of 2 composite heat pipes interspersed in the heat dissipation fins. The heat pipes are all 6 mm in diameter and are all nickel plated.
The place where the heat sink is in contact with the GPU core is also a nickel-plated pure copper base, and many high-heat electronic components are covered with high thermal conductivity silicone pastes to increase the thermal conductivity effect. It can be said that in addition to the number of heat pipes, other details are polished according to high-end products, and 2 6mm heat pipes are honestly far enough for the RTX 3050.
The PCB can see the middle RTX 3050 GPU, the chip is engraved with the core code name GA106-150, surrounded by 4 memory particles, all of which are Micron's D9ZPM particles, which are GDDR6 video memory, video memory data rate 14Gbps, single 2GB capacity, bit width 32 bits, a total of 4 components of a total of 8GB, 128 bits of video memory specifications, the total bandwidth of video memory up to 224GB/s.
In terms of power supply, the card uses 6 phases of power supply, of which 5 phases are powered to GA106-150 core, 1 phase is powered to video memory, 5 core powered MosFETs are from ON Semiconductor's NCP302150, and a memory-powered MosFET is from the 7340EH of Sinopower, and the PWM master can see an NCP81610 on the back.
Testing section
Since the test time is earlier than the time when the RTX 3050 is officially unblocked, the GPU-Z during the test cannot fully display all the information of the RTX 3050 GPU, but it can still be seen that the base frequency of the Rainbow Tomahawk GeForce RTX 3050 DUO 8G graphics card is 1552MHz, and the Boost frequency is 1777MHz, which is the same as the public version of the scheme, and the video memory equivalent data rate is 14Gbps.
The GPU-Z also shows that the fan speed is zero in standby, thanks to the aforementioned Rainbow Tomahawk GeForce RTX 3050 DUO 8G with a fan intelligent start-stop function.
In addition, the default temperature cap of the Rainbow Tomahawk GeForce RTX 3050 DUO 8G is 83 degrees Celsius, players can choose to unlock up to 90 degrees Celsius, and the power consumption limit defaults to 130W and is locked, unable to unlock upwards.
Test platform
The test platform is shown in the table above, the processor is Intel Core i9-12900K, the motherboard is MSI PRO Z690-A DDR4 motherboard, the memory is a 32GB dual-channel configuration consisting of 2 16GB kefu BOLT XR DDR4-3600 memory, and the XMP is turned on in the BIOS to let the memory run at a frequency of 3600MHz, while the support of Resibility BAR is turned on in the motherboard BIOS, and the others use default settings.
Benchmark performance tests
We used 3DMark as a graphics card benchmark, including Fire Strike, Fire Strike Extreme, Fire Strike Ultra, Time Spy, Time Spy Extreme, and Port Royal. Among them, Fire Strike, Fire Strike Extreme, and Fire Strike Ultra test the performance index of the graphics card at 1080p resolution, 2K resolution and 4K resolution in DX11 games, respectively, and the two projects of Time Spy and Time Spy Extreme are the performance index of graphics cards in DX12 games at 2K resolution and 4K resolution, Port Royal is the performance index of real-time ray tracing of the tested graphics card, the specific results are shown in the following table, and the scores listed in the table are the scores of the 3DMark graphics card individual items.
Since the EVGA GTX 1650 only has 4GB of video memory and the performance is relatively weak, it is still the Fire Strike that is the most significant reference for the comparison of the two of them, and it can be seen that the Rainbow Tomahawk GeForce RTX 3050 DUO 8G of the public frequency scheme has a 67.3% performance improvement compared to the GTX 1650, and the increase is quite huge.
Game performance testing
The game test is divided into two parts, both are 1080p resolution high-quality settings, the former is not to open the light chasing game test, nor to open DLSS, FSR and other technologies, the latter is based on the previous settings to open the ray tracing effect to "high", DLSS to "performance mode".
In addition, the default is not full-screen manual change to full-screen, the default open vertical synchronization manually turn off vertical synchronization, in addition to the above other options are default settings, and all use the game's own Benchmark output results are as follows:
You can see that the Game Performance of the Rainbow Tomahawk GeForce RTX 3050 DUO 8G is very strong, and many new AAA masterpieces can achieve a smoothness of far more than 60 frames without turning on ray tracing, such as "Forza Motorsport: Horizon 5" has 94 frames, "Far Cry 6" has 83 frames and so on. After turning on ray tracing, with the help of DLSS performance mode, the card can also play AAA masterpieces smoothly, and games with extremely high performance requirements such as "Watchdog: Legion" can also reach 68 frames, which is very good.
Heat dissipation and noise test: full load 63.8 degrees, noise 27.1dBA
Our graphics card thermal tests are all tested in bare metal (the GPU temperature is about 5°C higher if installed in the chassis), and the ambient temperature is about 22.5°C. The standby temperature is recorded for 10 minutes after booting, and the full load temperature is recorded after completing the 3DMark Time Spy stress test, and the data is recorded through the LOG to File function of GPU-Z, and the following is the temperature test curve.
The Rainbow Tomahawk GeForce RTX 3050 DUO 8G has a fan standby shutdown function, so it relies on passive heat dissipation in standby. After ten minutes of standby testing, from the beginning of 27.8 degrees Celsius to about 37.3 degrees Celsius, still belongs to the very cool category, the hottest temperature in the 10-minute standby process is the lowest is the beginning of 39.2 degrees Celsius, the highest is the back of the 48.8 degrees Celsius. At full load, the maximum temperature of the card is only 63.8 ° C, and if you pay attention to the hottest temperature, it is only 77 degrees Celsius.
In terms of noise, the noise test is done in our special mute cabinet, and the ambient noise in the mute cabinet can reach a minimum of 25dBA, which can basically test the true noise level of the sample very well. The state of the test is the state of the graphics card cooling fan running at full speed, and the following noise values have been converted to the noise level 1 meter from the sound source.
After testing, the noise value of the sound source at 1 meter at full speed of the Rainbow Tomahawk GeForce RTX 3050 DUO 8G graphics card fan is 45.9dBA, while the noise value at 1 meter of the sound source is only 27.1dBA when adjusting its speed to the same speed when the grill is tested.
Fully loaded GPU core actual frequency: 1912MHz around
Due to GPU Boost technology, the graphics card can monitor power and temperature, so that the GPU can fully utilize every bit of performance without exceeding the safety or comfort limits, running at the reported Boost frequency, and during the 3DMark Time Spy stress test for temperature testing, we also recorded the actual frequency of the GPU core of the graphics card in the fully loaded state as shown in the following figure:
At full load, the actual GPU core frequency of the Rainbow Tomahawk GeForce RTX 3050 DUO 8G is up to 1935MHz, and the lowest frequency during full load is 1890MHz, which remains around 1912MHz most of the time.
Power consumption test: Full load average 125W
Through our dedicated graphics card power consumption test instrument, the graphics card PCI-E, external power interface watts can be accurately measured, the maximum power consumption of the graphics card is obtained in the 3DMark Time Spy stress test, and the standby power consumption is recorded for 1 minute after entering the system to take the average.
After testing, rainbow Tomahawk GeForce RTX 3050 DUO 8G standby power consumption average 10.6W, full load power consumption average 125W, peak power consumption to 137W, with power supply, considering the power consumption of other components of the CPU and other platforms, it is recommended to start with a 550W power supply.
Overclocking performance test: 5.7% performance improvement is possible
After unlocking the maximum temperature limit to the highest, after several manual overclocking attempts, the Rainbow Tomahawk GeForce RTX 3050 DUO 8G finally overclocked at a core frequency of +120MHz and a GDDR6 video memory data rate of +1Gbps. In this state, the card can successfully pass the 3DMark FireStrike project test and score the highest score, at this time the card's Boost frequency is 1897MHz, and the memory equivalent frequency is 15Gbps. This Rainbow Tomahawk GeForce RTX 3050 DUO 8G pairs of GPU scores for running 3DMark FireStrike projects in an overclocked state and GPU scores in silent frequency are shown in the table below.
Due to the low full load temperature in the default state, and although the power consumption ceiling is locked, the actual average power consumption is still a little space from the power consumption ceiling, this Rainbow Tomahawk GeForce RTX 3050 DUO 8G still has a certain degree of overclocking playability, overclocking can make it achieve a performance improvement of about 5.7%, which is actually quite surprising.
Summary: A good choice for the cost performance of the entry light chasing world
Rainbow Tomahawk GeForce RTX 3050 DUO 8G This card is positioned in the mainstream level of its graphics product line, and the frequency can also be seen using the factory frequency of the public version of the scheme, without pre-overclocking. But in fact, in addition to the appearance of the high-end product line compared to the more elegant, its inside is still very good, the heat pipes have been nickel-plated, the radiator and the GPU core contact place does not use the heat pipe direct contact program, but the use of a more close contact of the pure copper base scheme, and also carried out nickel plating treatment, a variety of details can be said to be no different from high-end products.
2 6mm heat pipe configuration and 5 + 1 power supply is not called stacking level material, but for the RTX 3050 is completely sufficient, you can see that its full load maximum temperature is only 63.8 degrees Celsius, the hot spot temperature is not even 80 degrees Celsius, but also has about 6% of the overclocking amplitude, in general, it is a recommended practical graphics card.