RTX 3050 laptop vs 4050 laptop in 2024

We compare the specs, price, and performance of RTX 4050 laptop vs 3050 laptop graphics cards

Aaron Ritchie

Gaming Laptop

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When comparing RTX 4050 laptop vs 3050 laptop GPUs – how much difference is there? We were pretty disappointed by the previous gen RTX 3050 releases, and though the RTX 3050 Ti laptop range was better these were still not great performers. In terms of the 40-series cards though, both the entry-level RTX 4050 and RTX 4060 models have proven quite impressive upgrades over the previous generation. We’ve conducted our own in-depth review of an Acer Nitro 5 equipped with an RTX 4050, and can conclude that the newer card performs up to 50% better than the RTX 3050 did and up to around 30% better than the RTX 3050 Ti mobile, and this is before you consider the additional benefits brought by DLSS 3.0, which should further boost FPS on those games that can enable it.

We’ve got into more depth below comparing the specification differences and the performance comparison, but ultimately we wouldn’t recommend buying an RTX 3050/3050 Ti laptop in most cases, however our best RTX 4050 laptop guide is well worth checking out (we’ve summarised the top picks below).

RTX 4050 laptop vs RTX 3050 laptop specifications

Architecture & GPU

Nvidia 40 series graphics card architecture is based on the 4nm process by TSMC, codenamed Ada Lovelace, which is an improvement on the larger 8nm Samsung process used in the 30 series architecture, codenamed Ampere. The new process means that more transistors can be put onto the same amount of space, or the same amount on a smaller-sized chip, plus it has greater electrical efficiency.

GPU & CUDA Cores

Nvidia’s GPU-naming convention means larger GPUs have a smaller number, so the AD107 GPU of the RTX 4050 laptop graphics card is smaller than that of the AD106 in the RTX 4070 laptop graphics card. The prefix AD is the shortened version of Ada Lovelace.

Although the GA107 has the same numerical designation, it is based on older technology (hence the GA prefix), so performs less efficiently and with less processing power, and with less CUDA cores being able to fit on the same sized chip (hence the 25% increase in core count for the RTX 4050).

Clock speed & TGP

Clock speed is one of the key determinants when looking at performance. As you can see, the RTX 4050 has a substantially higher Boost clock than the RTX 3050.

TGP (Total Graphics Power) is the usual determinant of how hard laptop one graphics card is compared to another with the same name i.e. not all laptop graphics cards are created equal, and the amount of power (measured in Watts) a particular RTX 4050 laptop GPU can suck up might be different from that of another RTX 4050 laptop GPU in a different machine – meaning more performance at the potential expense of worse battery life.

However, across different cards based on different architecture, like the two compared here, a direct comparison isn’t possible. Nevertheless, a higher TGP ceiling of 115W on the most powerful RTX 4050 laptops, on top of the greater efficiency already discussed, indicates that they will be considerably more powerful.

VRAM, Memory Bus & Memory Bandwidth

VRAM aka video random access memory is essentially the short-term memory of the graphics card that acts as a frame buffer and as pixel storage. The memory bus and bandwidth enables the transfer of this information. More VRAM and a larger memory bus/bandwidth enables a smoother experience with better framerate and latency. It’s especially useful for larger resolutions as they have higher pixel counts to fill up many gigabytes.

Although the memory bus on the newer RTX 4050 has decreased, the VRAM has increased by 50%, as has the bandwidth (due to the greater memory speed), meaning it’s overall more effective than its predecessor.

RTX 4050 laptop vs RTX 3050 laptop performance

The below graph as reported by WCCFTECH shows a Time Spy benchmark test, and lists the RTX 4050 laptop GPU beside 30-series mobile GPUs (the gray bars) and 40-series GPUs (the green bars). There is also the RTX 3050 6G in green, the new upcoming variant of the RTX 3050 laptop card with more VRAM. The original 4G VRAM version is also listed.

The original 4G VRAM RTX 3050 laptop GPU was a bit of a damp squib – worse in a lot of ways than the GTX 1660 Ti laptops from two generations earlier. By contrast, the RTX 4050 laptops are well worth the money, only underperforming the previous mid-range entry, the RTX 3060, by 15 percent.

In terms of RTX 4050 laptop vs RTX 3050 laptop performance, the new card has around 50 percent more juice than the RTX 3050 4G, and 29 percent more than the RTX 3050 Ti. Of course, these are synthetic benchmarks and performance will vary from game to game. In particular, those that support DLSS 3.0 should show additional FPS gains over the 30-series laptops.

Of course, lower-powered RTX 4050s (in TGP terms) could perform worse, but on the whole this is what you should expect.

RTX 4050 laptop price vs 3050 laptop price

The RTX 4050 laptop prices we’ve seen so far range from $999 all the way up to $2,399.99, though the latter is more of an outlier, being an ultralight creative laptop with AMOLED display. Most conventional RTX 4050 gaming laptops will max out around the $1,500 mark.

Although you may find some RTX 3050 laptops on offer for as low as $699, the current MSRP of the cheapest options is around $899, which is not that much cheaper than the cheapest RTX 4050s. If price drops become permanent then an RTX 3050 laptop might be worth picking up for $699, for a true budget offering, but at the current full prices, we think the RTX 4050 laptop is far better value.

RTX 4050 mobile vs RTX 3050 mobile FAQs

Final Word

Hopefully, this RTX 4050 laptop vs RTX 3050 laptop page has given you all the info you were looking for to help you make your purchase. If not, please do take a gander at our various other gaming laptop guides.