According to whispers, Nvidia is making a mobile GeForce RTX 3050 powered by the AD106 GPU. Based on the Ada Lovelace architecture, this GPU is a staple in RTX 40 series cards.
According to the PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) ID repository, Nvidia may be secretly working on a special version of its mobile RTX 3050 GPU. However, instead of reusing the same GA107 as the original version, the so-called ‘RTX 3050 A’ will pack a more recent AD106 chip. For those unfamiliar, the AD106 is part of the Ada Lovelace GPU architecture powering Nvidia’s latest RTX 40 series cards. This means that this potential RTX 3050 A will get a modern model rocking a bunch of new features.
For example, AD106 features 4th-gen Tensor Cores and 3rd-gen RT Cores supporting the latest features such as DLSS Frame Generation. That said, we don’t know if Team Green will enable these features on RTX 30-branded cards featuring the chip. It seems unlikely. What is sure is that this rumour seems legit since this model appeared inside Nvidia’s latest GeForce drivers.
Now, as for the reason for such a choice, we can only guess. While we are accustomed to manufacturers rebranding old chips to sell them as new models, doing the opposite is unheard of. More so as it can be beneficial to the user depending on how fast it will end up being. Generally, we get the same old low-performance chip with a new badge – GT 710 ehm – and an increased sticker price.
The reason could be recycling partially defective Ada Lovelace chips, or Ampere is finally dwindling, but Nvidia isn’t ready to let go of the 30 series. It’s very confusing. In any case, this sounds promising if the cost doesn’t change much compared to the regular RTX 3050. With it, low-end gamers can enjoy a much-needed fps boost with Frame Generation.