Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 review: ray-tracing performance

We normally test new AMD and Nvidia graphics cards in three games with RT enabled: Control, Metro Exodus and Battlefield 5. Each has a different interpretation and implementation of RT features, so we should get a good idea of how the RTX 3050 handles a range of RT workloads. Most RTX 30-series cards do comparatively better in RT workloads versus their 20-series competition, so this is the best chance for the 3050 to get close to the RTX 2060.

Control

Unfortunately, Control isn't a great start. The venerable 2060 manages a 20 percent advantage over the RTX 3050 here, but the 3050 is at least competitive against AMD cards - which typically underperform in this title, especially with RT enabled. The 3050 is 10 percent faster than the RX 6600, despite costing much less, and the RX 6500 XT couldn't even run this test. Of course, the GTX 1660 Super that's otherwise been the closest competitor to the RTX 3050 doesn't have hardware-accelerated ray tracing, so that's another win by default.

Metro Exodus

The RX 6500 XT got a score of just 8fps in our Metro Exodus test, so how much more performance do you get for an extra $50 (if RRPs were to be believed)? The 3050 is more than three times faster, averaging 25fps at 1440p. That's a lot better, and running the game at 1080p with RT and medium settings should be possible even without DLSS. Compared to other Nvidia cards, the 2060 is 15 percent faster here, while the 3060 is a mighty 44 percent faster.

Battlefield 5

Our final RT game is Battlefield 5, which was one of the first RT-enabled titles and supports ray-traced reflections. The 3050 outperforms the RX 6500 XT by a factor of 2.5 - and more importantly, effectively ties the RTX 2060. It came in the very last game we tested, but by gosh it happened in the end. The RTX 3050 also outguns the RX 6600 by 24 percent and ties with the RX 6600 XT - very good going given how much more expensive the AMD cards mentioned are.

So, overall it's a mixed bag when it comes to RT. The RX 3050 continues Nvidia's reign of terror in ray-traced titles, without even the need to lean on DLSS, but only ties the RTX 2060 in one of the three games we tested. The RTX 3060 is also significantly faster than the 3050, especially at the 1440p resolution we picked as a reasonable middle ground, so that might be the better value choice if RT performance is important to you.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 analysis

• Introduction and hardware analysis
• Doom Eternal, Control, Borderlands 3, Shadow of the Tomb Raider - Game Benchmarks Part 1
• Death Stranding, Far Cry 5, Hitman 2, Assassin's Creed Odyssey - Game Benchmarks Part 2
• Metro Exodus, Dirt Rally 2, Assassin's Creed Unity - Game Benchmarks Part 3
• Control, Metro Exodus, Battlefield 5 - RT game benchmarks [This Page]
• Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 - the Digital Foundry verdict