During CES 2022 in early January, NVIDIA unveiled a series of blockbuster products, in addition to the RTX 3070Ti/3080 Ti laptop GPU for mobile platforms, but also includes new desktop graphics, the most anticipated by gamers is the desktop version of RTX 3050, GeForce RTX™ 3050 with NVIDIA Ampere architecture of powerful graphics performance, equipped with the new second generation of RT Core, The third generation of Tensor Core, along with the new streaming multiprocessor and high-speed G6 memory, brings realistic ray tracing and powerful AI performance.
Well-known e-sports hardware brand MSI MSI MSI technology also announced the first RTX 3050 graphics card, we received MSI GeForce RTX 3050 GAMING X 8G magic dragon graphics card, upgrade to GeForce RTX graphics card will bring a better experience to the game, next let's see how the MSI GeForce RTX 3050 GAMING X 8G magic dragon graphics card behaves through the box.
appearance
MSI GeForce RTX 3050 GAMING X 8G Dragon measures 278*135*51mm, compared to the other five large and three-thick three-fan graphics cards, the chassis can choose a much larger range, basically do not have to worry about the chassis can not be stuffed. This graphics card is a stylish mix of black and iron gray, and the streamlined shape is very elegant and atmospheric.
The MSI GeForce RTX 3050 GAMING X 8G Dragon is equipped with MSI's iconic TWIN FROZR 8 dual-fan cooling design. The new Blade 6 fan features a unique ring blade design that allows for more concentrated airflow, aided by airflow guidance technology, for better heat dissipation and reduced noise.
The magic silent fin designed with airflow guidance technology and aerodynamic technology can not only guide the airflow to be more concentrated, so as to achieve a better heat dissipation effect, but also effectively reduce the noise caused by the passage of the airflow, with the zero-motion space fan stop technology, the fan will automatically stop when the graphics card is under low load, minimizing the interference of fan noise.
The back panel of MSI GeForce RTX 3050 GAMING X 8G Dragon is a metal backplane that not only enhances graphics card strength, protects components, but also connects the back PCB through a thermal guide for auxiliary heat dissipation.
The graphics card also features the classic RGB Dragon Soul Faith Light from the GAMING Dragon series, and the upgraded MSI Center software makes it easy to adjust the lighting effects and customize settings.
In terms of power supply interface, MSI has equipped the GeForce RTX 3050 GAMING Dragon with an external power supply of 8PIN.
In terms of video output interface, MSI GeForce RTX 3050 GAMING X 8G Magic Dragon is configured with an HDMI2.1 interface, plus three DP1.4 interfaces of all-digital high-speed interface, which is also the current mainstream interface configuration scheme, which is enough to meet the interface needs of most players.
In order to get the full performance of the MSI GeForce RTX 3050 GAMING X 8G Dragon, we will build a test platform with the following hardware configurations:
Performance parameters
After updating to the latest version of the driver and GPU-Z, through the identification of GPU-Z, we can see that MSI GeForce RTX 3050 GAMING X 8G Dragon uses a GA106 (LHR) GPU chip, made of 8nm process, with 2560 sets of CUDA cores, with a GPU frequency of 1552MHz and a BOOST frequency of 1845MHz. The graphics card uses 8GB of GDDR6 memory, with a bit width of 128bit and a memory bandwidth of 224GB/s, and the default power consumption of the MSI GeForce RTX 3050 GAMING X 8G Dragon is 130W, and the maximum power consumption is 140W.
While the MSI GeForce RTX 3050 GAMING X 8G Dragon positioning is an entry-level entry level for desserts, the various features of the NVIDIA RTX 30 series have been retained. Like other RTX 30 series GPUs, MSI GeForce RTX 3050 GAMING X 8G Dragon also supports NVIDIA DLSS technology, NVIDIA Reflex technology and NVIDIA Broadcast technology, which can effectively improve performance and image quality in games, and still support real-time ray tracing technology.
In the actual test, taking into account the stability of the system, we did not overclock, only tested at the default frequency. First, let's test it with the professional scoring software 3D Mark to test the performance of DX11 and DX12, including TimeSpy, FireStrike, and ray tracing performance. In the 3D mark test, we don't use the total score, only the graphics card score, the DX11 performance test project Fire Strike benchmark scored 15765 points, the more demanding Fire Strike Extreme scored 7390 points, and the 4K HD benchmark Fire Strike Ultra scored 3418 points.
The Time Spy benchmark score on the DX12 test project was 6245 points, while the Time Spy Extreme based on 4K resolution received 2867 points.
In the 3DMark Port Royal test, we can see that the light chase performance score is 3601, and it is estimated that the frame rate of the Battlefield 5 game can reach 65 frames at 2K resolution.
Thermal and power testing
In the heat dissipation test, we use FurMark to perform a 20-minute test at room temperature of 23 °C. Half an hour later, thanks to the new Blade 6 fan with a unique ring fan design and airflow guidance technology, MSI GeForce RTX 3050 GAMING X 8G Magic Dragon graphics card has excellent heat dissipation capabilities, real-time temperature of 53.1 °C, at this time the GPU power consumption is 139.374W, such temperature control and power consumption performance is absolutely very good for entry-level hardware players.
Game testing
Since the official description of the RTX 3050 can reach the level of 1080P full play, we have selected several different types of games to open the highest picture quality, tested at 1080P resolution, let's see if its game performance is really so powerful.
In the AAA masterpiece, "God of War" landed on the PC, causing many players to discuss, this game MSI GeForce RTX 3050 GAMING X 8G Dragon can reach 65 frames at 1080P resolution, we can optimize the poor "Cyberpunk 2077" even the extremely high quality can be close to 60 frames, and "Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy" running score is also achieved a good score of 87 frames, in the mainstream game, this graphics card can fully meet the needs of players a variety of games.
In online esports games like PUBG, LOL, CS:GO, MSI GeForce RTX 3050 GAMING X 8G Dragon can also achieve very good results at 1080P resolution, and even the latter two can run at more than 350 frames in ultra-high quality. In the recent popular multi-person martial arts chicken eating online game "Forever Doomed", we can also play with a frame rate of 60 frames, and eating chicken is not a problem.
Ray tracing and DLSS
Although it is only as an entry-level graphics card, but as a member of the RTX family, MSI GeForce RTX 3050 GAMING X 8G Dragon equipped with the new second-generation RT Core and the third-generation Tensor Core, which allows us to enjoy the charm of light chasing at a low price, we open "Cyberpunk 2077", compared with the switch ray tracing, you can find that after turning on ray tracing, the real reflection and halo effect of light chase are very shocking. The neon of the vending machine and the building has a good reflection, the level of detail of the picture is also greatly enhanced, and the visual expression of the scene's light and shadow interlacing is more comfortable.
RTX off RTX on
The pressure on the hardware after turning on the light chase is not small, but the DLSS (deep learning super sampling technology) brought by the third generation Tensor Core can render high-resolution pictures through AI learning to increase the frame rate, in "Cyberpunk 2077", the frame number under the highest quality is only 57 frames, and in the DLSS performance file, the game frame rate easily breaks 100. In God of War 4, we had a 65-frame level at 1080P, but after turning on the DLSS in the "DLSS Quality" gear, the frame rate rose to 77 frames! In the two AAA masterpieces of "Death Stranding" and "Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy", DLSS can also achieve the ultra-high frame rate operation of the game.
In "Forever Doom", we have a level of 61 frames at 1080P extremely high quality, and when the "DLSS Performance" option is turned on, we can play at a game frame rate of nearly 120, with a high-brush monitor, and easily eat chicken in the martial arts world. Judging from the test results, if the player has 60 frames and above smooth light chasing game requirements, we still recommend turning on the DLSS option under the light chase.
NVIDIA Reflex test
In addition to the above, the MSI GeForce RTX 3050 GAMING X 8G Dragon is also equipped with NVIDIA Reflex technology, which delivers lower latency for better responsiveness and competitive advantage. This technology has been decentralized to the GeForce 900 series GPUs (or later), our MSI GeForce RTX 3050 GAMING X 8G Dragon certainly supports the same, and the NVIDIA Reflex low latency mode reduces latency to even lower, putting the RTX 3050 at a market-leading level.
After we turned on the Reflex function in "Shadow Torch City", we can see that the delay was reduced from 12.1ms to 7.7ms, while after turning on the Reflex function in "Forever", the delay was directly reduced by more than ten milliseconds, and during the play of "God of War 4", we can also get lower latency and higher response speed, the delay is reduced from 33.5ms to 22.1ms, by MSI GeForce RTX 3050 GAMING X 8G Dragon, NVIDIA The configuration combination of G-SYNC display drivers allows players to dodge boss attacks and use key combos at the first moment.
summary
The vast majority of players are still using GTX graphics cards, which makes the RTX 3050 an attractive enough upgrade option. Although the positioning of GeForce RTX 3050 is only an entry-level game graphics card, but the workmanship and materials of MSI's Magic Dragon are still maintained at the consistently high level of the Magic Dragon series, and there is no use of exaggerated three-fan specifications like other brands, for entry-level graphics cards such as GeForce RTX 3050, the specifications of MSI GeForce RTX 3050 GAMING X 8G Magic Dragon graphics card can be described as just right, excellent appearance, Excellent materials and good heat dissipation capabilities are fully in line with the high-end positioning of the magic dragon, coupled with the new light chase and NVIDIA DLSS, NVIDIA Reflex and other technologies to bring better picture quality and smoother game experience, MSI GeForce RTX 3050 GAMING X 8G magic dragon graphics card is definitely a good choice for upgrading the PC configuration update, interested players please pay more attention.