Low Profile RTX 3050 With 65W TDP Surfaces in China
An interesting new Nvidia GeForce desktop graphics card has popped up at Chinese retailer JD.com. This latest in a long lineage of Chinese Frankenstein GPUs delivers a GeForce RTX 3050 in a low-profile (LP) design. However, the tech specs indicate that this card is equipped with a mobile RTX 3050 GPU, with 8GB of VRAM, and a low 65W TDP, meaning no PCI power connector would be required.
We think interest in this compact, low-wattage card will be limited due to the listing price of 1,999 Chinese Yuan ($278 at today's exchange rate). However, some text on the JD.com lead image implies deals can be done for volume orders.
In the images you can see that this GeForce RTX 3050 appears to be unbranded. Only one image includes a name 'Junwel', but searching for prior products from this firm was fruitless. The listing hints that this particular graphics card design will be a good choice for light e-Sports gaming or industrial PCs in need of a graphics adapter.
The graphics card's shroud and small fan are black nondescript parts, and there is no backplate. While this is a low-profile design, a full height bracket is shown in all the pictures, and no corresponding LP bracket can be seen in the listing, nor is one mentioned in the description / specs. Let us now look at the all the specs we have for this product, compared to a normal Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 desktop graphics card.
What is most out of place in the specs above is seeing what is thought to be a mobile RTX 3050 GPU paired with 8 GB of VRAM. In laptops, these GPUs came with 4 GB or 6 GB, while a buyer had to step up to an RTX 3050 Ti mobile to get 8 GB of VRAM.
We've recently reported on low-profile RTX 4060 desktop graphics cards on the way, from well known brands like Gigabyte. If / when a GeForce RTX 4050 is released by Nvidia, we could see several more very compact LP and Mini ITX alternatives.
