MSI GeForce RTX 3050 Gaming X 6GB GDDR6 Black
Sapphire Radeon RX 7900 XTX PULSE 24GB GDDR6
What Buyers Say
MSI GeForce RTX 3050 Gaming X 6GB GDDR6 Black
The RTX 3050 is widely praised as a budget-friendly card that runs on PCIe slot power alone, making it ideal for office PCs with low-wattage PSUs. Users highlight its solid 1080p gaming performance, DLSS 3 support, and quiet operation, though some note it's not a miracle worker and better options exist for a bit more money. Overall, it's seen as great value for entry-level builds.
Pros
- Runs on PCIe slot power only
- Low power draw (under 100W)
- Great 1080p gaming performance
- DLSS 3 support
- Quiet and cool operation
Cons
- Not a miracle worker
- Better options for slightly more money
- Fan noise after a year (one case)
- Price a bit steep vs used cards
Sapphire Radeon RX 7900 XTX PULSE 24GB GDDR6
The Sapphire Pulse RX 7900 XTX is widely praised for its excellent price-to-performance ratio, offering massive 24GB VRAM and strong rasterization that rivals the RTX 4080 at a much lower cost. Users highlight its cool and quiet operation, though some note it runs hot in cases with poor airflow and requires a high-wattage PSU (800W minimum, 1000W recommended). A few negative reviews mention receiving a wrong item (keyboard instead of GPU) or driver issues that were resolved by upgrading other PC components. Overall, it's considered a beast for gaming and 3D work, but not ideal for eGPU setups.
Pros
- Excellent price-to-performance ratio
- Massive 24GB VRAM
- Cool and quiet operation
- Strong rasterization performance
- Great for gaming and 3D work
Cons
- Requires high-wattage PSU (800W min, 1000W recommended)
- Runs hot in cases with poor airflow
- Power spikes up to 400W
- Not ideal for eGPU setups
- Driver issues reported (resolved with system upgrades)
Scores
Specifications
| MSI GeForce RTX 3050 Gaming X | Sapphire Radeon RX 7900 XTX PULSE | |
|---|---|---|
| Chipset | ||
| GPU Chipset | GeForce RTX 3050 | Radeon RX 7900 XTX |
| Brand | NVIDIA | AMD |
| Architecture | Ampere | RDNA 3 |
| Class | consumer | consumer |
| Process | 8 | 5★ |
| Memory | ||
| VRAM | 6 GB | 24 GB★ |
| Memory Type | GDDR6 | GDDR6 |
| Memory Bus | ||
| Bandwidth | ||
| ECC | — | ✗ |
| Compute | ||
| CUDA Cores | No data | |
| Stream Processors | ||
| Tensor Cores | ||
| RT Cores | 16 | 96★ |
| Base Clock | ||
| Boost Clock | ||
| FP16 TFLOPS | ||
| FP32 TFLOPS | 4.813000202178955 | 61.38999938964844★ |
| Performance | ||
| PassMark G3D | ||
| GPU Compute | ||
| Power & Cooling | ||
| TDP | 70★ | 370 |
| Recommended PSU | 550★ | 800 |
| Power Connectors | None | 3 x 8-Pin |
| Cooler | Dual Fan | Triple Fan★ |
| Fans | 2 | 3★ |
| Connectivity | ||
| Interface | PCI Express 4.0 x16 | PCI Express 4.0 x16 |
| DisplayPort | 1 | 2★ |
| HDMI | 2 | 2 |
| Max Displays | 4 | 4 |
| Max Resolution | 7680 x 4320 | 7680 x 4320 |
| Physical | ||
| Length | 205★ | 313 |
| Slot Width | 2★ | 3 |
| Form Factor | Full Height | ATX |
| Weight | 0.77 kg★ | 1.95 kg |
| Features | ||
| Ray Tracing | ✓ | ✓ |
| Upscaling | DLSS | FSR |
| AV1 Encode | ✓ | ✓ |
| VR Ready | — | ✓★ |
| DirectX | 12 Ultimate | 12 Ultimate |
| RGB | ✗ | ✓★ |
Pros & Cons
MSI GeForce RTX 3050 Gaming X 6GB GDDR6 Black
- Strong social proof (95th percentile)95th %ile
- Strong efficiency (91st percentile)91st %ile
- Strong affordability (81st percentile)81st %ile
- Strong feature (73rd percentile)
- Below average ai (19th percentile)19th %ile
- Below average compute (19th percentile)19th %ile
- Below average vram (23rd percentile)
- Below average raster (25th percentile)
Sapphire Radeon RX 7900 XTX PULSE 24GB GDDR6
- Strong feature (96th percentile)96th %ile
- Strong rt (96th percentile)96th %ile
- Strong compute (95th percentile)95th %ile
- Strong ai (95th percentile)95th %ile
- Below average affordability (19th percentile)19th %ile
Pricing
MSI GeForce RTX 3050 Gaming X 6GB GDDR6 Black offers 2.7x better value for money
Verdict
Scores 90 overall, wins 7 of 8 usage categories and 18 of 40 specs.
