Given that Nvidia has been forced to resurrect a handful of older graphics cards to alleviate demand for its perpetually out-of-stock RTX 3080 series, one might think that the RTX 2050 laptop GPU announcement is the same old iteration.

Actually, it is not. Despite its name, the GeForce RTX 2050 is actually based on the same GA107 Ampere design found in the RTX 3050 laptop GPU, rather than the Turing architecture of other RTX 20 series cards. when the RTX 2050 arrives next year, budget could power some of the best gaming laptops for those on a limited budget. Here is what we know so far.

Of course, there is a definite downside to the smaller numbers: the RTX 3050 has a 128-bit memory bus, while the RTX 2050 halves this to 64 bits, and the boost clock speed is limited to 1,477 MHz instead of 1,740 MHz. But otherwise, it is the same, down to 2,048 CUDA cores, 4GB of GDDR6 VRAM, and the ability to output ray-tracing graphics (although not as efficiently as more expensive hardware).

Besides price, these paired-back specifications have the advantage of energy efficiency: the RTX 2050 laptop GPU is listed at 30-45W, while the RTX 3050 laptop consumes 35-80W.

Along with the RTX 2050, Nvidia also announced two other low-cost laptop GPU options, the MX550 and MX570. The former is based on the Turing architecture, while the latter uses Ampere, but the markets for both are the same. The Turing GPUs are thin and light laptops that require slightly more powerful performance than integrated graphics for photo and video editing, as well as for light gaming.

What is a bit odd about this announcement, besides the confusingly named Series 20 for what appears to be a Series 30 GPU, is the timeline: according to Nvidia, all three laptop GPUs are being prepared for spring 2022, which is clearly still some way off.

Why lead?

Why the long lead time? Well, it may be due to the global chip shortage, but it may also have something to do with Nvidia's busy January season.

Rumor has it that Nvidia will release three desktop GPUs next month, including two RTX 3050s in addition to the RTX 3070 Ti and RTX 3090 Ti. However, it remains highly doubtful that availability will be any better than what is currently nominally available for purchase.