Overall and Final Verdict
Now that we have finished up checking out what the EVGA RTX 3050 XC Black is all about, what features it has, and how it performed. How does it all come together? Well as far as the RTX 3050 performance goes, it has its ups and downs. This is a big improvement over the last generation of xx50 cards and overall it trades blows with the GTX 1070 and sometimes the GTX 1080 in our tests which both are older cards but still solid performing cards when it comes to 1080p performance. The RTX 3050 was capable of playable 1440p performance and at 1080p didn’t struggle with anything. It also hit big numbers on older esports titles like CS:GO as well for those looking to take advantage of ultra-high refresh rate monitors without throwing down for high-end GPUs.
I know a lot of people are going to be focused on the addition of ray tracing with the RTX 3050 and it does open up those possibilities. Like a lot of the mid-ranged RTX cards, just because it is capable doesn’t mean that you are going to see ideal frame rates when doing that. But That doesn’t mean that I think that the inclusion of RTX is a bad thing. I think the area where RTX features help the RTX 3050 is with including DLSS and Nvidia Reflex. With DLSS the RTX 3050 can punch above its weight class and see higher frame rates in games that support it. Then for Nvidia Reflex, being able to better optimize latency could be another reason for the RTX 3050 to be targeted at competitive/esport games over older still capable cards like the high-end 1000 series.
As for the EVGA RTX 3050 XC Black, EVGA stuck with the same design that they used on the lower end RTX 3060 cards and I love that they did. I still love the blacked-out design of the card and even without a backplate it still ends up looking extremely clean. There isn’t any RGB lighting at all or flashy fan shroud designs. The EVGA RTX 3050 XC Black even goes as far as blacking out the rear PCI bracket which is something I’ve been calling for because it looks so much better when the card is installed as well. Especially in black cases. The EVGA RTX 3050 XC Black design also goes back years in the GPU market and fits within the “normal” PCI size with a real 2 slot design the card doesn’t stick up past the top of the PCI bracket. It isn’t an ITX size, but for length, it’s also not too long as well. Even with the compact design, the EVGA RTX 3050 XC Black performed well when it came to noise and cooling performance. I’m sure it helps a lot that this cooler was designed to handle the RTX 3060 as well, so the lower TGP 3050 is light work.
As for overall cons for the EVGA RTX 3050 XC Black, the only one I ran into was a small one with it not having a backplate. Even then with this card specifically, it wasn’t too bad. Beyond that, it is just the normal concerns with ANY video card right now about card availability and scalping prices. Nvidia did send over a price list for all of the launch SKUs and each company does have a $249 card. Aftermarket overclocked cards then jump up $100/$150 for most of the other models (though Asus does have two at $439/$489). So hopefully retailer prices stay a little more grounded this time around. The $249 price point for the EVGA RTX 3050 XC on the other hand is a great price considering today's market. That doesn’t mean that I like how crazy the market is of course, but until things calm down it is the world we live in. Overall, the EVGA RTX 3050 XC Black would be a great buy for anyone looking for 1080p gaming, especially if you are interested in some of the RTX features like DLSS and Reflex.
Live Pricing: HERE
