Lenovo Doc Confirms NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060, RTX 3050 Ti, RTX 3050 Desktop Ampere GPUs
Little by little, NVIDIA has been fleshing out its GeForce RTX 30 series on the desktop, even if the cards are rarely in stock. Now standing four SKUs tall, you can bet NVIDIA is not finished adding to the pile. Less expensive Ampere options are on the horizon (currently the cheapest card is the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, priced at $399), and adding to the deluge of leaks, Lenovo has basically confirmed three more unannounced cards.
Before we get to those, let's talk about the current lineup. NVIDIA released the GeForce RTX 3080 on September 17, with a price set at $699. Then a week later on September 24, it released the GeForce RTX 3090 for $1,499. The GeForce RTX 3070 would follow a month later, debuting for $499 on October 29, then came the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti earlier this month on December 2.
So that is where things stand—if you want to buy an Ampere card, you are looking at spending between $399 and $1,499, based on MSRP pricing (the cards cost quite a bit more on the second-hand market since demand is outstripping supply at the moment).
Looking ahead, more cards are coming, and Lenovo revealed some specific models on a support page for an upcoming Legion R5 28IMB05 desktop. Take a look...
I've highlighted the revealing entries, which include three unannounced Ampere desktop graphics cards. They include the GeForce RTX 3060 (non-Ti model), GeForce RTX 3050 Ti, and GeForce RTX 3050. Incidentally, it was reported back in July that the GeForce RTX 3060 and 3050 had been taped out, which means the final circuitry design had been sent out to manufacturing (it's the last phase before production begins in earnest).
According to Lenovo's support page, the regular GeForce RTX 3060 sports 12GB of GDDR6 memory. Interestingly, that is up from 8GB of GDDR6 memory on the Ti version that already exists. However, rumor has it the regular model will feature a narrower memory bus (192-bit versus 256-bit), fewer CUDA cores (3,840 versus 4,864), fewer RT cores (30 versus 38), and fewer TMUs (120 versus 152).
Assuming any or all of that holds true, the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti will still be the overall faster card, even with less onboard GDDR6 memory.
The GeForce RTX 3050 Ti, meanwhile, is shown as having 6GB of GDDR6 memory. According to past leaks and rumors, it is expected to arrive with a 192-bit memory bus, 3,584 CUDA cores, 28 RT cores, and 112 TMUs.
Finally, the regular GeForce RTX 3050 is listed with 4GB of GDDR6 memory. It is expected to arrive with a 128-bit memory bus, 2,304 CUDA cores, 18 RT cores, and 72 TMUs.
None of the specifications are officially confirmed, as NVIDIA has not even acknowledged these new cards. But perhaps there will be an unveiling next month on or around the Consumer Electronics Show.
