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Nvidia is preparing three new laptop graphics cards for gamers on a budget

Nvidia has just announced the upcoming release of three new graphics cards: The GeForce RTX 2050, GeForce MX570, and GeForce MX550.

All three cards are aimed at entry-level laptop gaming. We now know more about their specifications.

A laptop running the upcoming Nvidia GeForce RTX 2050 graphics card.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Nvidia’s new laptop GPU lineup is made up of two different architectures. The Nvidia GeForce RTX 2050 graphics card is based on the previous-generation Turing architecture, but the MX570 and MX550 are both based on the current Ampere.

Although the RTX 2050 represents an older architecture, it’s a brand-new graphics card that actually rivals the laptop version of the RTX 2060. It’s based on the TU106 GPU with 2,048 cores, meaning it has the RTX 2060 beat, as the older GPU has 1,920 CUDA cores. It also has a fairly balanced TGP (total graphics power) of 45 watts.

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The upcoming RTX 2050 has 4GB of GDDR6 memory clocked at 14Gbps, but due to its 64-bit bus interface, it has only 112GB/s of bandwidth compared to the 336GB/s provided by the laptop version of the RTX 2060. Nvidia’s new release also has a boost clock of up to 1,477MHz which is slightly lower than the maximum of 1,560MHz found in the RTX 2060.

Although there are similarities between the RTX 2050 and the RTX 2060, RTX 2050 seems to be aimed at the entry-level segment, so the lower bandwidth can definitely be excused. It should still be able to stand its ground in many games, especially with a little compromise in terms of settings.

Nvidia hasn’t revealed much about the new GeForce MX570 and MX550 graphics cards. They are entirely new units and not much is known about them except the architecture they are based on. Being part of the current Ampere line of GPUs, the same as some of the best graphics cards on the current market, they’re entry-level cousins to the RTX 3000 line.

The new Nvidia GeForce MX570 chip.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

According to Nvidia, all three cards are going to support ray tracing, Reflex, Broadcast, and Nvidia DLSS. They are also going to work with Nvidia Optimus, meaning they should offer a good balance of long battery life and gaming performance.

It’s interesting to see that Nvidia continues the Ampere line even with the upcoming Ada Lovelace RTX 40-series graphics cards already on the horizon. Just recently, the manufacturer launched a 12GB variant of the desktop version of the RTX 2060.

We can expect to start seeing all three of these new cards in entry-level laptops as soon as spring 2022.

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Monica J. White
Monica is a UK-based freelance writer and self-proclaimed geek. A firm believer in the "PC building is just like expensive…
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