ASUSDual NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 6GB OC Edition Gaming Graphics Card - PCIe 4.0, 6GB GDDR6 Memory, HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 1.4a, 2-Slot Design, Axial-tech Fan Design, 0dB Technology, Steel Bracket

The ASUS Dual NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OC Edition has completely exceeded my expectations. Whether gaming, streaming, or editing, this GPU delivers smooth, responsive performance that takes visuals to the next level.The 8GB GDDR6 memory ensures that even demanding games run seamlessly, while the PCIe 4.0 interface provides lightning-fast data transfer. The Axial-tech fan design is a game-changer—keeping the card cool even under intense loads, and the 0dB technology makes for a whisper-quiet experience during lighter workloads.The HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 1.4a provide versatility for high-resolution monitors, and the steel bracket adds durability that gives me peace of mind. ASUS has nailed the balance of power, efficiency, and reliability in this card. If you’re looking for a budget-friendly RTX 30-series GPU with excellent performance, this one is a solid choice.Highly recommended for gamers and creators alike.

I'm thoroughly satisfied with this video card, does as intended and suits my needs perfectly at a price that's easy to manage! Well worth buying if you need a really good gaming video card!

At the beginning of this year I built a new PC with an I7-12700K. This is a productivity PC, not a gaming build, but just to be fun I still went with light-up components. My desktop uses a 4K 32" monitor and a full HD 24" monitor. The I7's IGP was having some issues with the 4K monitor so I decided I would have to add a card to the mix. When I built the PC, video cards were way overpriced so I dug around in my junk box and found a GTX 750ti. It worked, but the poor thing ran really hot. That might have something to do with the fan on the card being dead and me finally just taking the entire cooling shroud off to allow the case airflow to cool the card.For months, I kept a lookout for price drops on the ASUS ROG STRIX cards. I was looking for two things with those cards. First, I wanted the fan stop capability as my ASUS Z690 PRIME motherboard can stop the case fans (5 x 140mm Cooler Master fans) when the machine is not under load and running cool. This allows for a nearly silent PC as the CPU fan drops down to just a few hundred RPM and can't be heard at all. Second, I wanted some lights to go along with the fans, CPU cooler, and RAM that is all synchronized through Armoury Crate (plus a custom app I'll mention later).Finally, the price on the ASUS ROG STRIX RTX 350 dropped to only $335 for a day or two. I jumped on it.The timing did end up being interesting. Back when I bought that original GTX 750ti, I did some cryptomining with it on the side and was able to make a few dollars (which actually turned into quite a bit more when Bitcoin went up in value) just letting the card mine at night. I had planned on doing the same with this card. Of course, the day I bought the card, the ETH switch to PoS happened and GPU mining became unprofitable overnight. Oh well, I still needed a reasonable video card.The card is installed and working. I have had a couple of issues, but neither is the fault of the video card itself so there is no drop in stars.First, my KVM doesn't like the card. I have a work laptop and my desktop machine running to the previously mentioned 4K monitor through a KVM. It works, but when the PC tells the monitor to shutoff, the monitor starts cycling with a "no signal" warning which didn't happen with the previous video card. I know it is the KVM because if I bypass the KVM the monitor will stay in sleep mode as expected. Trying to find a better KVM now (that doesn't break the bank).Second, and this is an ASUS issue but not specific to this card, is a problem with controlling the LEDs on the card. I'm a software developer and can't help but tinker. Before I got the new card, I wrote a program that uses ASUS's AURI Sync API to control the lights in the computer. The program's job is to watch for event signals when the monitor goes to sleep and wakes up. When it goes to sleep, I shut off the lights. When it wakes up, I let the lights go back to doing whatever Armoury Crate was setup to do. This worked fine with the motherboard's LED headers and the RAM. However, the video card is never detected by the API. I can control the lighting in Armoury Crate just fine (which is why it isn't losing a star), but the API doesn't see it and when the API tells the other lights to shutoff the lights on the video card just freeze in whatever state they were in. No help from ASUS's ROG forum on this, so for now I just have the lights on the card shutoff. Disappointing, but doesn't keep the card from doing its job.OK, with all of that, the card is doing fine for what I need it for. It plays videos, shows all content, and (most importantly) stays cool. I'm very impressed with how cool it stays. I tried out one of the NVIDIA technology demos which run the 3D rendering up to max. The card only climbed to 60C, and was still very quiet with its fans running. When I'm doing normal work (such as typing this), the temperature drops into the 40s and the fans on the card stop completely. By that measure alone, I consider this purchase to be mission accomplished.

Pros,1. Low power that can be ran on almost any PC with only using power from the motherboard. No external PCIE power connection required and only draws 70 watts. It makes this ideal for old Dell systems with no 6 or 8 pin power plugs.2. Unlike some people I didn't find the fans to be loud nor the temperatures to be to high though I haven't really put this GPU under any heavy load.3. Works great as a dedicated PhysX GPU for the new RTX 5000 series since Nvidia stopped suport for CUDA 32 bit on these new GPUs.4. This is the best use I've found. This GPU is great for using while running heavy video encoding workloads on a more powerful Nvidia GPU. I was using this GPU with a RTX 5070TI. I'd run video encoding while using the RTX 3050 to watch YouTube video, watch movies and I could even play less demanding video games at the same time since I'm also using a Ryzen 7 9800X3D which gives me enough core and threads to do both.5. This is a PCIE 4.0X8 GPU so you lose next to no performance when running this GPU in a PCIE 4.0x4 or a 3.0x16 slot. It doesn't seem to saturate the bandwidth at those points.Cons,1. It's a PCIE 4.0x8 so be careful how old your system is. On something like a PCIE 3.0x4 or lower you'll be likely to suffer performance loss.2. As a second GPU it can be problematic. It's a 2 slot design and a lot of newer motherboards put their second fastest PCIE slot at the bottom of the board. The way I get around this is to use a riser cable and mount this GPU vertically. The drawback is my GPU still sticks out a little bit. I may shop around for a bigger case that'd have additional room at the bottom or is wider so it doesn't stick out of the case.3. If running as a 2nd GPU make sure you have a powerful enough PSU. Since I'm running a RTX 5070TI as my primary GPU the one I own recommends a 850 watt PSU. Fortunately I have a 1000 watt PSU so I have enough headroom.4. If you're looking to buy this as a budget gaming GPU I'd advise against it. You be far far better off buying something from the used market. You're more likely to get a much more powerful gaming GPU at a far better price. Even if you do rendering tasks even older RTX GPUs can be found cheaper used that will perform far far better.Update: No matter what I did I could not get the sound to go through the HDMI port on the RTX 3050, I highly believe it's conflicting drivers. My workaround is to use the onboard sound or an external DAC to get sound while using the RTX 3050. Currently I'm using to headphone jack on the front of my PC to get sound while using the RTX 3050. I can switch to HDMI sound through my receiver when I'm using the RTX 5070TI for games and Dolby Atmos/Dolby Vision movies and my more demanding newest AAA games.Newest update: As I said about having issues fitting this GPU in my older case which was a Phantek P500A I ended getting a new case that solved that issue and I'll include a picture. I bought a LIAN LI LANCOOL 216 E-ATX PC Case and if you put the motherboard in the aircooled position it will fit a 2 slot GPU on the bottom with a little room for airflow. My cable management bites, but this should give you an idea if you want to try this like I did. It works well for me.