GeForce RTX 3050 6GB vs Radeon RX 590
The GeForce RTX 3050 6GB pulls ahead here — in a different league, about 43% ahead of the Radeon RX 590. It also wins on performance-per-dollar, making it the cleaner choice when you can afford it.
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GeForce RTX 3050 6GB vs Radeon RX 590: In-Depth Breakdown
Performance: GeForce RTX 3050 6GB vs Radeon RX 590
The GeForce RTX 3050 6GB is dramatically faster, around 43% ahead of the Radeon RX 590. Both cards sit in the same broad class, well suited to entry-level 1080p.
Price & Value
Pricing has the GeForce RTX 3050 6GB at $240 CAD, $3,181 CAD under the Radeon RX 590's $3,421 CAD. Because it's both faster and competitively priced, the GeForce RTX 3050 6GB wins on performance-per-dollar by about 1936%. The Radeon RX 590 still sits about $3,142 CAD above its $279 CAD MSRP.
Power & Efficiency
Power draw favors the GeForce RTX 3050 6GB (130W vs 225W), and it's the more efficient card too, so it's the easy pick if thermals or a smaller PSU matter. Its more modern Ampere architecture on a Samsung 8nm process is part of why it does more with each watt.
VRAM & Future-Proofing
The Radeon RX 590 carries 8GB versus 6GB on the GeForce RTX 3050 6GB. The extra 2GB helps at 4K, with high-resolution texture packs, and for content-creation or local-AI workloads that exhaust smaller buffers.
Generation & Longevity
The GeForce RTX 3050 6GB is roughly 4 years newer than the Radeon RX 590 (Ampere vs GCN 4.0 (Polaris)), so it generally benefits from a more modern architecture and longer driver-support runway.
Features & Ecosystem
Beyond raw numbers, the GeForce RTX 3050 6GB brings NVIDIA DLSS upscaling/frame generation and stronger ray tracing, while the Radeon RX 590 offers AMD FSR upscaling and strong rasterization value. If you lean on upscaling or ray tracing, that ecosystem difference can matter as much as the frame-rate gap.
Which should you buy: GeForce RTX 3050 6GB or Radeon RX 590?
The GeForce RTX 3050 6GB is the all-round winner here — it's faster and the better value, so buy it if it fits your budget. Only consider the Radeon RX 590 if you find it at a steep discount.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the GeForce RTX 3050 6GB better than the Radeon RX 590?
Which is better for 4K gaming, the GeForce RTX 3050 6GB or the Radeon RX 590?
Is the Radeon RX 590 worth the extra $3,181 CAD over the GeForce RTX 3050 6GB?
Does the Radeon RX 590 have enough VRAM advantage to matter?
Which should you buy: GeForce RTX 3050 6GB or Radeon RX 590?
Technical Specifications Comparison
Architecture & Cores
| Specification | GeForce RTX 3050 6GB | Radeon RX 590 |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Ampere | GCN 4.0 (Polaris) |
| Process Node | Samsung 8nm | GloFo 12nm |
| CUDA Cores (CUDA Cores / Stream Processors) | 2,560✓ | 2,304 |
| Ray Tracing Cores | 20 | — |
| Tensor / AI Cores | 80 | — |
Clock Speeds
| Specification | GeForce RTX 3050 6GB | Radeon RX 590 |
|---|---|---|
| Base Clock | 1,552 MHz✓ | 1,469 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 1,777 MHz✓ | 1,545 MHz |
Memory
| Specification | GeForce RTX 3050 6GB | Radeon RX 590 |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM Capacity | 6 GB | 8 GB✓ |
| Memory Type | GDDR6 | GDDR5 |
| Memory Bus | 128-bit | 256-bit✓ |
| Memory Speed | 14 Gbps✓ | 8 Gbps |
| Bandwidth | 224 GB/s | 256 GB/s✓ |
Connectivity & Power
| Specification | GeForce RTX 3050 6GB | Radeon RX 590 |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | PCIe 4.0 x8 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |
| TDP | 130 W✓ | 225 W |
| Power Connectors | 1x 8-pin | 1x 8-pin |
| Released | Jan 2022 | Nov 2018 |