Geforce GTX 1050 vs Radeon RX 580
The Radeon RX 580 pulls ahead here — in a different league, about 100% ahead of the Geforce GTX 1050. It also wins on performance-per-dollar, making it the cleaner choice when you can afford it.
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Radeon RX 580 vs Geforce GTX 1050: In-Depth Breakdown
Performance: Radeon RX 580 vs Geforce GTX 1050
The Radeon RX 580 is dramatically faster, around 100% ahead of the Geforce GTX 1050. Both cards sit in the same broad class, well suited to entry-level 1080p.
Price & Value
Pricing has the Geforce GTX 1050 at $65 USD, $45 USD under the Radeon RX 580's $110 USD. Because it's both faster and competitively priced, the Radeon RX 580 wins on performance-per-dollar by about 18%. The Geforce GTX 1050 is trading below its $109 USD MSRP — a genuine deal. The Radeon RX 580 is trading below its $229 USD MSRP — a genuine deal.
Power & Efficiency
Power draw favors the Geforce GTX 1050 (75W vs 185W), and it's the more efficient card too, so it's the easy pick if thermals or a smaller PSU matter.
VRAM & Future-Proofing
The Radeon RX 580 carries 8GB versus 2GB on the Geforce GTX 1050. The extra 6GB helps at 4K, with high-resolution texture packs, and for content-creation or local-AI workloads that exhaust smaller buffers.
Features & Ecosystem
Beyond raw numbers, the Geforce GTX 1050 brings NVIDIA DLSS upscaling/frame generation and stronger ray tracing, while the Radeon RX 580 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 GTX 1050 or Radeon RX 580?
The Radeon RX 580 is the all-round winner here — it's faster and the better value, so buy it if it fits your budget. Only consider the Geforce GTX 1050 if you find it at a steep discount.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Radeon RX 580 better than the Geforce GTX 1050?
Which is better for 4K gaming, the Geforce GTX 1050 or the Radeon RX 580?
Is the Radeon RX 580 worth the extra $45 USD over the Geforce GTX 1050?
Does the Radeon RX 580 have enough VRAM advantage to matter?
Which should you buy: Geforce GTX 1050 or Radeon RX 580?
Technical Specifications Comparison
Architecture & Cores
| Specification | Geforce GTX 1050 | Radeon RX 580 |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Pascal | GCN 4.0 (Polaris) |
| Process Node | Samsung 14nm | GloFo 14nm |
| CUDA Cores (CUDA Cores / Stream Processors) | 640 | 2,304✓ |
Clock Speeds
| Specification | Geforce GTX 1050 | Radeon RX 580 |
|---|---|---|
| Base Clock | 1,354 MHz✓ | 1,257 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 1,455 MHz✓ | 1,340 MHz |
Memory
| Specification | Geforce GTX 1050 | Radeon RX 580 |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM Capacity | 2 GB | 8 GB✓ |
| Memory Type | GDDR5 | GDDR5 |
| Memory Bus | 128-bit | 256-bit✓ |
| Memory Speed | 7 Gbps | 8 Gbps✓ |
| Bandwidth | 112 GB/s | 256 GB/s✓ |
Connectivity & Power
| Specification | Geforce GTX 1050 | Radeon RX 580 |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |
| TDP | 75 W✓ | 185 W |
| Power Connectors | None | 1x 8-pin |
| Released | Oct 2016 | Apr 2017 |
