GPU Comparison

# NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile vs NVIDIA GRID K2

The benchmark data places these two NVIDIA GPUs at opposite ends of the mobile-to-datacenter spectrum, yet their average scores land surprisingly close. The RTX 3050 A Mobile averages 8,746 points across all tests, while the GRID K2 averages 8,080, a gap of roughly 8%. However, the only shared benchmark, Geekbench OpenCL, tells a far more dramatic story. The RTX 3050 A Mobile scores 52,998 versus the GRID K2's 10,602, producing a 399.9% advantage for the newer part. This massive disparity in raw compute throughput, combined with near-identical average scores, suggests the two GPUs excel in very different workloads that the limited overlap of test suites does not fully capture.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The sole direct comparison available is Geekbench OpenCL, and the result is decisive. The RTX 3050 A Mobile delivers 52,998 points, while the GRID K2 manages 10,602. That is a 399.9% delta, the newer GPU is roughly five times faster in this OpenCL compute test. This is not a marginal win; it is a generational gap expressed in raw numbers. The RTX 3050 A Mobile's score places it in the 44th percentile of all GPUs, whereas the GRID K2 sits at the 42nd percentile, so both are mid-pack performers overall, but the OpenCL result shows the RTX part pulling far ahead in compute-heavy tasks.

The GRID K2 has no other benchmark entries beyond Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Metal, where it scores 5,557. The RTX 3050 A Mobile, by contrast, has a full Passmark suite: DirectX 9 at 152, DirectX 10 at 61, DirectX 11 at 94, DirectX 12 at 55, G2D at 526, G3D at 11,664, and GPU compute at 4,419. The G3D score of 11,664 is particularly strong, reflecting solid rasterization performance for a 45 W mobile part. The GPU compute score of 4,419 trails the OpenCL result, indicating that different compute APIs yield different throughput on this architecture.

Comparing average scores, the RTX 3050 A Mobile's 8,746 sits just 0.7% above the Quadro P2200 (8,686) and 1.2% below the Radeon R9 M265X (8,851). The GRID K2's 8,080 is nearly identical to the GTX 650 Ti Boost (8,067) and GTX 880M (8,040), with deltas of 0.2% and 0.5% respectively. These nearest-rival comparisons show both cards clustering among mid-range parts from several generations ago, though the RTX 3050 A Mobile edges slightly higher in the overall distribution.

Architecture Differences

The RTX 3050 A Mobile is built on the GA106 chip using Ampere architecture, fabricated on Samsung's 8 nm process. It packs 12,000 million transistors into a 276 mm² die, yielding a density of 43.5 million transistors per mm². The GRID K2 uses the GK104 chip with Kepler architecture, produced by TSMC on a 28 nm process. That older node holds 3,540 million transistors across a 294 mm² die, for a density of just 12.0 million per mm². The density difference, roughly 3.6x in favor of Ampere, explains much of the performance gap.

Memory configurations are both 4 GB, but the type and bus width differ. The RTX 3050 A Mobile uses GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 192.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GRID K2 uses GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, providing 160.0 GB/s. Despite the narrower bus, the RTX part achieves 20% more bandwidth thanks to faster memory clocks, 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) versus 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective). Shader resources favor the RTX card: 1,792 shading units versus 1,536, and 56 TMUs versus 128. The GRID K2 has more texture units, but the RTX card compensates with higher clocks and architecture efficiency. Both have 32 ROPs.

Feature support diverges sharply. The RTX 3050 A Mobile includes 14 RT cores and 56 tensor cores, enabling hardware ray tracing and AI acceleration. The GRID K2 has neither, as Kepler predates these technologies. API support reflects this: the RTX card hits DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the GRID K2 tops out at DirectX 12 (11_0). Vulkan support is 1.4 on the RTX part versus 1.2.175 on the GRID. Both support OpenGL 4.6.

Power and physical specifications are starkly different. The RTX 3050 A Mobile consumes 45 W and is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with no power connectors or display outputs of its own, it relies on the portable device for output. The GRID K2 draws 225 W, requires a dual-slot cooler, a 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin power connector, and a 550 W suggested PSU. It measures 267 mm (10.5 inches) in length and has no display outputs, being designed for virtualized cloud workloads rather than direct rendering.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear split in intended use cases. The RTX 3050 A Mobile wins the only head-to-head benchmark by an enormous margin, and its Passmark suite shows balanced performance across DirectX versions and compute workloads. Its 44th percentile ranking, while not elite, places it above the GRID K2's 42nd percentile. The GRID K2's only strengths are its higher texture rate (95.36 GTexel/s versus 75.21 GTexel/s) and its larger memory bus (256-bit versus 128-bit), but these do not translate into benchmark wins.

For anyone needing raw compute performance in a low-power, mobile form factor, the RTX 3050 A Mobile is the obvious choice from the data. Its 399.9% OpenCL lead and 4.813 TFLOPS FP32 throughput versus 2.289 TFLOPS for the GRID K2 make it more than twice as fast in theoretical floating-point work. The GRID K2, meanwhile, is a legacy virtualization product with no display outputs, no ray tracing, and no tensor cores, its 2013 release date and 225 W TDP reflect a different era of GPU design. The verdict is straightforward: the RTX 3050 A Mobile is the stronger GPU on every measured metric, while the GRID K2's value lies only in specific server deployments that the benchmark data cannot capture.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in OpenCL compute?

A: The RTX 3050 A Mobile scores 52,998 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 399.9% higher than the GRID K2's 10,602.

Q: Do both GPUs support ray tracing?

A: No. The RTX 3050 A Mobile has 14 RT cores, while the GRID K2 has none.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The RTX 3050 A Mobile consumes 45 W with no power connectors, while the GRID K2 uses 225 W and requires a 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin connector and a 550 W suggested PSU.

Q: Which GPU has more memory bandwidth?

A: The RTX 3050 A Mobile has 192.0 GB/s, which is 20% higher than the GRID K2's 160.0 GB/s, despite the GRID having a 256-bit bus versus the RTX's 128-bit bus.

Q: How do their average benchmark scores compare?

A: The RTX 3050 A Mobile averages 8,746 points, while the GRID K2 averages 8,080 points, a difference of about 8% in favor of the RTX part.

Q: Does the GRID K2 support DirectX 12 Ultimate?

A: No. The GRID K2 supports DirectX 12 (11_0), whereas the RTX 3050 A Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2).

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 3050 A Mobile wins on every benchmark where both have data, and its additional Passmark results show strengths across the board. Its Passmark G3D score of 11,664 indicates solid 3D rendering performance, while the GPU compute score of 4,419 shows capable compute throughput. The card's 4.813 TFLOPS FP32 and matched 4.813 TFLOPS FP16 (1:1 ratio) make it well-suited for workloads that leverage mixed-precision math. The 14 RT cores and 56 tensor cores give it capabilities the GRID K2 simply lacks, such as hardware ray tracing and AI acceleration. Its 45 W TDP and IGP form factor make it suitable for thin-and-light laptops where power efficiency is paramount.

The GRID K2's wins are narrower and mostly architectural. It has a higher texture rate at 95.36 GTexel/s versus 75.21 GTexel/s, meaning it can theoretically process more texels per second. Its 256-bit memory bus provides more parallel memory channels, and its 128 TMUs outnumber the RTX card's 56. In pure rasterization throughput, the pixel rates are 23.84 GPixel/s for the GRID versus 42.98 GPixel/s for the RTX, so the RTX card wins there as well. The GRID K2's dual-slot design and 267 mm length suggest it was built for server racks, not consumer systems, and its lack of display outputs confirms its role as a compute or virtualization accelerator. The 5,199 USD launch MSRP reflects that enterprise positioning, though the card is now end-of-life.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in nearly every specification category. The RTX 3050 A Mobile uses an 8 nm Samsung process with 12,000 million transistors on a 276 mm² die, while the GRID K2 uses a 28 nm TSMC process with 3,540 million transistors on a 294 mm² die. Clock speeds are only listed for the RTX part: 1065 MHz base and 1343 MHz boost, versus no base or boost clocks given for the GRID K2. Memory clocks differ, with the RTX at 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) and the GRID at 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective). Shading units count 1,792 versus 1,536, TMUs 56 versus 128, and ROPs are equal at 32. The RTX card has 14 RT cores and 56 tensor cores; the GRID has none.

FP32 throughput is 4.813 TFLOPS for the RTX versus 2.289 TFLOPS for the GRID. FP16 is only specified for the RTX at 4.813 TFLOPS (1:1). Pixel and texture rates favor different cards: 42.98 GPixel/s for the RTX versus 23.84 GPixel/s for the GRID, but 75.21 GTexel/s versus 95.36 GTexel/s. The TDP gap is massive at 45 W versus 225 W. Slot width is IGP versus dual-slot, and power connectors are none versus 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin. The bus interface is PCIe 4.0 x8 versus PCIe 3.0 x16. Display outputs are portable-device dependent versus none. DirectX support is 12 Ultimate (12_2) versus 12 (11_0), and Vulkan support is 1.4 versus 1.2.175. Release dates are roughly a decade apart: the RTX card launched at the end of 2023, while the GRID K2 launched in May 2013.