NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile vs NVIDIA RTX 5000 Mobile Ada Generation Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The recorded data splits these two mobile GPUs into completely different performance classes. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile carries an average benchmark score of 8746 across eight tests, spanning Geekbench OpenCL, Passmark DirectX 9/10/11/12, G2D, G3D, and GPU compute workloads. The NVIDIA RTX 5000 Mobile Ada Generation has only one recorded benchmark result, a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3596, which also serves as its average score. With zero shared head-to-head benchmark entries, the database shows no direct comparison wins for either card, so the win split must be inferred from the tests each card was subjected to.

The RTX 3050 A Mobile wins in benchmark coverage breadth. It has results across eight different workloads, which makes it far more versatile for evaluating general-purpose graphics performance. Its Passmark G3D score of 11664 and Geekbench OpenCL score of 52998 indicate strong showing in rasterization and compute-oriented tasks. The RTX 5000 Mobile Ada Generation wins in the one test it does have, 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, which represents a modern DirectX 12 workload focused on current-generation rendering techniques. For users prioritizing a contemporary API stress test, the RTX 5000 Mobile Ada Generation holds the only relevant data point.

The percentile rankings reinforce the separation. The RTX 3050 A Mobile sits at the 44th percentile of all GPUs in the database, while the RTX 5000 Mobile Ada Generation ranks at the 21st percentile. That places the RTX 3050 A Mobile ahead of the majority of recorded GPUs, while the RTX 5000 Mobile Ada Generation sits below average based on its single test. The nearest rivals confirm this: the RTX 3050 A Mobile competes with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 v2 (average score 8743, delta 0%), the NVIDIA Quadro P2200 (8686, 0.7% ahead), the AMD Radeon R9 M265X (8851, 1.2% behind), and the AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 (8863, 1.3% behind). The RTX 5000 Mobile Ada Generation sits alongside the NVIDIA GeForce GT 545 (3594, 0.1% behind), the NVIDIA GeForce GT 735M (3616, 0.6% behind), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 (3629, 0.9% behind), and the AMD Radeon HD 6770 (3649, 1.5% behind).

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different manufacturing generations and foundries. The RTX 3050 A Mobile uses the GA106 chip on an 8 nm Samsung process with 12,000 million transistors on a 276 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 43.5 million per mm². The RTX 5000 Mobile Ada Generation uses the AD103 chip on a 5 nm TSMC process with 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 121.1 million per mm². The RTX 5000 Mobile Ada Generation packs 3.8 times the transistor count into a 37% larger die with nearly three times the density.

The architecture generations differ sharply. The RTX 3050 A Mobile belongs to the Ampere architecture in the GeForce 30-series, while the RTX 5000 Mobile Ada Generation uses Ada Lovelace in the GeForce 50-series. The core counts reflect the generational leap. The RTX 3050 A Mobile has 1792 shading units, 56 texture mapping units, 32 raster output units, 14 ray tracing cores, and 56 tensor cores. The RTX 5000 Mobile Ada Generation has 9728 shading units, 304 TMUs, 112 ROPs, 76 RT cores, and 304 tensor cores. That is a 5.4x increase in shading units, 5.4x in TMUs, 3.5x in ROPs, 5.4x in RT cores, and 5.4x in tensor cores.

Clock behavior also differs. The RTX 3050 A Mobile has a base clock of 1065 MHz and a boost clock of 1343 MHz. The RTX 5000 Mobile Ada Generation runs at a 1425 MHz base and 2115 MHz boost, which is 34% higher base and 57% higher boost. The memory subsystems are far apart: the RTX 3050 A Mobile has 4 GB GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 192.0 GB/s bandwidth at 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective), while the RTX 5000 Mobile Ada Generation has 16 GB GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 576.0 GB/s bandwidth at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective). The RTX 5000 Mobile Ada Generation delivers triple the bandwidth and quadruple the capacity.

The bus interface also differs. The RTX 3050 A Mobile uses PCIe 4.0 x8, while the RTX 5000 Mobile Ada Generation uses PCIe 4.0 x16. Both are integrated graphics packages (IGP) with no power connectors and portable-device-dependent display outputs. The RTX 3050 A Mobile is end-of-life and was released on 2023-12-31, while the RTX 5000 Mobile Ada Generation is active, released on 2023-03-20, with a predecessor of Ampere-MW and a successor of Blackwell-MW. The RTX 3050 A Mobile's predecessor is GeForce 20 Mobile.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains no shared benchmark entries between the two GPUs, so direct score comparisons are not possible. However, the individual results reveal the scale of the performance gap. The RTX 3050 A Mobile delivers 4.813 TFLOPS FP32 and FP16 performance, while the RTX 5000 Mobile Ada Generation delivers 41.15 TFLOPS in both, a 8.5x advantage in raw compute throughput. Pixel rate tells a similar story: 42.98 GPixel/s versus 236.9 GPixel/s, a 5.5x difference. Texture rate is 75.21 GTexel/s versus 643.0 GTexel/s, a 8.5x difference.

The RTX 5000 Mobile Ada Generation's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3596 is the only modern API benchmark in the set. The RTX 3050 A Mobile has no 3DMark Steel Nomad result, so its DirectX 12 performance must be inferred from the Passmark DirectX 12 score of 55 and the DirectX 11 score of 94. The RTX 3050 A Mobile's Passmark DirectX 9 score of 152 and DirectX 10 score of 61 show it handles legacy APIs better than the newer ones, while its G2D score of 526 and G3D score of 11664 indicate strong 2D and general 3D capability relative to its low DirectX 12 score.

For compute workloads, the RTX 3050 A Mobile's Geekbench OpenCL score of 52998 and Passmark GPU compute score of 4419 demonstrate solid general compute performance. The RTX 5000 Mobile Ada Generation has no compute-specific benchmark in the database, but its FP32 and FP16 figures of 41.15 TFLOPS each indicate the compute ceiling is vastly higher. The RTX 5000 Mobile Ada Generation also has 76 RT cores versus 14, which points to substantially better ray tracing throughput, though no ray tracing benchmark scores are recorded for either card.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile has an average benchmark score of 8746 across eight tests. The NVIDIA RTX 5000 Mobile Ada Generation has an average score of 3596, but this is based on a single 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 result.

Q: How does the RTX 5000 Mobile Ada Generation compare to its nearest rivals?

A: Its nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GT 545 with an average score of 3594, a delta of 0.1%. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 735M scores 3616 (0.6% behind), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 scores 3629 (0.9% behind), and the AMD Radeon HD 6770 scores 3649 (1.5% behind).

Q: What is the memory capacity difference?

A: The RTX 3050 A Mobile has 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 192.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 5000 Mobile Ada Generation has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 576.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has more ray tracing cores?

A: The RTX 5000 Mobile Ada Generation has 76 ray tracing cores. The RTX 3050 A Mobile has 14 ray tracing cores.

Q: Are both GPUs still in production?

A: No. The RTX 3050 A Mobile is end-of-life, released on 2023-12-31. The RTX 5000 Mobile Ada Generation is active, released on 2023-03-20.

Q: What is the transistor density difference?

A: The RTX 3050 A Mobile has a transistor density of 43.5 million per mm² on an 8 nm Samsung process. The RTX 5000 Mobile Ada Generation has a density of 121.1 million per mm² on a 5 nm TSMC process.

The Verdict

The data points to distinct use cases. The RTX 3050 A Mobile is the card for legacy API compatibility and broad benchmark coverage. Its Passmark DirectX 9 score of 152 and DirectX 10 score of 61 show it handles older workloads well, and its 44th percentile ranking places it above most GPUs in the database. The RTX 5000 Mobile Ada Generation is the card for modern DirectX 12 rendering and high-end compute. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3596, while low in absolute terms, is the only test that exercises current-generation rendering paths, and its 41.15 TFLOPS FP32 output dwarfs the RTX 3050 A Mobile's 4.813 TFLOPS.

For a user running older DirectX 9/10/11 applications or general 2D and 3D workloads, the RTX 3050 A Mobile offers a proven track record across eight benchmarks. For a user focused on DirectX 12 titles and ray tracing, the RTX 5000 Mobile Ada Generation has the architectural foundation: 76 RT cores, 304 tensor cores, and 576.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The 21st percentile ranking of the RTX 5000 Mobile Ada Generation reflects its single-test sample, not its hardware ceiling. The RTX 3050 A Mobile's 44th percentile comes from a full suite of tests, which provides a more rounded but lower-peak picture.

The production status settles the practical question. The RTX 3050 A Mobile is end-of-life, so it belongs in legacy systems. The RTX 5000 Mobile Ada Generation is active with a successor already named (Blackwell-MW), making it the forward-looking choice. The RTX 5000 Mobile Ada Generation also has a 5 nm process, 16 GB memory, and a 256-bit bus, all of which indicate it targets professional mobile workstations. The RTX 3050 A Mobile targets thinner, lower-power laptops with its 45 W TDP versus the RTX 5000 Mobile Ada Generation's 120 W TDP.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile | NVIDIA RTX 5000 Mobile Ada Generation |

|---|---|---|

| Chip | GA106 | AD103 |

| Architecture | Ampere | Ada Lovelace |

| Process node | 8 nm (Samsung) | 5 nm (TSMC) |

| Transistors | 12,000 million | 45,900 million |

| Die size | 276 mm² | 379 mm² |

| Transistor density | 43.5M / mm² | 121.1M / mm² |

| Base clock | 1065 MHz | 1425 MHz |

| Boost clock | 1343 MHz | 2115 MHz |

| Memory clock | 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) | 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective) |

| Memory size | 4 GB GDDR6 | 16 GB GDDR6 |

| Memory bus width | 128 bit | 256 bit |

| Memory bandwidth | 192.0 GB/s | 576.0 GB/s |

| Shading units | 1792 | 9728 |

| TMUs | 56 | 304 |

| ROPs | 32 | 112 |

| RT cores | 14 | 76 |

| Tensor cores | 56 | 304 |

| Pixel rate | 42.98 GPixel/s | 236.9 GPixel/s |

| Texture rate | 75.21 GTexel/s | 643.0 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 4.813 TFLOPS | 41.15 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 4.813 TFLOPS (1:1) | 41.15 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 45 W | 120 W |

| Bus interface | PCIe 4.0 x8 | PCIe 4.0 x16 |

| Production status | End-of-life | Active |

| Release date | 2023-12-31 | 2023-03-20 |

| Predecessor | GeForce 20 Mobile | Ampere-MW |

| Successor | None | Blackwell-MW |