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Introduction
NVIDIA might have launched its new mid-range GeForce RTX 3050 8GB graphics card without much fanfare, and while the other AIB partners have pumped out their business-as-usual custom RTX 3050s... COLORFUL has done something very different with its new iGame GeForce RTX 3050 Ultra W DUO OC 8G graphics card.
COLORFUL sent over their custom iGame GeForce RTX 3050 Ultra W DUO OC 8G graphics card and right away I knew I was going to love it. Starting from the retail packaging, where if this card is actually available -- and on the shelf when you see it -- down to the card itself, is pure class.
It is actually simultaneously disappointing.
COLORFUL isn't a brand that is available everywhere, which is so, so very unfortunate. If you can find COLORFUL cards in your market, the new iGame GeForce RTX 3050 Ultra W DUO OC 8G graphics card is worth your money if you are looking for a GeForce RTX 3050.
The iGame GeForce RTX 3050 Ultra W DUO OC 8G graphics card looks amazing. It is by far the best-looking custom GeForce RTX 3050 that I have reviewed so far, and I've reviewed a few now: MSI, Inno3D, and EVGA -- and the COLORFUL iGame GeForce RTX 3050 Ultra W DUO OC 8G in aesthetics -- is just so damn cool.
It won't perform the best out of the box, but I was squeezing an impressive amount out of some manual overclocking, which I think I'll actually do a follow-up article once I'm finished with the review on the card itself. As for the review, let's dive right into it, shall we?
Everything You Need to Know About Ampere
- HDMI 2.1 - GeForce RTX 30 Series GPUs are the first available to feature HDMI 2.1 support with support for 4K@120Hz (4K120). HDMI 2.1 increases total bandwidth over HDMI 2.0b from 18 Gigabits/sec to 48 and adds support for high-dynamic-range (HDR), which provides brighter images with higher contrast, and more vibrant colors with better shadows and highlights.
- AV1 Decode - AV1 (AOMedia Video 1) is an open, royalty-free video coding format developed by AOM (Alliance for Open Media) that provides better compression and quality compared to existing codecs like H.264, HEVC, and VP9, and is being adopted by many of the top video platforms and browsers. AV1 will generally provide 50% bitrate savings over H.264.
RTX 3050 8GB Tech Specs
Detailed Look
Right out of the gate, COLORFUL is on its aGame with the iGame GeForce RTX 3050 Ultra W OC 8G-V... man, I've really got to stop with the #dadjokes but I just can't with this review for some reason. So now you're going to have to live with it, like my daughters do, LOL ;)
See what I mean? The COLORFUL iGame GeForce RTX 3050 Ultra W OC 8G-V looks fan-freakin'-tastic. I want to build an entire PC themed like this, and that is depressing to know that I can't. Or maybe I haven't looked into it enough, and maybe I need to start doing that.
It's not just from the front that the card is looking dapper, but from the back, it looks just as good. You've got the blue/purple style happening on the front, while the orange 'iGame' branding on the back looks so good. So, so, so damn good. It's just a beautiful mess of graphics card.
It's a bit thicker than I'd like, as I'd normally tap out at a dual-slot card for a mid-range GPU like the RTX 3050... but COLORFUL gets a hall pass here for the iGame GeForce RTX 3050 Ultra W OC 8G-V. It's just under a 2.5-slot card, so it's not too huge either.
You need just a single 8-pin PCIe power connector for the card.
COLORFUL has the traditional 3 x DisplayPort 1.4 + HDMI 2.1 connectors, all capable of 4K 120FPS+ but then there's the surprise physical OC button on the back. It brings me back to the 90s with the Turbo button on the PC, and while it's pretty much useless, it does look cool -- one-touch OC on the card -- all controllable from COLORFUL's own iGame software.
Here I've got COLORFUL's two gorgeous custom GeForce RTX 30 series cards... the iGame GeForce RTX 3050 Ultra W OC 8G-V and the iGame GeForce RTX 3060 Bilibili E-sports Edition OC. I seriously need the iGame GeForce RTX 3080 Ultra W OC 12G LHR-V in my life now, COLORFUL.
I need to fulfil the Holy Trinity of COLORFUL iGame "Ultra W" series GPUs... oh, man.
Test System Specs
Latest upgrade:
Sabrent sent over their huge Rocket Q 8TB NVMe PCIe M.2 2280 SSD, which will be my new Games install SSD inside of my main test bed.
I've got a new upgrade inside of my GPU test bed before my change to a next-gen test bed, where I will be preparing for NVIDIA's next-gen Ampere graphics cards and AMD's next-gen RDNA 2 graphics cards.
Sabrent helped out with some new storage for my GPU test beds, sending over a slew of crazy-fast Rocket NVMe PCIe M.2 2280 SSDs. I've got this installed into my GPU test bed as the new Games Storage drive, since games are so damn big now. Thanks to Sabrent, I've got 2TB of super-fast M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 SSD storage now.
Anthony's GPU Test System Specifications
I've recently upgraded my GPU test bed -- at least for now, until AMD's new Ryzen 9 5950X processor is unleashed then the final update for 2020 will happen and we'll be all good for RDNA 2 and future Ampere GPU releases. You can read my article here: TweakTown GPU Test Bed Upgrade for 2021, But Then Zen 3 Was Announced.
Benchmarks - Synthetic
3DMark Fire Strike
3DMark has been a staple benchmark for years now, all the way back to when The Matrix was released and Futuremark had bullet time inspired benchmarks. 3DMark is the perfect tool to see if your system - most important, your CPU and GPU - is performing as it should. You can search results for your GPU, to see if it falls in line with other systems based on similar hardware.
3DMark TimeSpy
Heaven - 1080p
Heaven is an intensive GPU benchmark that really pushes your silicon to its limits. It's another favorite of ours as it has some great scaling for multi-GPU testing, and it's great for getting your GPU to 100% for power and noise testing.
Benchmarks - 1080p
Assassin's Creed: Valhalla is the latest game to be inserted into our benchmark suite, with Ubisoft Montreal using its AnvilNext engine to power the game. It scales really well across the cards, and has some surprising performance benefits with AMD's new Big Navi GPUs.
You can buy Assassins Creed: Valhalla at Amazon.
Middle-earth: Shadow of War is a sequel to the popular Shadow of Mordor, which was powered by the Lithtech engine. When cranked up to maximum detail, it will chew through your GPU and its VRAM like it's nothing.
You can buy Middle-earth: Shadow of War at Amazon.
Metro Exodus is one of the hardest tests that our graphics cards have to go through, with 4A Games' latest creation being one of the best looking games on the market. It is a serious test that pushes GPUs to their limits, and also features RTX technologies like DLSS.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider is one of the latest games to join our graphics card benchmark lineup, with the game built using the Foundation engine as a base, the same engine in Rise of the Tomb Raider. Eidos Montreal R&D department made lots of changes to the engine during the development of Shadow of the Tomb Raider to make it one of the best-looking games out right now.
1080p Benchmark Performance Thoughts
COLORFUL's custom iGame GeForce RTX 3050 Ultra W DUO OC 8G has performance that matches and sometimes falls behind other RTX 3050s at 1080p. You're going to enjoy 1080p 60FPS+ gaming in AAA titles, and 1080p 120FPS+ in esports titles.
Benchmarks - 1440p
Assassin's Creed: Valhalla is the latest game to be inserted into our benchmark suite, with Ubisoft Montreal using its AnvilNext engine to power the game. It scales really well across the cards, and has some surprising performance benefits with AMD's new Big Navi GPUs.
You can buy Assassins Creed: Valhalla at Amazon.
Middle-earth: Shadow of War is a sequel to the popular Shadow of Mordor, which was powered by the Lithtech engine. When cranked up to maximum detail, it will chew through your GPU and its VRAM like it's nothing.
You can buy Middle-earth: Shadow of War at Amazon.
Metro Exodus is one of the hardest tests that our graphics cards have to go through, with 4A Games' latest creation being one of the best looking games on the market. It is a serious test that pushes GPUs to their limits, and also features RTX technologies like DLSS.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider is one of the latest games to join our graphics card benchmark lineup, with the game built using the Foundation engine as a base, the same engine in Rise of the Tomb Raider. Eidos Montreal R&D department made lots of changes to the engine during the development of Shadow of the Tomb Raider to make it one of the best-looking games out right now.
1440p Benchmark Performance Thoughts
I don't recommend any GeForce RTX 3050 for 1440p gaming, but you'll still enjoy 30FPS+ in AAA titles and 120FPS if you tweak in-game visuals in esports titles like Overwatch, League of Legends, Valorant, and many others.
On top of that, with DLSS you can enjoy 60FPS+ in AAA titles easily on the RTX 3050.
Benchmarks - 4K
Assassin's Creed: Valhalla is the latest game to be inserted into our benchmark suite, with Ubisoft Montreal using its AnvilNext engine to power the game. It scales really well across the cards, and has some surprising performance benefits with AMD's new Big Navi GPUs.
You can buy Assassins Creed: Valhalla at Amazon.
Middle-earth: Shadow of War is a sequel to the popular Shadow of Mordor, which was powered by the Lithtech engine. When cranked up to maximum detail, it will chew through your GPU and its VRAM like it's nothing.
You can buy Middle-earth: Shadow of War at Amazon.
Metro Exodus is one of the hardest tests that our graphics cards have to go through, with 4A Games' latest creation being one of the best looking games on the market. It is a serious test that pushes GPUs to their limits, and also features RTX technologies like DLSS.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider is one of the latest games to join our graphics card benchmark lineup, with the game built using the Foundation engine as a base, the same engine in Rise of the Tomb Raider. Eidos Montreal R&D department made lots of changes to the engine during the development of Shadow of the Tomb Raider to make it one of the best-looking games out right now.
4K Benchmark Performance Thoughts
4K gaming isn't something you're going to do on the GeForce RTX 3050, but that doesn't mean you can't do 4K gaming at all... you're still going to be capable of 30FPS. Either by adjusting in-game details, or if you're playing a game with support for NVIDIA DLSS technology.
Power Consumption & Temps
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What's Hot, What's Not
What's Hot
Best-looking GeForce RTX 3050, by far: xxx
COLORFUL needs to make a card like this for every GPU: xxx
- 8GB of GDDR6 memory: AMD is new Radeon RX 6500 XT throws 4GB of GDDR6, where in a world of 8GB, 16GB, and even 24GB VRAM on cards, the 8GB of GDDR6 on the GeForce RTX 3050 is very welcomed. You won't be gaming at 1440p or 4K, but it gives you wiggle room for RT and DLSS.
- HDMI 2.1 connectivity, great for HTPC: Another win here is the HDMI 2.1 connectivity over HDMI 2.0 on older-gen cards, as HDMI 2.1 allows a single cable to drive 4K 120Hz (and above) even on the entry-level GeForce RTX 3050. This is great for HTPC users.
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- Single 8-pin PCIe power connector: It would be nice to do away with the PCIe power connector, maybe with the Ada Lovelace-powered GeForce RTX 4050 and its PCIe 5.0 connector, then we'll see no PCIe power connector on a 50-series card.
- Entry-level ray tracing + DLSS: This is a serious win for NVIDIA over AMD, and while you wouldn't want to run out and buy the RTX 3050 for ray tracing... DLSS on the other hand, will super-pump your FPS in games that you want over 120FPS. Alternatively, older games can be enjoyed with DLSS set to Quality, with higher fidelity graphics.
What's Not
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Final Thoughts
COLORFUL has really impressed me -- yet again -- with their custom iGame GeForce RTX 3050 Ultra W DUO OC 8G graphics card. It has a truly wicked, and very unique style, with the same mid-range performance punch as the other RTX 3050s on the market.
What we have on our hands here is one of the better custom GeForce RTX 3050 graphics cards, from an elusive China-kinda-only company. I truly do wish COLORFUL as a brand, was available worldwide -- or at least in more markets -- but if you can find it, then the iGame GeForce RTX 3050 Ultra W DUO OC 8G is some iCandy #dadjoke.
If you were building a specific theme inside of your PC and had a white motherboard acquired, you might want to try hunt down the COLORFUL iGame GeForce RTX 3050 Ultra W DUO OC 8G. The other custom RTX 3050 cards just don't look anywhere near as cool, and since they all have virtually the same performance (within 5-8% or so) then the wicked style of this card will get your attention.
For the fans of the aesthetics of this card, COLORFUL actually makes the higher-end iGame GeForce RTX 3080 Ultra W OC 12G LHR-V graphics card -- which looks identical, but a triple-fan RTX 3080 version of the card -- which would be so good to try out.
As for the COLORFUL iGame GeForce RTX 3050 Ultra W DUO OC 8G, it's a kick-ass take on the mid-range RTX 3050... and if it's in your market, don't hesitate to pick it up.