AMD is preparing to make a move in a challenging time for the PC gaming market. The company is gearing up for a low-end graphics card, the Radeon RX 9050, which has been leaked as one of those GPUs that compel you to take a second look at the specifications sheet. What’s new with this graphics card? Some quite surprising things, believe it or not.
According to the published information, AMD is reportedly preparing a new desktop graphics card within the Radeon RX 9000 family, featuring 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, the Navi 44 GPU, and a rather peculiar configuration: more Shaders than the RX 9060, but with significantly lower clock speeds to reduce power consumption and position it below.
Leaked AMD RX 9050: The Entry-Level Graphics Card Will Feature the Same GPU as Mid-Range Models
It makes sense, when you think about it logically, for AMD to make this move. It allows them to better utilize GPUs that don’t pass validation for one reason or another, or to maintain production and costs at TSMC. The information originates from one of AMD’s board partners and comes exclusively from VideoCardz, although the specifications are still preliminary, which is important to note. Therefore, we are talking about a leak, not an official specification published by AMD.
What’s noteworthy is the GPU itself, as the Radeon RX 9050 appears with Navi 44 and 2,048 Shaders, the same number found in the Radeon RX 9060 XT. This implies it won’t use the Navi 44 XL configuration of the Radeon RX 9060 as such, which has 1,792 Stream Processors, but rather the complete chip of the RX 9060 XT.
So, is it a hidden XT? Almost, because the difference lies in the clock speeds. The Radeon RX 9050 is listed with a Game Clock of up to 1,920 MHz and a Boost Clock of up to 2,600 MHz. For comparison, the reference Radeon RX 9060 XT operates with a Game Clock of up to 2,530 MHz and a Boost Clock of up to 3,130 MHz. This represents a reduction of 610 MHz in Game Clock and 530 MHz in Boost Clock, which is a decrease of 24% and 17%, respectively.
The Same VRAM to Culminate in a Model That Should Be Slightly Cheaper, But Not Much
| GPU | Shaders | Boost Clock | Memory | Memory Bus | Bandwidth | Board Power | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RX 9070 XT | Navi 48 | 4,096 | 2.97 GHz | 16 GB GDDR6 | 256-bit | 640 GB/s | 304W |
| RX 9070 | Navi 48 | 3,584 | 2.52 GHz | 16 GB GDDR6 | 256-bit | 640 GB/s | 220W |
| RX 9070 GRE | Navi 48 | 3,072 | 2.79 GHz | 12 GB GDDR6 | 192-bit | 432 GB/s | 220W |
| RX 9060 XT 16 GB | Navi 44 | 2,048 | 3.13 GHz | 16 GB GDDR6 | 128-bit | 320 GB/s | 182W |
| RX 9060 XT 8 GB | Navi 44 | 2,048 | 3.13 GHz | 8 GB GDDR6 | 128-bit | 320 GB/s | 150W |
| RX 9060 | Navi 44 | 1,792 | 2.99 GHz | 8 GB GDDR6 | 128-bit | 288 GB/s | 132W |
| RX 9050 | Navi 44 | 2,048 | 2.60 GHz | 8 GB GDDR6 | 128-bit | 288 GB/s | To be confirmed |
The memory configuration is also lower than the RX 9060 XT, logically. The RX 9050 would feature 8 GB of GDDR6 at 18.0 Gbps, a 128-bit bus, and a bandwidth of 288 GB/s. This means it would match the bandwidth of the RX 9060 but not the 320 GB/s of the RX 9060 XT.
In terms of connectivity, the leaked specifications point to PCIe 5.0 x16, along with one HDMI 2.1b port and two DisplayPort 2.1a ports. However, the power consumption is not yet confirmed, but a recommended PSU of 450W is mentioned. For reference, the RX 9060 XT has a recommended PSU of 500W, so this RX 9050 would fall into a lower power consumption class, likely between 25W to 50W less at maximum.
With that said, this strategy aligns well with AMD’s approach to binning and fully utilizing the Navi 44 architecture. The RX 9060 XT will use the full GPU with high clock speeds, the RX 9060 will use a version with 1,792 Stream Processors to disable defective or lower-performing CUs, and this leaked RX 9050 will leverage the 2,048 Stream Processors but with significantly reduced clock speeds and bandwidth to avoid competing with higher-tier models. This is where its dual nature comes in: more Shaders than an RX 9060, slower memory, and intentionally limited performance to consume less power and justify a lower price point.
