While this could potentially improve performance, it’s likely that NVIDIA will use a cut-down version of the AD106 chip for the RTX 3050 A. The exact specifications and features, such as support for DLSS 3, remain unknown. The use of TSMC’s 4N node in AD106, instead of Samsung’s 8N node used in Ampere, could potentially improve power efficiency and battery life. The performance of the RTX 3050 A compared to existing RTX 3050 and RTX 4050 laptops remains to be seen, however, the RTX 3050 A will likely perform similarly to existing Ampere-based parts as NVIDIA tends to use similar names for comparable performance levels. It’s unclear if NVIDIA will bring this GPU to market, but adding new SKUs late in a product’s lifespan isn’t unprecedented.
NVIDIA Plans RTX 3050 A with Ada Lovelace AD106 Silicon
NVIDIA may be working on a new RTX 3050 A laptop GPU using an AD106 (Ada Lovelace) die, moving away from the Ampere chips used in other RTX 30-series GPUs. While not officially announced, the GPU is included in NVIDIA’s latest driver release and the PCI ID database as GeForce RTX 3050 A Laptop GPU. The AD106 die choice is notable, as it has more transistors and CUDA cores than the GA107 in current RTX 3050s and the AD107 in RTX 4050 laptops. The AD106, used in RTX 4060 Ti desktop and RTX 4070 laptop GPUs, boasts 22.9 billion transistors and 4,608 CUDA cores, compared to GA107’s 8.7 billion transistors and 2,560 CUDA cores, and AD107’s 18.9 billion transistors and 3,072 CUDA cores.