It seems Nvidia is giving a different RTX 3050 GPU with fewer CUDA cores to OEMs. The specifications of the new RTX 3050 variant were made public through Nvidia's official website, allowing us to see the differences between both the standard and OEM variants.
Weibo user Golden Pig Upgrade Pack shared a photo of what seems to be the OEM version of the RTX 3050 graphic card. According to the uploader, this version of the GPU only features 2,304 CUDA cores, a considerable cut from the 2,560 CUDA cores of the reference model. As per the photo, the RTX 3050 for OEMs is powered by an 8-pin power connector and features a dual-fan cooling design. The PCB looks similar to the one used in the reference model.
Image credit: Weibo
As it seems, this card is relatively new. Nvidia has recently updated the spec summary of the RTX 3050, adding the 2,304 CUDA cores variant. According to the spec sheet, this GPU also comes with slightly lower clock speeds, as the GPU has a 1.51GHz base clock and a 1.76 GHz boost clock. TDP (130W) and memory configuration (8GB GDDR6 at 14Gbps on a 128-bit memory bus) remain unchanged.
We don't know what GPU revision is being used on the RTX 3050 OEM, but VideoCardz estimates that it may be the GA107-140 revision, which we heard about earlier this year.
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KitGuru says: Considering it features fewer CUDA cores and lower clock speeds, this version of the RTX 3050 should also draw less power than the standard model. Unfortunately, Nvidia's spec sheet shows that's not the case.