Nvidia RTX 5050 vs RTX 4050 laptop: Which is best for gaming in mid-2025?

The Nvidia RTX 5050 laptops have finally found a footing in the market as a replacement for the insanely popular 4050. With extra cores, new Blackwell architecture, support for DLSS 4 Multi-Frame Generation, and extra VRAM, the pixel pusher seems like a solid upgrade on paper. However, the last-generation laptops aren't being phased out just yet. You can still find several options brand new, which may make choosing difficult.

In this article, we have compared the two mobile GPUs and presented the exact performance gains side by side. Read on to find out which device is better for you.

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Nvidia RTX 5050 and RTX 4050 laptops both target entry-level 1080p gaming

RTX 50 series gaming laptops bring DLSS 4 Multi-Frame Generation to the masses (Image via Nvidia)

The RTX 50 series gaming laptops are based on a newer architecture. This gives them significant improvements in efficiency, ray tracing, and native rasterization. Let's review the hardware specs bundled with the 5050 and 4050 laptop GPUs to get an idea of what you're signing up for.

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Specs comparison

The Blackwell-based 5050 doesn't feature significant bumps in on-paper specs. It comes with the same 2,560 CUDA cores, 20 Streaming Multiprocessors (SMs), 80 Tensor, and 20 RT cores. The operating clock speeds have been significantly bumped this generation, with the 5050 sporting boost clocks 300 MHz faster than the last gen.

The VRAM gets the biggest upgrade. The RTX 5050 now has 24 Gbps 8 GB GDDR7 based on a 128-bit bus. That's up from the 96-bit 16 Gbps 6 GB GDDR6. The result is a doubling of the total memory bandwidth: 384 GB/s vs. 192 GB/s.

In terms of on-paper performance, you get 13.6 TFLOPs with the 5050, up from the 8.99 TFLOPs on the last-gen GPU (a 50% bump). Here's a side-by-side specs comparison:

Specification	RTX 5050 Laptop GPU	RTX 4050 Laptop GPU
Architecture / Process	Blackwell (4 nm, GB207)	Ada Lovelace (4 nm, AD107)
CUDA Cores (Shaders)	2,560	2,560
Streaming Multiprocessors (SMs)	20	20
Tensor / AI Cores	80	80
Ray Tracing Cores	20	20
Base Clock	~2,235 MHz	~1,455 MHz
Boost Clock	~2,662 MHz	~2,370 MHz
FP32 Compute (Boost)	~12.9 TFLOPs	~8.99 TFLOPs
Memory Size	8 GB GDDR7	6 GB GDDR6
Memory Bus Width	128-bit	96-bit
Memory Bandwidth	384 GB/s (8 GB × 128-bit × 24 Gbps)	~192 GB/s (6 GB × 96-bit × 16 Gbps)
TFLOPs FP16/FP32 (Wikipedia)	~13.63 TFLOPs (shows general data across RTX 50 mobile series)	~8.99 TFLOPs (from RTX 4050 mobile spec)
AI (TOPS)	~440 AI TOPS	~194 AI TOPS
Memory Type	GDDR7	GDDR6
TGP (Power Consumption)	35 – 100 W	35 – 115 W
Release Date	June 2025	February 2023

In terms of pricing, RTX 5050-based designs generally sell for $1,150, with the 4050 ones sitting at $250 cheaper. Some options dip below $900 during sale periods. An Acer Nitro V with RTX 4050 is currently listed at $809.99 as a back-to-school budget pick.

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Performance comparison

The RTX 4050 laptop GPU stays competitive against some of the newer launches (Image via Nvidia)

Here are some of the framerates achieved by either GPU in some of the latest video games. All benchmarks were recorded at 1080p on an ROG Strix G16 laptop for the 5050 and a Legion 5 for the 4050. Both GPUs were paired with the same Core i7-14650HX CPU. We sourced the data from the YouTube channel Game Tests.

	Nvidia RTX 4050 laptop GPU	Nvidia RTX 5050 laptop GPU
Forza Horizon 5	58 FPS	87 FPS
Cyberpunk 2077	46 FPS	63 FPS
The Witcher 3	37 FPS	42 FPS
Hogwarts Legacy	63 FPS	73 FPS
Red Dead Redemption 2	57 FPS	69 FPS
Black Myth Wukong	59 FPS	68 FPS
Starfield	54 FPS	60 FPS
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	123 FPS	145 FPS

On average, the Nvidia RTX 5050 laptop GPU delivers about 22.7% higher performance than the RTX 4050 laptop GPU. That's a solid gen-on-gen performance gap. The games showing the largest gains are especially the ones heavier on GPU: Forza Horizon 5 (+50%), Cyberpunk 2077 (+37%), and Red Dead Redemption 2 (+21%).

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Overall, we recommend spending the $250 premium for the RTX 5050 laptop. The GPU is future-proofed and can consistently hit 60 FPS at 1080p resolutions. Moreover, you get the added insurance of DLSS 4 Multi-Frame Generation, which helps hit smooth framerates in more demanding titles. Since the 4050 laptops cost almost 80% of the newer variants and misses out on all these features, it isn't a good deal.