Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050: Release Date, Price, Restock Alerts, and Where to Buy

Nvidia has announced that the desktop version of their RTX 3050 “entry-level” GPU will be released on January 27 for $249, which has prompted PC gamers everywhere to start finding ways to beat the scalpers and actually buy one of these new GPUs at the retail price before they hit the second hand markets.

To be entirely honest, everything in the recent history of video game-related technology suggests that it’s going to be very difficult to secure an RTX 3050 at launch or at any point in the near future. Between the rise in bot accounts designed to circumvent preventive measures and buy new pieces of tech in large quantities and recent global shortages of necessary hardware components, it’s more difficult than ever to buy pretty much any new technology out of the gate for a reasonable retail price. While there has been a lot of talk about how to solve these issues, the fact of the matter is that we’re no closer to a return to “normalcy.” There will be RTX 3050 shortages.

However, the situation isn’t entirely hopeless. While the odds are against any honest PC gamer who just wants a GPU upgrade at a reasonable price, here are a few things you can do to increase your chances of buying an RTX 3050.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050: Price, Specs, Release Date, and Release Time

While we referenced some of this information above, here’s a brief rundown of some of the major details you need to know about the RTX 3050 ahead of its launch:

Nvidia RTX 3050 MSRP: $249
Nvidia RTX 3050 Release Date: January 27, 2022
Nvidia RTX 3050 Release Time: Available now at select retailers (see below)
Nvidia RTX 3050 Specs:

Memory 8GB GDDR6
Shader performance (TFLOPS) – 9
RT performance (TFLOPS) – 18
Tensor performance (TFLOPS) – 73

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050: Where and How to Buy

While I don’t know how to make it any more clear that the odds of you buying an RTX 3050 at launch straight from a retail source are painfully low, this is still a “can’t win it if you’re not in it” situation. As such, anyone who is interested in buying an RTX 3050 as soon as possible should create an account at most of the major tech retail sites if they haven’t done so already.

To be a little more specific, these are the major sites you’ll want to keep an eye on when you’re shopping for an RTX 3050:

Best Buy
Newegg
Nvidia
B&H
Micro Center
Amazon
Walmart

Those in the UK may also want to keep an eye on the Scan and Overclockers websites as they seem to be some of the more reliable sources for restocks and initial shipments in that region.

If you’re looking for live links, then here is a running list of retailers that have updated their sites with RTX 3050 product pages. Just know that most of these are already out of stock.

Nvidia
NewEgg Shuffle
EVGA
Zotac
CCL Computers (UK)
Novatech (UK)

More sites are expected to launch their RTX 3050 product pages soon, so while we will try to keep up with major updates, be sure to keep an eye on the retailers listed above as well as the stock alert services we recommend below.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050: Best Restock Alert Services

Assuming you don’t manage to grab an RTX 3050 on January 27th, you’re going to want to start looking out for any restock alerts and updates. So far as that goes, one of the best things you can do is subscribe to (or simply keep an eye on) some popular restock websites.

Here are some of the best restock sites and services we’ve found:

Stock Informer
HotStock
CamelCamelCamel
Distill
NowInStock

The advantage of such services is that they offer a pretty painless and often (though not always) free way to receive a quick update whenever specific items you’re looking for are back in stock at particular websites. The (sadly noteworthy) disadvantage of these sites is that a brutal combination of human reflexes, bot speed, and the odds you’re up against means that there’s a very good chance that you just won’t be fast enough to actually buy a 3050 even if you see a restock notification as soon as humanely possible. That being the case, you may want to rely on an alternate style of updates that can sometimes deliver that information just a little bit quicker…

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050: Twitch, Discord, Twitter, and Social Media Restock Updates

More and more people are starting to rely on social media communities in order to receive (relatively) timely updates regarding product restocks. While said communities obviously don’t offer a “perfect” solution to this problem, here are some of the best we’ve found across multiple platforms:

Twitter

Falcodrin Stock Alerts
Matt Swider
GPU Restock Monitor
The Stock Supply

Twitch

Falcodrin

Discord

Snail Monitor
SpaceTech
GPU Drops
StockRadar

Or course, these are just a few examples of the many dedicated restock communities and accounts out there. You’ll likely find hundreds more if you start poking around various platforms (and you’ll need an invite to join most Discord servers and some other restock communities).