MSI Geforce GTX 1050 Review

Written by Chad

January 23, 2017

msi gtx 1050-6

With Nvidia already rolled out their high-end graphic cards, now they just released a new card meant for entry level gamers. But can this card be convincing enough for your all-around gaming.

Nvidia’s latest line of Pascal graphic cards are already providing powerful performance for hardcore gamers and PC enthusiasts, and it is no surprise for Nvidia to release mid-ranged Pascal cards that won’t leave a hole on your wallets and basically aimed for users with a tight budget or for casual gaming. With the release of the GTX 1050 and 1050 Ti, Nvidia promises that the new cards can play some of the newer games and optimized for eSports games. For now we will be testing the GTX 1050 and see if it is good enough for entry level to mid-level gaming.

Let us take a look at the specs of the GTX 1050 from MSI

  • Interface: PCI Express x16 3.0
  • Core Name: GP107-300
  • Cores: 640 Units
  • Boost / Base Core Clock: 1455 MHz / 1354 MHz
  • Memory Clock Speed: 7008 MHz
  • Memory: 2GB GDDR5 (128-bit)
  • Output: DisplayPort (Version 1.4) / HDMI (Version 2.0) / DL-DVI-D
  • HDCP Support: 2.2
  • Power consumption: 75 W
  • Recommended PSU: 300 W
  • Card Dimension(mm): 177 x 118 x 34 mm

Similar to other mid-ranged cards, the GTX 1050 sports a single fan and is in a smaller size, which is recommended for users who are building a mini ATX rig or other custom rigs that utilizes smaller spaces. There are no fancy gimmicks for the card’s design, but MSI still managed to provide a nice black and white color scheme on the card that will still keep it stylish and fits well to any custom rigs that some enthusiasts might try to use.

For output function, it uses the standard DVI-D and HDMI port as well as a single DisplayPort, this allows up to three monitors to run on your set up. The GTX 1050 also supports DirectX 12 so users who have a Windows 10 operating system can finally make use of the feature for their supported games and also allows streaming to an Nvidia Shield device. Sadly the card cannot support VR so those who are planning to get a VR headset may have to invest on high-end graphic cards if they plan to expect optimal performance to their VR gaming.

Now in terms of performance, the GTX 1050 can’t compete much with the GTX 960 or 970, however when compared with the GTX 950, this is where it gets interesting. We conducted tests with some benchmarking tools and so far the 1050 can produce some exceptional scores for a low-level card. When compared with the 950, there is a slight increase with the 1050 but not in a larger margin.

When tested on a series of games, the 1050 can perform well in some games that are not demanding in graphical performance or perhaps in older games. We conducted some test with games like Borderlands 2 on the highest setting and it can perform very well, and it is not much of a surprise as Borderlands 2 was launched around 2012, but we tested it on Overwatch on high settings and so far it can run pretty well in around 60 frames per second. This is important for competitive games like Overwatch to have the optimal frame rate of 60 fps and so far there were only slight instances on framerate drops (roughly reaching at around 55 fps). We also tested in some newer free to play games and it can run pretty well with no signs of framrate drops.

When using any of the Nvidia Experience features, majority of it excluding the VR support works well on the GTX 950. Using the Instant Reply game recording feature shows no sign of framerate drops and using the streaming function showed no problems as well. The optimization feature on the Nvidia Experience may be helpful in most cases, but you can still get more juice on the 950 by tweaking a bit further on the advance settings on your game.

But if compared with the GTX 950, it may have some slight improvements but not that enough to make it as a replacement. As the 950 can also run a satisfactory performance with the tested games and there are no other special features that would make the 1050 a necessity over your 950. But if compared with the 1050 Ti however, that will be a very different story.

Overall the GTX 1050 is a decent card that can run any esports games and other older games in your library, but when used in newer games, it may need some adjustments to get an optimal performance on the card. But when compared to the superior 1050 Ti, the difference in the performance is very noticeable as compared in the performance between a 950. If you currently using a GTX 950 card, jumping to the 1050 is not a good idea. But if you came from the lower or older cards and planning to upgrade it on a tight budget, the GTX 1050 is a great choice as your new graphic card.

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