The NVIDIA RTX 5050 is the objective winner of this comparison, securing more individual specification victories than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 8 GB. While the two components share several identical technical specifications, the newer model provides a significant functional edge. The most impactful advantage offered by the NVIDIA RTX 5050 is its support for AV1 Encoding, which represents a 100% improvement over the capabilities found in the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 8 GB.

Users who prioritize modern media processing and advanced encoding features should choose the NVIDIA RTX 5050 to take advantage of its superior AV1 support. Conversely, those who do not require these specific encoding capabilities may find that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 8 GB remains a viable option, as it matches the newer card across the majority of its technical specifications. Your decision should depend entirely on whether your workflow requires the specific encoding benefits provided by the newer hardware.