AMD Radeon RX 9050 4GB: It's a Scam

[jbright]

Half the bus width isn't a rounding error, that's the entire point of the card being bad. AMD basically shipped a Radeon RX 6500 XT wearing a 9050 costume... the real crime is that a $750 prebuilt with this thing inside is losing to a $260 standalone Arc card.

 

[agentnate009]

Calling this card a 9050 is a stretch, but it is worth it to gamers in poorer countries that cannot afford the luxury GPUs many of us can afford. In Vietnam, this would allow a gamer to play games on low at reasonable framerates, not much future for it if you are already on low settings for good framerates, but when it is all you can afford, it works. I think some folks, the authors included, forget that not everyone can afford a GPU that costs as much as a whole PC that a poorer gamer from India cannot afford. I played on lower end hardware for years because I was cheap, but it wasn't until I got a 3060 Ti and realized that I can afford better hardware (I was a bang for my buck person, still am) and I stopped choosing low end stuff. Now I have a 9070 XT and enjoy playing games at max detail at comfortable framerate. I can afford to, but a young gamer from Singapore, maybe all they can afford after months of working is a PC with an OEM 9050 4GB.

 

[BadThad]

Wow, that's UGLY! Buyers of those cheap, low-end gaming PCs are usually completely ignorant. They see a bunch of numbers, names and specs and think they're getting something good. It's been that way for decades, nothing has changed. It's the old "baffle them with BS" marketing move.

Great test, thanks!

 

[GhostLegion]

I said it before and it’s worth repeating

There’d be a lot less complaining if this was a 75W, bus powered, single slot, low profile card

At that point it competes with the 3050 6GB and would likely trounce it. I’d buy the 8GB model in a New York minute if I could replace my 3050 6GB. I’d rather use AMD on my Linux system but the 6500 was just awful

 

[amghwk]

Why call it a scam??

At least it's better than the RX6500XT 8GB.

 

[Mr Majestyk]

Firstly it's OEM model only, and it's not marketed as a gaming card. Normal users luckily can't be tempted as it's not on offer.

You want scam look at an RX 6400 4GB.

 

[arrowflash]

I said it before and it’s worth repeating

There’d be a lot less complaining if this was a 75W, bus powered, single slot, low profile card

At that point it competes with the 3050 6GB and would likely trounce it. I’d buy the 8GB model in a New York minute if I could replace my 3050 6GB. I’d rather use AMD on my Linux system but the 6500 was just awful

Agreed! I'd be willing to purchase a single slot 4GB model (if it was sold in retail), assuming the price was right. Say, 180 bucks or less. As a spare video card to replace an aging GTX 970 that I keep for this purpose.

The real problem with all 9050 XT models is the pricing, which is a travesty even taking into account the current screwed up market.

 

[Lew Zealand]

Firstly it's OEM model only, and it's not marketed as a gaming card. Normal users luckily can't be tempted as it's not on offer.

You want scam look at an RX 6400 4GB.

What's so scammy about the RX 6400? It's a 50W slot-powered GPU so has significant constraints for that reason and there's even Half Height Single Slot versions for SFF PCs. It's well-suited to its target use.

Restrict this 9050 4GB to 70W and call it a 9040 and it would be a decent option instead of being 92W and intentionally ambiguously numbered.

Did you get the 6400 confused with another GPU?

 

[scoffer]

But, but.............AMD is your friend. Right? Right?

 

[kira setsu]

Has better performance than the pc portables, whats the problem?

 

[Frozentundra]

Maybe not a scam, but certainly deceptive nomenclature at best.

 

[MergleBergle]

Meh.. Not happy. But Lisa Su has been making me not happy since around the last US presidental inauguration. C'mon man. AMD used to be the company for the "little guy" to cheer for, now it's just a huge middle finger in our faces to chase AI profits. Shameful.

 

[hwertz]

Calling it a scam is a stretch. It's a simple display adapter and while APUs are great, this does fill a performance gap. APU only systems would be great if AMD would stop pairing the 8060xt with their extremely expensive SKUs. We are also in an economic era where people can't just save stop being poor and save more money. We are living in an era where families making over $100K US are riding the poverty line. These aren't McDonald's money people, they're engineers and STEM people. I also don't buy into the ideology that if you're poor then you shouldn't be spending time or money on entertainment that seems to be popular.

Saying this is a scam is out of touch with reality. Anyone who has looked at a new car in the last 10-20 years has seen worse. Two identical vehicles with the same name same colour same look same two or three letter badge.

But that's normal for cars, people know to check what engine a car has. For video cards, it's deceptive.
Naw, it's a scam. They could call it a 9050VE or something, if they want to sell a cut down version. Not give it the exact same name,

 

[Ravey]

Hmmm I take it no one from techspot reached out to AMD for comment on the naming blunder?

I agree with a few of the other comments here.. calling it a scam is unfair.. BUT I’d still put this down as false advertising in a sense.

 

[lostinlodos]

But that's normal for cars, people know to check what engine a car has. For video cards, it's deceptive.
Naw, it's a scam. They could call it a 9050VE or something, if they want to sell a cut down version. Not give it the exact same name,

I’m partly with you. This is definitely bad for image from AMD. But it’s not even a first in computing. Be it Apple or Samsung buying that pro phone by box image and name alone is a gamble.
that’s exactly what this is. How much memory, how much storage, it’s not on the front of the box or name.

Same thing with some companies laptops. Or desktops. Same name different specs.

Is the practice wrong, it is in my eyes. But it’s normal. For that I won’t blast AMD. I will very publicly spank them though.
Naughty company.