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Nvidia invents the next-best thing to a time machine: the RTX 2050 laptop GPU

Nvidia just turned back time with another Turing GPU comeback, as the company just announced a new RTX 2050 laptop chip, alongside MX570 and MX550 options

Promotional photo of laptop with Nvidia graphics with battlefield backdrop

The best graphics cards are still in short supply, but Nvidia has a bunch of GPUs lined up for 2022. Not only is the green team planning an RTX 3070 Ti and RTX 3080 refresh, but its next-generation RTX 4000 series could also be on the cards for next year. Yet, it looks like the graphics titan plans on revisiting the past before embracing the future, as its new laptop graphics lineup includes a discrete RTX 2050.

According to the company’s latest press release, its laptop GPU ensemble now includes a GeForce RTX 2050, MX570 and MX550, all of which feature RT and Tensor Cores. The new graphics card selection also boasts Nvidia DLSS, Reflex, and ray tracing capabilities, meaning your next budget gaming laptop could pack more of a punch.

Nvidia also says its new GPUs will embrace its Optimus technology, which should help balance battery life and performance. While you’ll still need to use your laptop power supply to enjoy peak performance, the optimised power setup should help cut the cord and make light gaming on the go more practical.

It’s worth noting that the new RTX 2050 laptop GPU is the second Turing card to come out of retirement, as a new RTX 2060 12GB desktop card was also released this month. Of course, you’d be forgiven for not knowing this already, as stocks were extremely limited at launch.

Thankfully, the best gaming laptops aren’t too difficult to get a hold of, so if you’re looking to take a trip back in time, you might want to consider Nvidia’s RTX 2050 mobile offering. If you’d rather hold off for an entry-level desktop card, you could always wait for the green team to announce its rumoured new RTX 3050 GPUs, but there will likely be a long line of crypto mining enthusiasts ahead of you in the queue.