When it comes to pushing hardware beyond its limits, the enthusiast community never disappoints. Recently, a daring modder known online as TrashBench decided that the entry-level GeForce RTX 5050 wasn’t enough for him. 
Instead of simply overclocking it, he took things several steps further and essentially transformed it into a custom RTX 5050 “Ti” – a GPU that doesn’t officially exist, but now holds multiple benchmark world records.
The process wasn’t for the faint of heart. The RTX 5050 is known as the weakest member of NVIDIA’s RTX 50 series, offering a budget-friendly ticket to ray tracing but lacking the raw muscle of its bigger siblings. To narrow the gap, TrashBench began by removing the stock cooler and fitting a much larger cooling solution from the GeForce RTX 5060. This wasn’t a plug-and-play job; he had to drill, cut, and improvise to make the heatsink fit the 5050’s PCB. To top it off, he strapped on a set of high-performance GAMDIAS fans, ensuring airflow could keep temperatures under control even as he cranked up the power draw.
With cooling sorted, the next risky step was flashing the GPU’s BIOS using NVFLASH. That maneuver not only unlocked higher voltage and clock potential but also voided the warranty instantly. The reward was immediate: clock speeds soared to an impressive 3.3 GHz, about 500 MHz above the default RTX 5050. Power limits also climbed from 120W to 140W, yet surprisingly the card ran cooler than before – dropping from an average 70°C under load to just 40°C thanks to the oversized cooling rig.
The performance numbers told the story. In its stock form, the RTX 5050 lagged roughly 33% behind the RTX 5060. After the modifications, TrashBench shaved that deficit to just around 16%, putting his creation in striking distance of its pricier sibling. In benchmark suites like 3DMark, the results were jaw-dropping: 11,715 points in Time Spy Graphics, 2,703 in Steel Nomad (earning the number one global spot), and a record-breaking 7,001 points in Port Royal – the first time a 5050-based GPU crossed the 7,000 mark.
On paper, this effectively created the RTX 5050 Ti, a card that doesn’t exist on NVIDIA’s shelves but now exists in the record books. Yet while the engineering effort is undeniably impressive, it raises a practical question: was it worth it? After all, most gamers could simply pay around $50 more for a factory RTX 5060 and enjoy 14–15% better performance without the hassle, risk, or hardware surgery. The RTX 5050 still remains the runt of the litter when judged purely by value, but TrashBench’s mod proves that with enough patience, tools, and bravery, even the humblest GPU can punch above its weight.
For enthusiasts, this project is a testament to the spirit of PC modding – a mix of ingenuity, stubbornness, and a willingness to sacrifice hardware for the thrill of discovery. For the average gamer, though, it’s probably a story best enjoyed from the sidelines, as few would want to drill through heatsinks and risk bricking their only graphics card just to save a handful of frames.
1 comment
oc or not, trash stays trash 🤣