A year on, the RTX 4050’s appeal has grown – but better laptop GPUs loom

DLSS 3 lets this entry-level mobile chip do what the Steam Deck can’t. Is that enough?

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With a desktop version of the RTX 4050 looking less likely with every turn o’ the Earth, the true entry-level GPU among Nvidia’s current generation solely remains in the realm of gaming laptops . It’s also, I’ll admit, overdue some consideration on RPS. Between the lack of cheap graphics cards among the desktop RTX 40 series, the year-and-a-bit that DLSS 3 has had to grow its compatible games library, and the Steam Deck reminding everyone that portable, low-end gaming can still be pleasurable, now seems like the RTX 4050’s time to shine. Or, at the very least, gently twinkle.

To find out, I’ve been playing around with an MSI Thin GF63, which pairs the 4050 with an octa-core Intel Core i5-12450H and an easygoing 1920x1080 display. That’s not a whole lot of laptop, but then at £799 / $852 , there are few cheaper ways to get a complete system with Nvidia’s Ada Lovelace architecture. Architecture which, again, unlocks DLSS 3 and its best-in-class frame generation tech. This was a useful bonus when the RTX 4050 launched early in 2023 and has only become stronger since, with the number of DLSS 3-ready games rapidly approaching the 100 mark. Frame gen isn’t perfect for every situation – the added input lag can be noticeable in twitchy shooters, say – but generally, it’s worth turning on when you can, and in theory, a cheapo GPU like the RTX 4050 can benefit more acutely from the uptick in frames-per-second.

That said, it’s not a total weakling without help. Even paired with a CPU from two Intel generations back, it can still go well beyond 60fps in plenty of widely-played games, using both high/ultra quality settings and native 1080p rendering.

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Newer AAA games – or more demanding fare from yesteryear – present a steeper challenge, sometimes demanding settings cuts (as with Horizon Forbidden West ) to stay smooth. Not to horrific degrees, mind – anything that the RTX 4050 can’t reliably run on maxed-out visuals, it should do on at least Medium. Just so long as that slightly old-fashioned 6GB VRAM reserve doesn’t get overwhelmed.

However, prospective laptop buyers should also know that for all the RTX 4050’s pep, it’s also soundly thrashed by the mobile RTX 4060 . In Metro Exodus , for one there’s an instantly visible smoothness difference between the Thin GF63’s 48fps and the 72fps that the 4060-equipped HP Omen Transcend 16 scored with the same settings. That laptop also averaged 71fps in Cyberpunk 2077 , which (if you don’t have Alice Bee’s questionable eyesight ) will look and feel slicker than the 45fps of the Thin GF63.

This is more of an issue for the RTX 4050 than the usual GPU tiering considerations because right now, RTX 4060 laptops aren’t actually that much more expensive. Depending on how much you’re willing to compromise on bulk and/or CPU newness, a 4060 gaming notebook can be yours from as little as £800 / $777 , easily enough for them to make hungry eyes at the 4050’s lunch.

In defence of the lower-end GPU, it’s much better at seeing off the rest of its competition. I’d still take an RTX 4050 laptop over a lower-priced RTX 3050 model in an instant, largely thanks to that frame gen support. Here, we can see how enabling DLSS 3 together with good old DLSS upscaling is enough to nearly double the RTX 4050’s frame output in compatible games:

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun

(I know I’m sometimes iffy about using upscalers at 1080p, but they’re altogether more palatable on laptop displays than on desktop monitors. While both might share the same pixel resolutions, the former’s smaller sizes result in much higher pixel densities . As such, everything will therefore naturally look a little sharper, which helps hide the effect of upscalers setting a lower rendering resolution.)

Besides turning merely okay framerates into good ones, DLSS and DLSS 3 can also make the RTX 4050 a viable ray tracing tool. At native 1080p, Hitman 3 ’s infamously strenuous RT effects struck the Thin GF63 down from 91fps to 27fps, but DLSS on Quality mode bumped that back up to a playable 42fps before DLSS 3 frame generation produced am even tidier 64fps. Cyberpunk 2077 could also run comfortably on its Ray Tracing Low preset (which, despite the name, includes a bunch of Ultra-level quality settings) with the addition of DLSS, averaging 53fps with Quality upscaling and 62fps with frame generation on top.

As much as I love my Steam Deck, both it and more premium handhelds like the Asus ROG Ally can only dream of such performance, so the RTX 4050 clearly has an argument to make for itself as a budget gaming option.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun

But then, the mobile RTX 4060 does too, so long as its cheapest laptops stay so close to those of the RTX 4060. And that obviously has all the same DLSS bells and whistles, so it can push that FPS advantage over the RTX 4050 even further.

I still think the RTX 4050 could be a great laptop GPU, especially as the selection of games with frame gen support continues to grow. Maybe it just needs to double down on its budget positioning, with its lappies aiming more for the £600-£700 range: enough to effectively undercut its more powerful sibling, while offering way more pop for your pound than a ROG Ally, Lenovo Legion Go , or Steam Deck OLED .

For the time being, it’s still decent, albeit a harder sell. If the RTX 4050 really is the best mobile GPU you can afford, take solace in knowing that it will play anything at 1080p, and has the tools to ease the stress of the toughest games. But if you can afford to stretch to an RTX 4060 laptop… yeah, do that.

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All 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints and where to get them

These areas have the highest chance of giving you Blueprints

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Looking for more Arc Raiders Blueprints? It’s a special day when you find a Blueprint, as they’re among the most valuable items in Arc Raiders. If you find a Blueprint that you haven’t already found, then you must make sure you hold onto it at all costs, because Blueprints are the key to one of the most important and powerful systems of meta-progression in the game.

This guide aims to be the very best guide on Blueprints you can find, starting with a primer on what exactly they are and how they work in Arc Raiders, before delving into exactly where to get Blueprints and the very best farming spots for you to take in your search.

We’ll also go over how to get Blueprints from other unlikely activities, such as destroying Surveyors and completing specific quests. And you’ll also find the full list of all 75 Blueprints in Arc Raiders on this page (including the newest Blueprints added with the Cold Snap update , such as the Deadline Blueprint and Firework Box Blueprint), giving you all the information you need to expand your own crafting repertoire.

In this guide:

• What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?
• Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes
• Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders Blueprints obtained from quests Blueprints obtained from Trials Best Blueprint farming locations

What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?

Blueprints in Arc Raiders are special items which, if you manage to extract with them, you can expend to permanently unlock a new crafting recipe in your Workshop. If you manage to extract from a raid with an Anvil Blueprint, for example, you can unlock the ability to craft your very own Anvil Pistol, as many times as you like (as long as you have the crafting materials).

To use a Blueprint, simply open your Inventory while in the lobby, then right-click on the Blueprint and click “Learn And Consume” . This will permanently unlock the recipe for that item in your Workshop. As of the Stella Montis update, there are allegedly 75 different Blueprints to unlock - although only 68 are confirmed to be in the game so far. You can see all the Blueprints you’ve found and unlocked by going to the Workshop menu, and hitting “R” to bring up the Blueprint screen.

It’s possible to find duplicates of past Blueprints you’ve already unlocked. If you find these, then you can either sell them, or - if you like to play with friends - you can take it into a match and gift it to your friend so they can unlock that recipe for themselves. Another option is to keep hold of them until the time comes to donate them to the Expedition.

Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes

Below is the full list of all the Blueprints that are currently available to find in Arc Raiders, and the crafting recipe required for each item:

Note: The missing Blueprints in this list likely have not actually been added to the game at the time of writing, because none of the playerbase has managed to find any of them. As they are added to the game, I will update this page with the most relevant information so you know exactly how to get all 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints.

Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders

Below is a list of all containers, modifiers, and events which maximise your chances of finding Blueprints:

• Certain quests reward you with specific Blueprints .
• Completing Trials has a high chance of offering Blueprints as rewards.
• Surveyors have a decent chance of dropping Blueprints on death.
• High loot value areas tend to have a greater chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Night Raids and Storms may increase rare Blueprint spawn chances in containers.
• Containers with higher numbers of items may have a higher tendency to spawn Blueprints. As a result, Blue Gate (which has many “large” containers containing multiple items) may give you a higher chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Raider containers (Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, Medical Bags, Grenade Tubes) have increased Blueprint drop rates. As a result, the Uncovered Caches event gives you a high chance of finding Blueprints.
• Security Lockers have a higher than average chance of containing Blueprints.
• Certain Blueprints only seem to spawn under specific circumstances: Tempest Blueprint only spawns during Night Raid events. Vulcano Blueprint only spawns during Hidden Bunker events. Jupiter and Equaliser Blueprints only spawn during Harvester events.

Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, and other raider-oriented container types have a good chance of offering Blueprints. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints have a very low chance of spawning in any container in Arc Raiders, around 1-2% on average. However, there is a higher chance of finding Blueprints in particular container types. Specifically, you can find more Blueprints in Raider containers and security lockers.

Beyond this, if you’re looking for Blueprints you should focus on regions of the map which are marked as having particularly high-value loot. Areas such as the Control Tower in Dam Battlegrounds, the Arrival and Departure Buildings in Spaceport, and Pilgrim’s Peak in Blue Gate all have a better-than-average chance of spawning Blueprints somewhere amongst all their containers. Night Raids and Electromagnetic Storm events also increase the drop chances of certain Blueprints .

In addition to these containers, you can often loot Blueprints from destroyed Surveyors - the largest of the rolling ball ARC. Surveyors are more commonly found on the later maps - Spaceport and Blue Gate - and if one spawns in your match, you’ll likely see it by the blue laser beam that it casts into the sky while “surveying”.

Surveyors are quite well-armoured and will very speedily run away from you once it notices you, but if you can take one down then make sure you loot all its parts for a chance of obtaining certain unusual Blueprints.

Blueprints obtained from quests

One way in which you can get Blueprints is by completing certain quests for the vendors in Speranza. Some quests will reward you with a specific item Blueprint upon completion, so as long as you work through all the quests in Arc Raiders, you are guaranteed those Blueprints.

Here is the full list of all Blueprints you can get from quest rewards:

• Trigger Nade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Sparks Fly”.
• Lure Grenade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Greasing Her Palms”.
• Burletta Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Industrial Espionage”.
• Hullcracker Blueprint (and Launcher Ammo Blueprint): Rewarded after completing “The Major’s Footlocker”.

Alas, that’s only 4 Blueprints out of a total of 75 to unlock, so for the vast majority you will need to find them yourself during a raid. If you’re intent on farming Blueprints, then it’s best to equip yourself with cheap gear in case you lose it, but don’t use a free loadout because then you won’t get a safe pocket to stash any new Blueprint you find. No pain in Arc Raiders is sharper than failing to extract with a new Blueprint you’ve been after for a dozen hours already.

One of the best ways to get Blueprints is by hitting three stars on all five Trials every week. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints obtained from Trials

One of the very best ways to get Blueprints is as rewards for completing Trials in Arc Raiders. Trials are unlocked from Level 15 onwards, and allow you to earn rewards by focusing on certain tasks over the course of several raids. For example, one Trial might task you with dealing damage to Hornets, while another might challenge you to loot Supply Drops.

Trials refresh on a weekly basis, with a new week bringing five new Trials. Each Trial can offer up to three rewards after passing certain score milestones, and it’s possible to receive very high level loot from these reward crates - including Blueprints. So if you want to unlock as many Blueprints as possible, you should make a point of completing as many Trials as possible each week.

Best Blueprint farming locations

The very best way to get Blueprints is to frequent specific areas of the maps which combine high-tier loot pools with the right types of containers to search. Here are my recommendations for where to find Blueprints on every map, so you can always keep the search going for new crafting recipes to unlock.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Dam Battlegrounds

The best places to farm Blueprints on Dam Battlegrounds are the Control Tower, Power Generation Complex, Ruby Residence, and Pale Apartments . The first two regions, despite only being marked on the map as mid-tier loot, contain a phenomenal number of containers to loot. The Control Tower can also contain a couple of high-tier Security Lockers - though of course, you’ll need to have unlocked the Security Breach skill at the end of the Survival tree.

There’s also a lot of reporting amongst the playerbase that the Residential areas in the top-left of the map - Pale Apartments and Ruby Residence - give you a comparatively strong chance of finding Blueprints. Considering their size, there’s a high density of containers to loot in both locations, and they also have the benefit of being fairly out of the way. So you’re more likely to have all the containers to yourself.

Buried City

The best Blueprint farming locations on Buried City are the Santa Maria Houses, Grandioso Apartments, Town Hall, and the various buildings of the New District . Grandioso Apartments has a lower number of containers than the rest, but a high chance of spawning weapon cases - which have good Blueprint drop rates. The others are high-tier loot areas, with plenty of lootable containers - including Security Lockers.

Spaceport

The best places to find Blueprints on Spaceport are the Arrival and Departure Buildings, as well as Control Tower A6 and the Launch Towers . All these areas are labelled as high-value loot regions, and many of them are also very handily connected to one another by the Spaceport wall, which you can use to quickly run from one area to the next. At the tops of most of these buildings you’ll find at least one Security Locker, so this is an excellent farming route for players looking to find Blueprints.

The downside to looting Blueprints on Spaceport is that all these areas are hotly contested, particularly in Duos and Squads. You’ll need to be very focused and fast in order to complete the full farming route.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blue Gate

Blue Gate tends to have a good chance of dropping Blueprints, potentially because it generally has a high number of containers which can hold lots of items; so there’s a higher chance of a Blueprint spawning in each container. In my experience, the best Blueprint farming spots on Blue Gate are Pilgrim’s Peak, Raider’s Refuge, the Ancient Fort, and the Underground Complex beneath the Warehouse .

All of these areas contain a wealth of containers to loot. Raider’s Refuge has less to loot, but the majority of the containers in and around the Refuge are raider containers, which have a high chance of containing Blueprints - particularly during major events.

Stella Montis

On the whole, Stella Montis seems to have a very low drop rate for Blueprints (though a high chance of dropping other high-tier loot). If you do want to try farming Blueprints on this map, the best places to find Blueprints in Stella Montis are Medical Research, Assembly Workshop, and the Business Center . These areas have the highest density of containers to loot on the map.

In addition to this, the Western Tunnel has a few different Security Lockers to loot, so while there’s very little to loot elsewhere in this area of the map, it’s worth hitting those Security Lockers if you spawn there at the start of a match.

That wraps up this primer on how to get all the Blueprints in Arc Raiders as quickly as possible. With the Expedition system constantly resetting a large number of players’ Blueprints, it’s more important than ever to have the most up-to-date information on where to find all these Blueprints.

While you’re here, be sure to check out our Arc Raiders best guns tier list , as well as our primers on the best skills to unlock and all the different Field Depot locations on every map.

ARC Raiders

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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