NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 8 GB

[W1zzard]

The GeForce RTX 5060 8 GB is NVIDIA's newest release. It is built using the same chip as the RTX 5060 Ti, but only comes with an 8 GB VRAM option. In our review we run it through all our tests, including 1440p and 4K with and without ray tracing, and we also recommend optimal settings for certain demanding games.

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[oxrufiioxo]

Thanks for the review, awesome work as usual.

That being said any card that can't beat a prior generation gpu one tier up by a noticeable margin is a joke while having less memory than 2 generations ago is just sad.

 

[GhostRyder]

I will give it this much, its a decent performance step up from the RTX 4060 it looks like. For $300 its not bad in my book in this day and age.

 

[LastDudeALive]

Does the VRAM run out in Cyberpunk with RT, Balanced or Performance DLSS, Ray Reconstruction, and frame generation?

I got ~60 base fps with RT, Balanced DLSS (transformer), and ray reconstruction on my 4070 Super at 1440p. Then FG bumped me up to a smooth ~110-120 fps.

Looking at the benchmarks, the 5060 does better at 1080p RT than the 4070 Super does at 1440p RT. So, if VRAM doesn't run out, it should be a pretty good experience in that specific game when you add all of those features.

 

[Yashyyyk]

I don't know why Zotac can't put this cooler on the 16GB 5060Ti, there is thermal headroom to spare

Same story with 4060Ti, 8GB versions have single fan coolers but 16GB doesn't...does it take an extra fan to cool 8GB extra of VRAM chips?

 

[Macro Device]

Cyberpunk 2077: 1080p, max settings, with RT off, DLSS Quality and Frame Generation x2 or x3 ran extremely well.

I never tested this on Blackwell but older cards, especially Ada, massively benefit from turning SSR down from Ultra to just High. This brings at least 20 percent additional FPS without any noticeable visual worsening.

I gained 33% additional performance on my 6700 XT. Gains on Ada are usually higher. 1440p Ultra no RT no FG + FSR3 Quality.

That said... 5060 currently sells for $460 here in Russia (VAT included) so definitely not worth it. Can get a used 4070 for essentially the same money.

 

[AnarchoPrimitiv]

Why is this review so much more positive than the ones on youtube? Honest question....I haven't had the hour necessary to compare numbers, but if somebody has and would like to provide their take on it.....

 

[Nikhar]

Ladies and Gents,

Please welcome the newest, scrawny, under-endowed, runt of the Blackwell pack!

The DISpleasure of seeing 8GB at that price...

Why is this review so much more positive than the ones on youtube? Honest question....I haven't had the hour necessary to compare numbers, but if somebody has and would like to provide their take on it.....

Reviewed "as a GPU"
Instead of "as another let-down"
?

 

[KedsDead]

Hope Wizard gives the 9060XT 8GB the same love he did the 5060, with "use these settings to make it playable" notes.

 

[MatthewGTX]

I am strongly considering upgrading to this from a 1060 I have had for 7+ years now.
1. I bought a 4k gaming monitor but this coincided with frequent crashes and BSODs on windows, even after reinstalling and playing games at 1080p still (might just be the new nvidia drivers but idk). I have just avoided windows and only used linux for the past week which isn't ideal. Hopefully upgrading GPUs does something about this but idk.
2. I don't play anything newer than Doom Eternal so the 8gb concern isn't as relevant to me. The main use case for me is playing older games (hopefully at 4k) and software development where I can use a 4k monitor without Windows crashing every hour. I could buy used but I would like a more power efficient card.
3. I know that the 9060 xt is coming out soon. I kinda prefer AMD as a brand (better on linux, but nvidia is fine these days as well), but even if it is 20% faster, I am afraid its going to be more expensive than advertised.
Would like to know reasons why I shouldn't upgrade right now. Also microcenter has an open box deal for 270 near me.

 

[Shadowjump]

Is the table on the first page correct? I see the same core count for both 5060 and 5060 Ti.

 

[oxrufiioxo]

Why is this review so much more positive than the ones on youtube? Honest question....I haven't had the hour necessary to compare numbers, but if somebody has and would like to provide their take on it.....

Honestly that's just 2025 dgpu market in a nutshell. On one hand this doesn't even move people up to a noticeable extent over a 2 year old gpu one tier up and also has regressed from the 4 year old 3060 12GB in the memory department on the other hand everything else currently is bad and at 299 until the 9060 8GB/16GB comes out there isn't anything better at 299.

 

[Nikhar]

Is the table on the first page correct? I see the same core count for both 5060 and 5060 Ti.

Oh dang! nice catch

Should be:
3840 cores
2280 coreFreq
2497 boostFreq

 

[Cheeseball]

@W1zzard

Is the first page table correct? The RTX 5060 has the same core count and ROPs as the Ti varient? (I'm legit asking as I didn't really care about anything below the RTX 5070.)

EDIT: Ah, okay, looks like some of us caught the mistake too.

 

[Macro Device]

but if somebody has and would like to provide their take on it.....

AMD: "We will make affordable GPUs affordable again!"
Also AMD: release a whole lot of nothing in sub-600 USD area.

That's why it is what it is. "Bad" "greedy" NVIDIA are at least offering something in this segment, unlike "good guys" AMD. And since it's the best price to performance card as of now it's not THAT bad. Sure, 8 GB for 300 bucks is horrible. Sure, what NVIDIA did to the reviewers is unforgivable. But the SKU exists and is available. And nothing, I repeat, NOTHING dares to compete with it.

 

[Outback Bronze]

Great review W1z!

Thanks for the extra content on the individual games in the conclusion, excellent work! Well Done!

You've come a long way since the early days: https://www.techpowerup.com/review/palit-geforce-8800-gtx/15.html

 

[Nikhar]

NOTHING dares to compete with it.

Future RX 9060: "I need to up my game"

Great review W1z!

Thanks for the extra content on the individual games in the conclusion, excellent work! Well Done!

You've come a long way since the early days: https://www.techpowerup.com/review/palit-geforce-8800-gtx/15.html

I remember reading this years ago. I also remember +10% OC was an easy thing

 

[Macro Device]

Future RX 9060: "I need to up my game"

Just like 7600 and any other AMD GPU it'll end up not changing the bigger picture because AMD don't even bother trying making their wares affordable at MSRP since day 0. Will be NVIDIA minus couple dozen dollars and, yeah, prices will proceed to stagnate.

 

[Nikhar]

Just like 7600 and any other AMD product it'll end up not changing the bigger picture because AMD don't even bother trying making their wares affordable at MSRP since day 0. Will be NVIDIA minus couple dozen dollars and, yeah, prices will proceed to stagnate.

All their focus on making the best CPU's (relatively, to their credit) and their GPU division just lagging behind

 

[Cheeseball]

I don't know why Zotac can't put this cooler on the 16GB 5060Ti, there is thermal headroom to spare

Same story with 4060Ti, 8GB versions have single fan coolers but 16GB doesn't...does it take an extra fan to cool 8GB extra of VRAM chips?

You might be correct there. More traces/circuitry for the extra RAM ICs perhaps?

Also the RTX 5060 Ti spikes above 200W, which is fine for a supposedly 200W TGP-capable HSF since these are just power spikes, but I think they're playing it safe. I too would like a single-fan RTX 5060 Ti-class card.

Unfortunately, no one was able to get it right for the RX 7600 XT (which came with only 16GB VRAM) because it spikes up to 235W and averages 190W. I'm not able to run it on my eGPU with a 240W PSU (with a barrel-plug AC adapter) because it keeps triggering the OVP/OCP and it cuts power.

Amazingly running a RTX 4070 Super on the same setup doesn't trigger OVP/OCP, but it does trigger the orange warning LED while gaming.

 

[LastDudeALive]

also has regressed from the 4 year old 3060 12GB in the memory department

People keep making this argument, but it doesn't make any sense. The 3060 was going to have 6GB, not 12GB. You can see this in the SKUs. 6GB 3060, 8GB 3070, 10GB 3080. They only decided at the last minute that 6GB wasn't going to be enough for the improved ray tracing, and they didn't want to cut the memory bus down to 128-bit because that would mean added costs and less performance. So they had to do 12GB over a 192-bit bus, since it was too late to re-configure the entire product stack.

The 3060 also launched at $330 MSRP, with a $420 street price due to crypto and COVID, so if you're going to whine about the "regression" of VRAM, also talk about the regression in price at least. Having models available at $300 MSRP with the demand for Blackwell silicon from AI companies is a miracle.

 

[oxrufiioxo]

Just like 7600 and any other AMD GPU it'll end up not changing the bigger picture because AMD don't even bother trying making their wares affordable at MSRP since day 0. Will be NVIDIA minus couple dozen dollars and, yeah, prices will proceed to stagnate.

In the past amd was lucky if their gpus actually maintained their MSRP here in the states the majority crashed fast dropping 15-30%. It's only this generation with the meh AF 5000 series from Nvidia that they can now maintain an above MSRP price.

People keep making this argument, but it doesn't make any sense. The 3060 was going to have 6GB, not 12GB. You can see this in the SKUs. 6GB 3060, 8GB 3070, 10GB 3080. They only decided at the last minute that 6GB wasn't going to be enough for the improved ray tracing, and they didn't want to cut the memory bus down to 128-bit because that would mean added costs and less performance. So they had to do 12GB over a 192-bit bus, since it was too late to re-configure the entire product stack.

The 3060 also launched at $330 MSRP, with a $420 street price due to crypto and COVID, so if you're going to whine about the "regression" of VRAM, also talk about the regression in price at least. Having models available at $300 MSRP with the demand for Blackwell silicon from AI companies is a miracle.

The 240 480 from 2016 also had 8GB lmao this isn't just an nvidia problem though and it's still regression/stagnation no matter how much green Kool-aid you want to drink.

 

[Nikhar]

regression in price

Surely everyone can agree since the whole industry is in a "regression" having literally anything at MSRP is "progression"

 

[Cheeseball]

People keep making this argument, but it doesn't make any sense. The 3060 was going to have 6GB, not 12GB. You can see this in the SKUs. 6GB 3060, 8GB 3070, 10GB 3080. They only decided at the last minute that 6GB wasn't going to be enough for the improved ray tracing, and they didn't want to cut the memory bus down to 128-bit because that would mean added costs and less performance. So they had to do 12GB over a 192-bit bus, since it was too late to re-configure the entire product stack.

The 3060 also launched at $330 MSRP, with a $420 street price due to crypto and COVID, so if you're going to whine about the "regression" of VRAM, also talk about the regression in price at least. Having models available at $300 MSRP with the demand for Blackwell silicon from AI companies is a miracle.

But his argument still makes sense because that just means NVIDIA should've kept the memory bus size the same alignment for the entire series (e.g. 60-series = 192-bit, 70-series = 256-bit, 80-series = 256-bit+, etc.) instead of regressing. They would've been able to keep the ~$330 pricing with minimal public backlash and we would have a minimum of 12GB standard for the lower-middle class video cards now.

That and the performance minimum would've been higher today.

 

[evernessince]

I am strongly considering upgrading to this from a 1060 I have had for 7+ years now.
1. I bought a 4k gaming monitor but this coincided with frequent crashes and BSODs on windows, even after reinstalling and playing games at 1080p still (might just be the new nvidia drivers but idk). I have just avoided windows and only used linux for the past week which isn't ideal. Hopefully upgrading GPUs does something about this but idk.
2. I don't play anything newer than Doom Eternal so the 8gb concern isn't as relevant to me. The main use case for me is playing older games (hopefully at 4k) and software development where I can use a 4k monitor without Windows crashing every hour. I could buy used but I would like a more power efficient card.
3. I know that the 9060 xt is coming out soon. I kinda prefer AMD as a brand (better on linux, but nvidia is fine these days as well), but even if it is 20% faster, I am afraid its going to be more expensive than advertised.
Would like to know reasons why I shouldn't upgrade right now. Also microcenter has an open box deal for 270 near me.

This isn't the card for you if you play at 4K. You are going to absolutely want something with more VRAM. The 9060 XT is going to get you double the VRAM for only $50 more plus it has more raw horsepower to boot.