For the RTX 5060, Nvidia only offered to send out the card if we agreed to stipulations around which games we would benchmark, which features we would enable, and which other GPUs we’d compare it to. That would’ve looked a lot better for Nvidia than the reality of the situation, putting an emphasis on multiframe-generation features only available on the newest cards, rather than directly comparing traditional rendering benchmarks.
All this to say, I personally went out and bought the RTX 5060 for this review, which wasn’t as tough as it is with the higher-end offerings. I’ve expressed in previous reviews that supply would be an issue, and having now lived it first-hand, it wasn’t pleasant, but it was possible. Cards are available, but you may have to jump through some hoops to get them into your cart, especially if there are discounts involved.
Photograph: Brad Bourque
None of this affects the performance or my review, but I do think it’s an indication of how confident Nvidia is about what would historically be its most popular offering. The GPU makers may not want to admit it, but the benchmarks don’t lie: PC gaming is officially getting more expensive, and $300 just won’t buy you the same performance it would have even a few years ago.
Performance here is lacking, but it’s only going to get worse as time goes on and more developers start taking 16 GB for granted. While most gamers still play at 1080p, that number is always dropping, and I’ve said multiple times that you should at least target 1440p for a new build.
Otherwise, both the RTX 5060 Ti and RX 9060 XT offer much better value, and as I write this there are OC models for the latter at just over $300. The only reasons you should opt for the RTX 5060 instead is if you can find an exceptional deal, you literally only play Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 (2002), or you happen to have a 550W PSU you can’t or won’t upgrade.