Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 Review

Nvidia Blackwell has been a chaotic ride. Since debuting successful January 2025 with the RTX 5090, Nvidia has launched an full enactment of graphics cards overmuch sooner than it usually does. Normally, it’d beryllium a afloat twelvemonth oregon truthful earlier the RTX 5060 came out, but it was conscionable implicit 5 months. It was a arguable merchandise too, arsenic Nvidia didn’t person a pre-launch reappraisal cycle, astatine slightest not unless you were consenting to hold to immoderate investigating stipulations. And I wasn’t.

So, portion the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 has been retired for a small implicit a month, I was yet capable to get the Asus Prime exemplary tested this week – and the results person been unsurprising. Just similar the remainder of the RTX 5000 lineup, the RTX 5060 has humble improvements implicit its predecessor erstwhile it comes to earthy gaming performance, but Nvidia is hoping its DLSS 4 AI suite volition instrumentality it implicit the edge.

Specs and Features

Just similar the RTX 5060 Ti that preceded it, the RTX 5060 is built connected the Blackwell architecture. This is the aforesaid architecture that’s powering astir of the supercomputers down astir large AI apps, but evidently scaled way down. In fact, this GPU has conscionable 3,840 CUDA cores crossed 30 SMs, oregon Streaming Multiprocessors. That does springiness this Nvidia graphics paper a spot much silicon than its predecessor, the RTX 4060, which lone had 3,072 CUDA cores.

However, the RTX 5060’s achromatic oculus is its measly 8GB of GDDR7 VRAM. To beryllium fair, this is a graphics paper meant for 1080p and maybe 1440p, but 8GB is cutting it adjacent close astatine little resolutions successful games similar Monster Hunter Wilds. Intel was capable to acceptable 12GB successful its little costly Arc B580, truthful it doesn’t marque overmuch consciousness to marque this concession here.

The RTX 5060 does enactment the afloat DLSS 4 bundle suite, though, including Multi-Frame Generation, oregon MFG. This diagnostic iterates connected the framework gen introduced with the RTX 4090, and uses a caller AI Management Processor, oregon AMP, placed connected the GPU to let it to make aggregate frames disconnected of each rendered framework without introducing excessively overmuch successful the mode of framework pacing issues. Of course, the aforesaid caveats apply. If you alteration this diagnostic with a debased framework rate, you’ll inactive get much frames, but astatine the outgo of ocular artifacts and latency. Instead, it’s champion to permission MFG unsocial unless you’re already getting 45-60 fps.

Instead, the much important caller DLSS 4 diagnostic for the RTX 5060 is thing that’s disposable connected astir RTX graphics cards – the caller Transformer model. This replaces the aged CNN, oregon Convolutional Neural Network, and is capable to nutrient overmuch cleaner upscaled images than older versions of DLSS. In my investigating with the RTX 5090, I ran Cyberpunk 2077 with DLSS acceptable to show mode with the CNN exemplary and the Transformer model, and didn’t announcement a discernable quality successful performance. I didn’t re-do that investigating for the RTX 5060, but I would expect akin results.

Just similar its large sibling, the RTX 5060 Ti, Nvidia isn’t selling a Founders Edition for this graphics card. Instead, the lone RTX 5060s retired determination volition beryllium built by third-party manufacturers similar this 1 from Asus.

Asus sent maine its Prime RTX 5060 for review, and it’s overmuch larger than it astir apt needs to be. This is simply a triple-fan design, with a 2.5-slot profile, making it a spot harder to acceptable successful smaller cases. However, that ample cooler does help, with the 5060 lone ever reaching 69°C passim my testing. That matches the results I got from the RTX 4060 successful the aforesaid trial suite, contempt the newer paper consuming much power.

Unlike immoderate of the higher-end RTX 5000 graphics cards, this mentation of the RTX 5060 is powered by a elemental 8-pin PCIe cable, alternatively than the weird 12VHPWR connector utilized connected the RTX 5080 and 5090. This means little cablegram clutter successful your case, particularly if you person an older powerfulness proviso that doesn’t natively enactment the caller connector.

Performance

At its core, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 is conscionable different 1080p graphics card, and for the astir portion it does a good job, though you volition person to crook down the settings successful immoderate of the astir demanding games. Thanks successful ample portion to the constricted VRAM budget, the RTX 5060 struggles successful games similar Assassin’s Creed Shadows, wherever the comparatively weaker Intel Arc B580 outshines it.

Even comparing it with the RTX 4060, which besides featured lone 8GB of VRAM, I recovered that the RTX 5060 was connected mean conscionable 15% faster – and that fig drops to 13% erstwhile I destruct 3DMark from the results. It’s the aforesaid inclination I’ve seen crossed the remainder of the Blackwell lineup: Without framework generation, the RTX 5060 doesn’t supply a immense betterment implicit its predecessor. But hey, astatine slightest it yet beats the RTX 3060 Ti, which is thing the 4060 notoriously failed to do.

3DMark is usually the archetypal happening I trial connected a caller graphics card, arsenic it gives a benignant of “best lawsuit scenario” look astatine its performance. In the Speed Way test, which is simply a modular DirectX 12 trial with ray tracing, the RTX 5060 bushed its predecessor by 23% with a people of 3,458 points. Then successful Steel Nomad, which tests DirectX 12 without ray tracing, the RTX 5060 enjoyed a larger 25% pb with a people of 3,149 points to the RTX 4060’s 2,660 points.

Testing Nvidia cards successful Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is thing you person to instrumentality with a spot of a atom of salt, arsenic it’s a crippled that’s been optimized chiefly for AMD hardware. Still, though, the RTX 5060 manages an mean 100 fps astatine 1080p, compared to 96 fps from the RTX 4060 with the aforesaid settings. But, of course, the Radeon RX 9060 XT enjoys a immense triumph with its 141 fps astatine the aforesaid settings – though that’s with the 16GB version.

The other is existent successful Cyberpunk 2077, wherever Nvidia cards typically bask a show advantage, though it has been shrinking successful caller generations. Here, the RTX 5060 gets an mean of 71 fps astatine 1080p with the Ray Tracing Ultra preset and DLSS acceptable to ‘Quality’. However, with the aforesaid settings, the RTX 4060 gets 65 fps, making for a tiny 8.4% show pb successful the 5060’s favor.

I trial Metro Exodus without immoderate benignant of upscaling, simply due to the fact that it only supports DLSS, which isn’t supported connected non-Nvidia cards. It makes the trial a bully glimpse into however hard ray tracing hits the GPU, and, well, it hits the RTX 5060 beauteous hard. In this crippled astatine 1080p, the 5060 lone manages 54 fps, though that is up from 43 fps connected the RTX 4060. However, crook connected DLSS, and you should spot that framework complaint leap backmost up supra 60 fps.

And portion Red Dead Redemption 2 is getting old, it is inactive 1 of the biggest games connected the marketplace that runs Vulkan, truthful it’s inactive a invaluable test. And, with each the settings maxed astatine 1080p, the RTX 5060 gets 87 fps, though that’s a tiny summation from the 4060’s 84 fps successful the aforesaid test.

Total War: Warhammer 3 is simply a amusive small crippled to test, due to the fact that it doesn’t enactment immoderate benignant of ray tracing oregon upscaling, giving a wide representation of axenic rasterized performance. The RTX 5060 benignant of amazed maine here, too: astatine 1080p Ultra settings it gets 131 fps, compared to conscionable 88 fps from the RTX 4060. This is decidedly an outlier, though, making for a 32% improvement.

The RTX 5060 truly struggles successful Assassin’s Creed Shadows, though. At 1080p, the RTX 5060 gets conscionable 33 fps, compared to 34 fps from the RTX 4060. That’s wrong the borderline of mistake and not a large look for the newer card. Though, turning down ray tracing present would drastically amended performance. This is besides a crippled that shines connected AMD hardware, arsenic the Radeon RX 9060 XT gets 45 fps here, a immense improvement, but inactive abbreviated of the magic 60 fps.

Finally, successful Black Myth Wukong, the RTX 5060 hits an mean of 48 fps astatine 1080p with the Cinematic preset. That’s besides abbreviated of 60 fps, but it is simply a bully 19% betterment implicit the RTX 4060, which lone manages 39 fps with the aforesaid settings. This is different crippled wherever you’re going to privation to crook down the settings.

Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor astatine IGN and the PC components queen. You tin travel her @Jackiecobra