I’d so desperately care to do a graphics card evaluation with out the fug of a much broader controversy (or cacked-up market conditions), however the RTX 50 sequence hasn’t been in particular cooperative in that regard, so why must the RTX 5060 be any other? This moment, the unhappiness cloud comes wafting from Nvidia themselves, amid accusations of engineering dodgy RTX 5060 previews and attempting to trade access for better protection of its Multi Frame Generation (MFG) capacity.
Such scheming, if true and intentional, would counsel a impressive insufficiency of religion within the RTX 5060’s core, un-frame-genned efficiency. But now that I’ve spent some high quality moment with the cardboard myself – detached of any tit-for-tat preview shenanigans, clearly – it in reality isn’t that sinful, on natural {hardware} phrases. It’s now not provided for cut-price 1440p however as an reasonably priced 1080p pusher, it’s high-quality. Ample. Cheap. Infrequently some extremity that wishes a thunder-running PR offensive to preserve up with MFG figures.
The drivers, despite the fact that? Now there’s a emergency. And now not on account of the convention-breaking insufficiency of early evaluation tool for press hacks – I were given get admission to to the RTX 5060’s Sport Reader Driving force 576.52 replace on the similar moment everybody else did, when each it and the GPU excused on Might nineteenth. The actual infection is that it’s the latest in a series of GeForce driver updates that experience invited all way of unforced mistakes upon video games worn and fresh, together with a number of of my benchmarking regulars.
Some, like Horizon Forbidden West and Dragon Age: The Veilguard, started struggling sustained framerate drops that they’ve by no means exhibited ahead of. In the meantime, Metro Exodus would hit on startup, and F1 24 would carry out worse with Nvidia’s treasured DLSS body year than with out. Even supposing those aren’t the fault of the RTX 5060 {hardware}, those motive force issues are simply but extra sinful vibes round a graphics card that are meant to be – just like the RTX 3060 and, upcoming a pace, the RTX 4060 ahead of it – a community’s champion.
That is, upcoming all, the extra reasonably priced RTX 50 GPU of the bunch, and thus the least taxing access level (actually, in case you’re over the pool in Price lists Land) into full-spectrum DLSS 4 aid. In truth the very style you notice right here, the well compact Zotac GeForce RTX 5060 Solo, is one in every of a number of which are in truth promoting at RRP/MSRP, or £270 / $299. That’s a trim, by means of 2025 requirements, particularly when maximum RTX 5060 Ti fashions have already received a couple of quid. If not anything else, upcoming it’s no less than utility having a look for some upsides.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 evaluation: 1440p benchmarks
Granted, 1440p perhaps isn’t the most efficient playground to begin the hunt. Nearest diverse restarts and reloads, I did sooner or later get some usable knowledge from the 576.52 drivers, and at local solution the RTX 5060 does construct for visibly smoother framerates than the RTX 4060 in maximum video games – Metro Exodus and Total War: Warhammer III particularly. However upcoming it best produced a unmarried too much body in Cancelled West, forcing it to reduce at the back of the used and less expensive Intel Arc B580. That’s an underdog GPU that the RTX 5060 may additionally best conserve to a attract each Cyberpunk 2077 and F1 24.
Issues for coming related to the Radeon RX 7700 XT, a possible challenger from the second-hand marketplace, but when I used to be speccing a 1440p rig on the cheap, I’d nonetheless save up for an RTX 5060 Ti 16GB. Partially for the reason that VRAM extra does grow to be discoverable at this sort of rez, in particular in Cancelled West, which had a undeniable anxious high quality that I don’t assume is fully defined by means of the decrease body output abandoned. Playable proof suggests 8GB is ok for many 1080p video games, in spite of fresh grumbles from tech fanatics, however an too much 8GB on supremacy of that most probably will assistance take care of the rigours of Quad HD.
You’ll additionally wish to make investments extra if you wish to partake in path tracing. Even with Constituent DLSS upscaling, neither of my trail traced take a look at video games may succeed in 30fps at the RTX 5060, once more making an issue for the RTX 5060 Ti. MFG may get the numbers up, however best Cyberpunk 2077 at 2x felt remotely playable: at 4x, enter lag went off the charts, and Alan Wake II had a in a similar way sludgy feeling (at the side of viewable blurring on digicam actions).
DLSS 4 continues to be the most efficient general upscaler/body gen package deal within the biz, however as I appear to mention each moment it comes up, it simply doesn’t paintings as a method of smoothening out low efficiency. It’s stunning at taking quite-fast video games and making them glance even slicker, however that in reality wishes a understructure of ordinarily rendered frames for DLSS to generate fresh ones from; with out that, it’s the gaming {hardware} similar of sitting in a rusty wheelbarrow with a Ferrari livery. You’ll pick out up some just right speeds at the proper hill, however received’t benefit from the sensation.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 evaluation: 1080p benchmarks
Date is far better at 1080p. The B580 nonetheless beats the RTX 5060 in Horizon, however best by means of a couple of frames, and it’s almost on par with the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB in Metro and Cyberpunk. No longer a ways at the back of in Warhammer III or Murderer’s Creed Mirage, both.
Vitally, there’s additionally – extra regularly than now not – a valuable growth at the RTX 4060, particularly in Metro and Cyberpunk. That is sustained with the appliance of habitual ray tracing, too. Including Extremely-quality RT results to Metro best introduced the RTX 5060 right down to 77fps, pace the RTX 4060 controlled 62fps.
Will it persistently fill out a 165Hz track on max high quality? Disagree, however upcoming for lower than £300 it doesn’t wish to. It’s high-quality. Ample. Cheap, I take into accout somebody announcing. VRAM-wise, you must most certainly consider whether or not chances are you’ll love to improve to 1440p inside this card’s shelf day, however for the moment being it does appear to be you’ll be able to break out with 8GB at 1080p. I didn’t see a lot more of that jittering in Cancelled West, for something, and a side-jaunt into Doom: The Dark Ages – with its always-on ray tracing and Extremely Nightmare settings – produced a clean, stutter-free 73fps, as soon as once more besting the RTX 4060 at 60fps.
Trail tracing left-overs a questionable endeavour, thoughts. Even supposing the RTX 5060 may move slowly to an ostensibly playable 30fps-plus in each video games at this decrease rez, this wasn’t plenty to steer clear of an offputting deluge of enter lag as soon as MFG attempted to construct up the extra. Alan Wake 2 wasn’t as blurry as at 1440p, however nonetheless, it felt sharper to only have Extremely-quality ray tracing at 44fps rather.
In equity, I did discover a utility case for MFG in Dragon Era: The Veilguard. With Extremely settings, DLSS on Constituent and all ray tracing results enabled, Nvidia’s tech grew to become 53fps into 88fps on 2x and 150fps with a 4x override. Crucially, neither of the heightened effects got here with over the top latency, thank you in large part to the truth that the RTX 5060 was once already working the sport acceptably with out them.
It’s simply horrific that to get those numbers, I needed to re-run the take a look at each moment a kind of newfound framerate collapses took playground, on supremacy of getting to restart the sport upcoming each settings trade as a result of in a different way they’d execute efficiency for refuse obvious reason why. That’s now not on account of a up to date sinful pocket on Bioware’s phase, and it’s on no account a infection with how the RTX 5060 itself is engineered, with Zotac’s unmarried fan protecting top GPU temps to a wise 68°c. Nope, this was once the fault of my lifelong enemy for the date two days: the ones 576.52 drivers.
A chance exists that they’ll be fastened, and may now not even get replaced by means of one thing worse, however at this level, there were plenty inaccurate Sport In a position drivers – whose faults are in most cases explicit to the RTX 50 sequence – that it’s grow to be a infection for all the GPU population. Unfortunately, that has to incorporate the RTX 5060. Via Nvidia’s personal hand, this places it within the unenviable place of being essentially the most robust and versatile 1080p graphics card in its fee area but additionally person who makes the phrases “Yes, you should buy this” disproportionately tricky to mention out rowdy. Why would, or must, somebody put money into a detail when its needful drivers have the sort of prime probability of breaking their video games?
This evaluation is in accordance with a retail unit supplied by means of the producer.
