NVIDIA RTX 5060 Series: Affordable Gaming is finally Here!

NVIDIA has finally unveiled its **GeForce RTX 5060** series, aiming to deliver performance without breaking the bank. The RTX 5060 will start at $299, mirroring the launch price of the RTX 4060 two years ago. However, the actual availability at this price point remains to be seen, considering the GPU market's volatility.

Adding to the lineup are two **RTX 5060 Ti** variants, offering 8GB and 16GB of VRAM, priced at $379 and $429, respectively. The RTX 5060 Ti models are expected to hit the shelves on April 16th, while the RTX 5060 has a more general release window of May.

DLSS 4: The Game Changer

Beyond the expected performance improvements, the major draw of the RTX 5060 and 5060 Ti lies in their full support for **DLSS 4** upscaling and 4X multi-frame generation. Previous reviews of higher-end RTX 50-series cards showcased the impressive frame rate boosts and excellent image quality delivered by DLSS 4. It will be interesting to see how this technology benefits these more budget-friendly cards.

While NVIDIA hasn't fully disclosed the specifications, some details have emerged. The RTX 5060 boasts 8GB of GDDR7 VRAM, 19 TFLOPS of Blackwell shader cores, 5th-gen tensor cores with 614 AI TOPS, and 4th gen RT cores reaching 58 TFLOPS. Leaks suggest it also features 3,840 CUDA cores, a significant upgrade from the RTX 4060's 3,072 CUDA cores and GDDR6 VRAM. The RTX 5060 Ti further enhances this with 4,608 CUDA cores and either 8GB or 16GB of GDDR7 RAM.

Performance Expectations

NVIDIA positions the RTX 5060 as a primarily 1080p-focused card, while the RTX 5060 Ti is better suited for 1440p gaming. NVIDIA's benchmarks indicate that the RTX 5060 can achieve 234 fps in Hogwarts Legacy at 1080p with maxed-out settings and 4X frame generation, a substantial leap from the RTX 4060's 110 fps with 1x frame generation. Similar performance gains are touted for Cyberpunk 2077, Avowed, and Marvel Rivals. The RTX 5060 Ti is projected to hit 108 fps in Cyberpunk 2077 at 1440p with Full RT and 4X frame generation, doubling the RTX 4060 Ti's 52 fps with 1x frame generation.

Even with solid native performance, DLSS 4 promises to improve image quality and reduce latency. In Hogwarts Legacy, the RTX 5060 Ti can achieve 61 fps and 70ms latency natively, which improves to 171 fps and 47ms latency with DLSS 4 enabled.

A mobile version of the RTX 5060 is also on the horizon for laptops, starting at $1,099. NVIDIA claims it can reach 146 fps in Cyberpunk 2077 at 1080p with ultra settings and 2X frame generation, a considerable upgrade from the mobile RTX 4060's 60fps.

The biggest challenge for NVIDIA lies in controlling the final price. The actual cost of these cards for consumers will depend on various factors, including stock availability and economic conditions. The RTX 5060 and 5060 Ti appear promising on paper, but their real-world affordability remains to be seen. It will also be interesting to see how AMD responds with its own competitive GPUs.