Nvidia RTX 5060 Launched: Should You Wait?

Nvidia unveiled the RTX 5060 and the RTX 5060 Ti in April 2025, and now, following an announcement at Computex, the more budget-friendly RTX 5060 is finally hitting the market. Priced starting at $299, the RTX 5060 boasts 3,840 CUDA cores spread across 30 Streaming Multiprocessors, making it a solid choice for 1080p gaming. Nvidia has made some bold claims about its performance, suggesting that the RTX 5060 can achieve up to 223 fps in Doom: The Dark Ages at 1080p on max settings, albeit with the aid of 4x multi-frame generation.

The key highlight Nvidia is promoting with this generation of GPUs is the Multi-Frame Generation technology, and the RTX 5060, despite being the most affordable option, fully supports this along with the entire DLSS 4 suite. However, with only 30 Streaming Multiprocessors, there are still limits to what DLSS can achieve.

It's worth noting that the $299 price is just the starting point. While some models will be available at this entry-level price, many RTX 5060 variants will be pricier, often offering attractive extras like factory-tuned overclocking and RGB lighting.

Reviews Are Coming... Later

Even though the RTX 5060 is positioned as a reasonably affordable graphics card – provided the $299 MSRP remains consistent – it's wise to hold off on purchasing until performance reviews are available. Nvidia's impressive performance claims are based on tests with Multi-Frame Generation enabled, but real-world performance without this feature remains to be seen. Unfortunately, we'll need to be patient; unlike previous launches like the RTX 5090, Nvidia isn't providing an early driver to the press, so comprehensive reviews might take a week or more to surface.

The RTX 5060 is poised to be a capable 1080p graphics card, but it may face the same generational performance challenges as other models in the Blackwell lineup. Nvidia indicated that the RTX 5060 could deliver up to double the performance of the RTX 4060 when frame generation is active, but only about a 20% increase in games without ray tracing or frame generation – and that's in the best-case scenario.

As with any high-cost tech purchase, my advice is to wait for independent reviews before making a decision. This ensures you get the best value for your money. Those reviews are on their way, but they may take a few days to become available.