RTX 5060 Ti vs RTX 5070 Ti: which should you buy?
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The long-awaited RTX 50-series budget graphics cards are finally here, and everyone is eager to learn how they fare against the competition and their predecessors. However, what we're interested in finding out is how the RTX 5060 Ti and the RTX 5070 Ti perform against each other, as the latter is one complete level above the former.
With that in mind, we’ve put Nvidia’s latest GPU through our test bench to see how it compares against the brand’s recently-launched 5070 Ti. Here at PC Guide, we've tested some of the market’s best gaming GPUs, meaning we can confidently steer you in the right direction when it comes to your next GPU purchase.
Also, if you're wondering where to buy the RTX 5060 Ti as soon as it goes live, we've got you covered.
ASUS Prime RTX 5060 Ti 16GB OC
GPU
GB206-300
CUDA Cores
4,608
VRAM
16GB GDDR7
Memory Bus Width
128-bit
Base/Boost Clock
2.4/2.65 GHz
TBP
180W
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CHECK PRICENVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti
GPU
GB203
CUDA Cores
8960
VRAM
16GB GDDR7
Memory Bus width
256 bit
Base Clock speed
2300 MHz
Boost Clock speed
2475 MHz
Shop on Amazon
CHECK PRICERTX 5060 Ti vs RTX 5070 Ti specs comparison
Here’s a quick look at how these two cards stack up side-by-side.
| Specifications | RTX 5060 Ti | RTX 5070 Ti |
| SM | 36 | 70 |
| RT cores | 36 | 70 |
| Tensor cores | 144 | 280 |
| Peak AI TOPS | 759 | 1406 |
| Boost clock speed | 2.57 GHz | 2.45 GHZ |
| Memory | 8 or 16GB GDDR7 | 16GB GDDR7 |
| Memory bus width | 128-bit | 256-bit |
| TDP | 180W | 300W |
| Connectivity | PCIe 5.0 x16 | PCIe 5.0 x16 |
How does the 5060 Ti compare on raw performance?
The RTX 5070 Ti, unsurprisingly, has more beefed-up hardware than the RTX 5060 Ti, but that was to be expected between a budget and a mid-range GPU. That being said, we'll compare their gaming and synthetic performance to see how this difference in hardware impacts the overall performance.
RTX 5060 Ti vs RTX 5070 Ti 4K performance
The VRAM capacity can play a huge role in how a GPU will handle rendering 4K frames, but the RTX 5060 Ti comes in two variants, 8GB and 16GB, and the latter matches that of the RTX 5070 Ti. So, we'll have to see whether this aspect will help it close the gap or will the 5070 Ti reigns supreme.
The RTX 5070 Ti managed 332 FPS in Counter-Strike 2 and 67 FPS in Cyberpunk 2077. So, overall, it has good 4K performance, but as we saw, depending on the graphical fidelity of the title, you might need to leverage DLSS 4 and MFG to bump up the framerate.
The RTX 5060 Ti, on the other hand, delivered 87 FPS and 34 FPS in the same titles, meaning the 5070 Ti is 116% and 65% better than the 5060 Ti in these specific titles, but this difference can be expected across all games as the 5070 Ti is more decked out.
ASUS Prime RTX 5060 Ti 16GB OC CS2, Image by PC Guide
ASUS Prime RTX 5060 Ti 16GB OC Cyberpunk 2077, Image by PC Guide
RTX 5060 Ti vs RTX 5070 Ti 1440p performance
When it comes to QHD gameplay, we generally see a huge boost in performance compared to 4K, as 1440p is easier for the GPU to process and render. That being said, we'll use the output of the same three games to provide an accurate comparison.
The RTX 5070 Ti delivered 479 FPS in Counter-Strike 2, which is an increase of 36%. In Cyberpunk 2077, we got 124 FPS, a 59% performance difference. This increase shows how much easier it is on the GPU to handle 1440p gaming.
The RTX 5060 Ti churned out 170 FPS in Counter-Strike 2 and 78 FPS in Cyberpunk 2077. This puts the RTX 5070 Ti ahead by 95% and 45%, respectively, but that isn’t surprising. However, the 5060 Ti did manage to close the gap a bit compared to 4K.
RTX 5060 Ti vs RTX 5070 Ti synthetic performance
Synthetic testing is done to gauge how a GPU will handle various workloads in a simulated and controlled environment. Various software programs are available, and one of the most used is 3DMark.
It has various tests like Fire Strike Ultra, Time Spy Extreme, Port Royal, and more that test different capabilities of the GPU. We'll start with Time Spy Extreme, which uses DirectX 12 and tests the GPU's ability to handle 4K frames. In this test, the RTX 5070 Ti managed 13,550 points while the RTX 5060 delivered 7,310 points, meaning the former is 59% better at handling 4K frames.
In Port Royal, which tests real-time ray tracing capabilities, we got 19,254 points, and the RTX 5060 Ti managed 10,271 points (60% performance difference). So, whether it is 4K gaming or ray tracing, the RTX 5070 Ti is the better GPU but is also costs more.
Design differences
Now that we know how these graphics cards differ from each other in terms of performance, we'll see how different they are regarding the design and internal components.
Memory and bus width
The RTX 5060 Ti and the 5070 Ti can compete with each other if both of them have 16GB GDDR7 VRAM, but the 8GB variant will always be at a massive disadvantage. However, even with 16GB VRAM, the RTX 5060 Ti probably won't be able to compete with the RTX 5070 Ti, as the latter has a 256-bit memory bus width while the former is limited to 128-bit.
This means that the 5070 Ti can process more data per clock cycle than the 5060 Ti, and even if they have the same PCIe 5.0 x16 connection, the 5070 Ti will pull ahead due to having more bandwidth, resulting in better productivity and gaming performance.
Pricing
The RTX 5060 Ti has an MSRP of $379 or $429 for the 8GB and 16GB variants. On the other hand, the RTX 5070 Ti has a $749 MSRP, but its third-party variants are available for much higher than that.
On Amazon, we found this Gigabyte AORUS RTX 5070 Ti with a price tag of $1,114.13, which is $365.13 more than what you'd pay at MSRP.
That being said, according to leaks, the RTX 5060 Ti could see even fewer stock on launch than what we've seen with the rest of the RTX 50-series GPUs. If this is true, it won't fare well with Nvidia as the community is already aggravated due to frequent stock shortages, missing hardware, and driver issues.
Verdict
In the showdown between the RTX 5060 Ti and the RTX 5070 Ti, the latter is the clear winner, but that isn't surprising, as they are on different levels of the performance hierarchy. While DLSS 4 can help the RTX 5060 Ti to better compete with the 5070 Ti, the latter has the same weapons in its arsenal too and the performance delta would remain the same.
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