RTX 5060 Ti vs RX 9070 – can Nvidia land a punch?
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The Radeon 9000 cards disrupted the GPU market by offering exceptional performance at a low price compared to the offerings from Nvidia. However, all eyes are on the RTX 5060 Ti as it offers two variants and has different MSRPs.
So the question: Can the RTX 5060 Ti perform well enough to dethrone the budget AMD GPU, the RX 9070, or will Team Green face defeat in the budget segment? In our RTX 5060 Ti review, it showcased decent improvements over its predecessor and DLSS 4 enabled it to handle even graphically demanding titles but we’ll be able to paint the complete picture once we’ve reviewed the RX 9070 as well.
For the time being, we’ll leverage the various online reviews available and will update this article with our own findings. If you’re wondering where you can buy the RTX 5060 Ti as soon as it is launched, 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 PRICEAMD Radeon RX 9070
GPU
Navi 48 XL
Stream processors
3,584
VRAM
16GB GDDR6
Memory bus width
256-bit
Base clock speed
2070 MHz
Boost clock speed
2520 MHz
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CHECK PRICERTX 5060 Ti vs RX 9070 specs comparison
Here’s a quick look at how these two cards stack up side-by-side.
| Specifications | RTX 5060 Ti | RX 9070 |
| SM | 36 | 56 |
| RT cores | 36 | 56 |
| Tensor cores | 144 | 112 |
| Boost clock speed | 2.5 GHz | 2.5 GHZ |
| Memory | 8 or 16GB GDDR7 | 16GB GDDR6 |
| Memory bus width | 128-bit | 256-bit |
| TDP | 180W | 220W |
| Connectivity | PCIe 5.0 x16 | PCIe 5.0 x16 |
Performance comparison
The RTX 5060 Ti and RX 9070 are close in terms of hardware, with the former taking the lead regarding the memory type while the latter has more beefed-up hardware. How will that impact the gaming and synthetic performance? Let's take a look.
RTX 5060 Ti vs RX 9070 4K performance
The RTX 5060 Ti and the RX 9070 are budget graphics cards, so pushing 4K might not be possible, but they've got their respective AI upscaling technologies, DLSS 4 and FSR 4, to help them.
In Cyberpunk 2077, the RX 9070 managed 61 FPS, which is great considering that this title is one of the most graphically demanding out there. However, depending on the title and its graphical fidelity, the output of the RX 9070 increases such as in Counter-Strike 2, we got 258 FPS.
In the same titles, the RTX 5060 Ti delivered 34 and 87 FPS, meaning the RX 9070 had 56% and 99% better output than the RTX 5060 Ti. So, the RX 9070 is the better graphics card for 4K gaming but it also costs extra, a factor you’ll need to consider while making your decision.
ASUS Prime RTX 5060 Ti 16GB OC Cyberpunk 2077, Image by PC Guide
ASUS Prime RTX 5060 Ti 16GB OC CS2, Image by PC Guide
RTX 5060 Ti vs RX 9070 1440p performance
Rendering 1440p frames is much easier for the GPU, and these contenders should have an easier time pushing good framerates at QHD. In the same two titles, Cyberpunk 2077 and CS2, the RX 9070 delivered 113 and 404 FPS, respectively.
This is a 65% and 55% performance difference compared to the output at 4K, meaning with FSR 4 enabled, you should get even better performance. As for the RTX 5060 Ti, it delivered 78 and 170 FPS at very high settings, putting the performance difference between these graphics cards at 36% and 81%, respectively.
RTX 5060 Ti vs RX 9070 synthetic performance
To gauge the synthetic performance of the RX 9070 and the RTX 5060 Ti, we leveraged the 3DMark benchmarks and will showcase the output of Time Spy Extreme and Port Royal. The reason we chose these tests is that the former uses the DirectX 12 API, which is more demanding, and the latter tests the real-time ray tracing output.
That being said, the RX 9070 managed 12,530 points in Time Spy Extreme and 15,206 points in Port Royal. The RTX 5060 Ti managed 7,310 and 10,271 points in the same tests, meaning the performance difference comes around to 52% and 38%, respectively. So, going by these results, the RX 9070 has better ray tracing performance, which is a blow to Nvidia, as it has always dominated the ray tracing gaming landscape.
Pricing
The MSRP of the RX 9070 is $549, while the price of the RTX 5060 Ti is officially $379 and $429. This puts the RX 9070 at a disadvantage as third-party variants will cost more, but if the 9070 offers better performance, then the community might not go for the Team Green offerings, but only time will tell.
Verdict
The RTX 5060 Ti and the RX 9070 both seem like excellent offerings, and ultimately, it might boil down to the price, but the RX 9070 offers better performance, and it’ll come down to whether your budget allows for a little extra spending to get a more powerful GPU. That being said, then we might see people putting a little extra cash toward getting the RX 9070 or the RX 9070 XT as the latter can easily push 4K gaming.
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