Controversy is brewing around the 8GB model of the RTX 5060 Ti graphics card, as it seems Nvidia is actively preventing reviewers from getting copies of this card for testing and benchmarking.

It is clear that Nvidia wants to place most of the media attention on the 16GB models of the RTX 5060 and RTX 5060 Ti. The higher VRAM card is what prominently features in first-party benchmarks. However, some reports suggest that Team Green has taken a very unscrupulous route in order to keep the momentum going. Specifically, Nvidia is said to be preventing board partners from issuing review units of the 8GB cards.

RTX 5060 Ti 8GB reviews might be hard to find

As embargos lift and the RTX 5060 Ti goes on sale, there is bound to be a huge number of reviews going up on YouTube and various tech sites. However, you won't be seeing the 8GB version tested in any of this coverage.

YouTuber Hardware Unboxed was permitted to source an 8GB model for review, only to discover that Nvidia board partners were unable to supply one. This was variously put down to cards not being ready or, more ominously, Nvidia preventing the 8GB models from being supplied for testing.

As Hardware Unboxed said in his video on the subject: “Now, while the launch is claimed to be the same day for the two variants, Nvidia is only sampling the 16 GB card for reviews, so that is what will be covered on launch day. But it goes beyond that because we've been told that AIBs will not be supplying the 8 GB card for reviews, and cannot supply the 8 GB card for reviews. Despite Nvidia giving us permission to source 8 GB models for day one reviews, board partners told us they were unable to send us a graphics card in some cases because they weren't ready, but in other cases because Nvidia had explicitly prevented them from doing so.”

Hardware Unboxed also said that Nvidia has produced some confusing messaging, first denying that the 16GB model was the priority, only to later confirm that it was the case during a Q&A session.

Also notable is that the RTX 5060 non-Ti is having its embargo lifted on the same day as the RTX 5060 Ti, even though the card is not due to launch until May. This means whichever outlet can source one first will win.

About the Author

Rebecca Hills-Duty

Writing and journalism experience at VRFocus, UploadVR, The Escapist, HTC, PC Gamer, Tech Radar+ and Dexerto. Can sometimes be found playing with retro tech.