I. Preface
In a previous article, I compared the gaming performance of the GeForce RTX 5060 and the Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB, concluding that the latter outperformed the former by 26%. However, this comparison was unfair, as the true competitor to the GeForce RTX 5060 is the Radeon RX 9060 XT 8GB. Both graphics cards have 8GB of VRAM and are priced at $299.
Given the “impressive” performance of the RX 9070 series, many are eagerly anticipating how the RX 9060 series will perform. So, what is the actual performance of the Radeon RX 9060 XT 8GB? Can it dominate the GeForce RTX 5060? This article will reveal the answer through gaming tests.
II. Specifications Comparison
The GeForce RTX 5060 was released on May 19, 2025, featuring the GB206 GPU based on the Blackwell architecture. Manufactured using TSMC’s 4nm process, it has 3840 CUDA cores, 120 texture units, 48 raster units, 30 SMs, 120 Tensor cores, and 30 ray tracing cores. It comes with 32MB of L2 cache.
Its base clock is 2280 MHz, with a boost clock of up to 2497 MHz. It is equipped with 8GB of GDDR7 memory, running at 28 Gbps, on a 128-bit bus, delivering a memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. Its FP32 performance reaches 19.18 TFLOPS, with a power consumption of 145W and a suggested retail price of $299.
The Radeon RX 9060 XT 8GB was released on June 4, 2025, featuring the Navi44 GPU based on the RDNA 4 architecture. Manufactured with TSMC’s 4nm process, it includes 2048 shaders, 128 texture units, 64 raster units, 32 compute units, and 32 ray tracing cores.
It comes with 4MB of L2 cache and 32MB of L3 cache. The base clock is 1700 MHz, and it boosts up to 3130 MHz. With a 128-bit memory interface, it is available in 8GB or 16GB GDDR6 variants, running at 20.1 Gbps and delivering a bandwidth of 322.3 GB/s. Power consumption is 160W, and the 8GB version is priced at $299.
III. Test Platform Configuration
The main test setup includes:
CPU: Ryzen 7 9800X3D
Motherboard: ASRock X670E PG Lightning
RAM: 32GB DDR5 6000MHz
Graphics Cards: GeForce RTX 5060 and Radeon RX 9060 XT 8GB
Storage: Two Samsung 970 SSDs
Operating System: Windows 11
IV. Game Testing (RTX 5060 vs RX 9060 XT)
Seven games were tested, all under 1080P quality settings. In the following series of images, the left represents the GeForce RTX 5060 platform, and the right represents the Radeon RX 9060 XT 8GB platform.
Game 1: Ghostwire: Tokyo
GeForce RTX 5060:
- Avg FPS: 85
- Min FPS: 75
- Frame Time: 11.7ms
- CPU Usage: 12%
- CPU Power: 49W
- CPU Temp: 52°C
- RAM Usage: 11.3GB
- GPU Usage: 100%
- VRAM Usage: 5.5GB
- GPU Power: 147W
- GPU Temp: 57°C
Radeon RX 9060 XT 8GB:
- Avg FPS: 105
- Min FPS: 90
- Frame Time: 9.5ms
- CPU Usage: 14%
- CPU Power: 55W
- CPU Temp: 48°C
- RAM Usage: 12.9GB
- GPU Usage: 98%
- VRAM Usage: 6.2GB
- GPU Power: 153W
- GPU Temp: 61°C
RX 9060 XT 8GB leads with 20 more FPS on average (~24% higher), 15 higher min FPS, and 2ms lower frame time.
Game 2: Red Dead Redemption 2
GeForce RTX 5060:
- Avg FPS: 100
- Min FPS: 76
- Frame Time: 9.2ms
- CPU Usage: 17%
- CPU Power: 52W
- CPU Temp: 51°C
- RAM Usage: 12.5GB
- GPU Usage: 95%
- VRAM Usage: 4.7GB
- GPU Power: 140W
- GPU Temp: 54°C
Radeon RX 9060 XT 8GB:
- Avg FPS: 115
- Min FPS: 95
- Frame Time: 8.5ms
- CPU Usage: 20%
- CPU Power: 57W
- CPU Temp: 48°C
- RAM Usage: 11.6GB
- GPU Usage: 99%
- VRAM Usage: 5.4GB
- GPU Power: 190W
- GPU Temp: 61°C
RX 9060 XT 8GB leads by 15 FPS (~15% higher), 19 higher min FPS, and slightly better frame time.
Game 3: Cyberpunk 2077
GeForce RTX 5060:
- Avg FPS: 84
- Min FPS: 70
- Frame Time: 11.7ms
- CPU Usage: 52%
- CPU Power: 81W
- CPU Temp: 62°C
- RAM Usage: 11.6GB
- GPU Usage: 98%
- VRAM Usage: 6.7GB
- GPU Power: 140W
- GPU Temp: 56°C
Radeon RX 9060 XT 8GB:
- Avg FPS: 96
- Min FPS: 76
- Frame Time: 9.5ms
- CPU Usage: 55%
- CPU Power: 89W
- CPU Temp: 60°C
- RAM Usage: 12.1GB
- GPU Usage: 98%
- VRAM Usage: 7.4GB
- GPU Power: 156W
- GPU Temp: 61°C
RX 9060 XT 8GB leads with 12 more FPS (~14% higher), 6 higher min FPS, and 2ms lower frame time.
Game 4: God of War
GeForce RTX 5060:
- Avg FPS: 116
- Min FPS: 102
- Frame Time: 8.2ms
- CPU Usage: 31%
- CPU Power: 62W
- CPU Temp: 52°C
- RAM Usage: 12.5GB
- GPU Usage: 100%
- VRAM Usage: 6.0GB
- GPU Power: 140W
- GPU Temp: 54°C
Radeon RX 9060 XT 8GB:
- Avg FPS: 116
- Min FPS: 106
- Frame Time: 8.6ms
- CPU Usage: 17%
- CPU Power: 61W
- CPU Temp: 50°C
- RAM Usage: 14.0GB
- GPU Usage: 100%
- VRAM Usage: 6.8GB
- GPU Power: 145W
- GPU Temp: 62°C
A draw in average FPS. RX 9060 XT 8GB has a 4 FPS lead in min FPS, but slightly higher frame time. Overall result is a tie.
Game 5: Horizon Forbidden West
GeForce RTX 5060:
- Avg FPS: 79
- Min FPS: 77
- Frame Time: 12.8ms
- CPU Usage: 50%
- CPU Power: 76W
- CPU Temp: 64°C
- RAM Usage: 12.0GB
- GPU Usage: 99%
- VRAM Usage: 7.6GB
- GPU Power: 134W
- GPU Temp: 54°C
Radeon RX 9060 XT 8GB:
- Avg FPS: 83
- Min FPS: 65
- Frame Time: 12.2ms
- CPU Usage: 36%
- CPU Power: 78W
- CPU Temp: 61°C
- RAM Usage: 16.1GB
- GPU Usage: 98%
- VRAM Usage: 7.2GB
- GPU Power: 150W
- GPU Temp: 61°C
RX 9060 XT 8GB has a 4 FPS higher average but 12 FPS lower min FPS. Frame times nearly equal. Result is nearly a tie.
Game 6: STALKER 2
GeForce RTX 5060:
- Avg FPS: 65
- Min FPS: 50
- Frame Time: 14.5ms
- CPU Usage: 22%
- CPU Power: 56W
- CPU Temp: 53°C
- RAM Usage: 16.7GB
- GPU Usage: 98%
- VRAM Usage: 7.0GB
- GPU Power: 134W
- GPU Temp: 54°C
Radeon RX 9060 XT 8GB:
- Avg FPS: 58
- Min FPS: 47
- Frame Time: 18.8ms
- CPU Usage: 23%
- CPU Power: 62W
- CPU Temp: 51°C
- RAM Usage: 25.4GB
- GPU Usage: 98%
- VRAM Usage: 7.6GB
- GPU Power: 150W
- GPU Temp: 62°C
RTX 5060 outperforms RX 9060 XT 8GB with 7 more FPS (~12% lead), better frame time, and slightly better min FPS.
Game 7: The Last of Us Part II
GeForce RTX 5060:
- Avg FPS: 92
- Min FPS: 71
- Frame Time: 11.7ms
- CPU Usage: 71%
- CPU Power: 97W
- CPU Temp: 71°C
- RAM Usage: 12.8GB
- GPU Usage: 99%
- VRAM Usage: 7.4GB
- GPU Power: 121W
- GPU Temp: 51°C
Radeon RX 9060 XT 8GB:
- Avg FPS: 88
- Min FPS: 81
- Frame Time: 11.7ms
- CPU Usage: 54%
- CPU Power: 79W
- CPU Temp: 59°C
- RAM Usage: 17.4GB
- GPU Usage: 99%
- VRAM Usage: 7.2GB
- GPU Power: 142W
- GPU Temp: 60°C
RTX 5060 has 4 more FPS in average but 10 lower in min FPS. Frame time equal. Result is a near draw.
V. Comparison Conclusion
The results are disappointing. In terms of overall gaming performance, the Radeon RX 9060 XT 8GB and GeForce RTX 5060 each had wins and losses, ending in a tie overall. The Radeon RX 9060 XT 8GB delivered rather mediocre performance, falling short of public expectations.
On the other hand, the GeForce RTX 5060 consistently showed lower memory usage, power consumption, and temperature, offering a more balanced performance. Given the same price, it is clearly the better choice.
Disclaimer: This article is created by the original author. The content of the article represents their personal opinions. Our reposting is only for sharing and discussion purposes and does not imply our endorsement or agreement. If you have any objections, please get in touch with us through the provided channels.
