Gigabyte Radeon RX 9060 XT Windforce OC 3X Graphics Card

It's AMD's turn. After months of $2,000+ GPUs and long discussions of DLSS, we're finally on the red team's turf. AMD's strength historically lies at the budget end of the spectrum, where the majority of gamers are playing at 1080p, and spending $1,000 or less for their entire system.

Even though we really recommend splurging on a GPU, that's just not the reality for most folks. An $800 GPU needs $1,200 in other parts, and at that point most people who aren't into PC gaming will start shopping for an Xbox.

For under $400, the Radeon RX 9060 XT manages to trade blows with the similarly priced RTX 5060 at 1080p, and pushes ahead in 1440p performance. If you're looking at both on the shelf, this card has a longer life ahead of it, and better performance in demanding games and at higher resolutions.

Form Factor and Power

Photograph: Brad Bourque

I know folks want to get right into performance, so I don’t want to spend forever on the physical aspects of the card. This Gigabyte Windforce OC model is somewhat premium, with a full metal backplate that has a nice cut-out for cooling, and three full-sized fans. If you have the room, the extra fan will keep your system quieter and reduce the risk of thermal issues.

It still uses the standard eight-pin PCIe power that you're used to, so don't worry about upgrading your power supply or buying an adapter. I think this will make it a much easier upgrade path for most, which is crucial for the budget GPU world.

One interesting note about the Gigabyte model I received is that there's an RGB LED on the upper/outer corner. There's a little sliding piece of plastic with the Gigabyte logo you can put over it to reduce the light, but you'll need to use the Gigabyte software or other RGB LED controller to turn it off.

Benchmarks

Comparing cards with the same GPU manufacturer is more straightforward than crossing lines. Individual developer choices and use of different tech can shift the meter a few percent, and that's often the difference between GPUs at the same price. Synthetic benchmarks can help us get a more precise view of the relative performance in a vacuum, with the least possible variance from game optimization.

Courtesy of Brad Bourque

Both of these cards lag behind the RTX 5060 Ti, which technically starts at $399, with most models falling between $419 and $500. When you consider that the other cards are under $350, these results are great news for the red team. The AMD option takes a strong lead over its Nvidia counterpart in the newer, more demanding benchmark, and even comes within spitting distance of the more expensive GPU. Normally synthetic benchmarks only tell part of the story, but here they sum it up pretty well.

Courtesy of Brad Bourque

Note: A recent Minecraft experimental feature called “Vibrant Visuals” changed the approach to ray tracing, so these numbers won’t match up with previous GPU reviews. It’s overall much more demanding than the old benchmark, and I’m working on re-testing and updating our old charts.

Most gamers are still playing at 1080p, and performance here is shy of 60 FPS with the settings clocked up, similar to the RTX 5060. The Nvidia option pulls ahead in most of these games, sometimes by more than a few percent. Notably, the RX 9060 XT has slightly stronger scores in two games at 1080p, Cyberpunk 2077 and Avowed. The former is known for supporting the latest in graphics technology, and the latter is the newest game in our suite, more evidence for the AMD option having longer legs.

The 5060 Ti clears this key hurdle in most of the common games in our suite, but remember that you're looking at an extra $100 or more to make that upgrade.

Courtesy of Brad Bourque

The RX 9060 XT pulls ahead of the RTX 5060 when it comes to 1440p gaming. I suspect that as time goes on and games get more demanding, this gap will grow larger. AMD also has more updates incoming for FSR later this year, which could be leveraged for even better performance. You can use software and tricks to get extra performance at low resolution, but you can't download more memory. Skimping on VRAM may have cost Nvidia the $300 price point, particularly if you’re considering an upgrade to 1440p.

I mentioned in a previous review that I don’t think 8 GB of memory is enough for a modern GPU, and the difference between these two GPUs confirms that hunch. I still think saving up an extra $100, or finding a sale of $50 or more, would be worth the upgrade to the RTX 5060 Ti.

Still, most folks I play games with don’t want to spend more than $400 on a GPU. At that price, this card is a more appealing option than the RTX 5060, thanks to its superior 1440p performance, and extra VRAM. FSR boosts later this year could give it even more of an edge over the RTX 5060, especially if you find a deal or get a free game. If you're after a budget GPU that still plays pretty well, the 9060 XT is a solid option, especially if you can find a deal.