It’s an exciting time to be in the market for a new graphics card, with AMD, Intel, and Nvidia all pushing out powerful new GPUs for you to pick among. The GeForce RTX 5060 Ti is the most affordable new entry from Nvidia so far in its RTX 50 series (at least until the GeForce RTX 5060 arrives), costing $379 for an 8GB model, or $429 if you spring for one with 16GB of memory. (Those are the suggested starting prices for basic versions of those cards from Nvidia’s card-making partners. Some models will cost more.) At the moment, it doesn’t have any new competition close to these prices, with the nearest current-generation 2025 competitor being the AMD Radeon RX 9070, with models that start at $549.
That $120 price difference isn’t small, though, so is it worth it for you to pay the extra for the Radeon RX 9070? Let’s take a closer look at how these two cards perform to find out.
The Core and Memory Battle: Specs Compared
Comparing graphics cards from different GPU designers is complicated. The silicon components inside GPUs are called by similar names and perform similar functions, but they do so in very different ways. For this reason, one execution unit or a texture mapping unit (TMU) on an AMD card won’t be exactly equivalent to one on an Nvidia card. Comparing them is less like comparing apples to oranges than it is like comparing apples to peanuts. Both are edible and keep you from feeling hungry, but exactly what they are and how they are made is totally different.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
While you shouldn’t compare them directly against each other, I have listed the cores for both the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 Ti and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 here for reference. Also included here are other specs that are generally more comparable. One to look at in particular is the memory component of these graphics cards. Memory bandwidth is essential for graphics work, no matter how you process it internally, and having more bandwidth is always advantageous. The same is generally true for memory capacity, too.
With both the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 Ti and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 shipping with 16GB of RAM, neither gets the upper hand in the memory-capacity department. The AMD Radeon RX 9070 does gain an advantage from having more overall bandwidth, though. This is because the RX 9070 has a 256-bit-wide memory interface that’s double the size of the memory interface on the RTX 5060 Ti.
That said, the RTX 5060 Ti has faster GDDR7 memory, which operates at 28Gbps and outpaces the 20Gbps GDDR6 memory found on the RX 9070. The wider memory interface has a greater impact, though, giving the advantage to the RX 9070.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
The GeForce RTX 5060 Ti has advantages over the RX 9070 in two other areas. First (and less important) is that the RTX 5060 Ti has a lower rated power consumption. This means it will generally use less electricity than the RX 9070. This can be of greater importance in a compact PC, or if you own a power supply with a borderline-adequate wattage rating for the card. But most buyers likely won’t be bothered by the 40-watt difference in listed board power, which isn’t that large in a big-picture sense.
Second, and more important, the RTX 5060 Ti costs a fair bit less than the RX 9070, going by the MSRP, or list price: $429 starting price for 16GB RTX 5060 Ti cards versus $549 for the cheapest Radeon RX 9070s. This could all change in a relative sense due to how tariffs and other factors may affect GPU prices. But for now, we’ll analyze based on MSRP since the tariff news changes by the day.
At $120 less, the RTX 5060 Ti is certainly more budget-friendly. That $120 can make quite the difference in a PC build, too, as that cash could be stretched to cover an SSD, RAM, and maybe even a budget power supply–or a better version of a single one of those.
GeForce RTX 5060 Ti vs. Radeon RX 9070: Gaming Performance
Gaming performance is arguably the most important feature of a graphics card in this price range; that’s what most buyers in this midrange-cost zone are shopping for. (These cards are vast overkill as simple display adapters, but not powerhouses enough for most professional content creators or time-is-money AI work. Gaming is their jam.) Between the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 Ti and the AMD Radeon RX 9070, there’s no debate which is faster: The Radeon RX 9070 is, unquestionably so, in every test. But that’s not the full story.
Costing $120 more, it’s no real surprise the RX 9070 is faster, because you are certainly paying for it to be faster. Indeed, you pay about 28% more, to put a number on it. Depending on the circumstances, the RTX 5060 Ti can still offer better value, though it often does not. This is determined by measuring the RX 9070’s performance gain over the RTX 5060 Ti. In tests where the RX 9070 is ahead by less than 28%, the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB would hold the edge in terms of value.
In most cases, the RX 9070’s performance advantage is more than 28%, though. It peaked with a 71% advantage over the RTX 5060 Ti in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 with the resolution set to 3,840 by 2,160 (aka 4K). The advantage it held in other games was typically less than this, but it was still often higher than 28%.
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Where the Radeon RX 9070’s advantage was less than 28% was mostly when the resolution was set to 1080p. Also, in the stressful game Cyberpunk 2077, the Radeon RX 9070 scored just 18% better than the RTX 5060 Ti with the game set to render at 4K. But as you can see, overall, in the chart above, these cards are both much better suited to plain 1440p or high-refresh-rate 1080p gaming than 4K.
GeForce RTX 5060 Ti vs. Radeon RX 9070: Power and Thermals
Using a Kill-A-Watt wall meter, we measured the power consumption of our graphics-card testbed with both of these graphics cards separately installed. As expected, the Radeon RX 9070 did use more power than the RTX 5060 Ti, but not by all that much.
At its widest range, we observed the testbed pulling 55 more watts with the RX 9070 installed than with the RTX 5060 Ti installed. But that is the power draw for the full testbed. To be sure, most of that increase is attributable to the graphics-card difference. But that kind of increase simply isn’t all that big when you are talking about a power-user desktop.
In spite of the higher power draw, the Radeon RX 9070 stayed far cooler during the testing process than the RTX 5060 Ti did. The reasons for this are primarily down to the different thermal solutions installed on the two cards, and these will differ significantly from one model to the next–for both manufacturers alike, AMD and Nvidia. Hitting 70 degrees C under load is far from dangerous, but if it concerns you, look into a different model than the PNY RTX 5060 Ti model we reviewed; models with more fans and more robust cooling solutions are out there from other card partners.
GeForce RTX 5060 Ti vs. Radeon RX 9070: Which One Should You Buy?
Between the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 Ti and the AMD Radeon RX 9070, which card is right for you will come down to your unique circumstances, your budget, and your goal and desires for your PC. Make no mistake: The Radeon RX 9070 is the faster of the two cards, hands down. But in some clear situations, the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti could be the objectively better option.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
The first factor is your target gaming resolution. If you are going to game predominantly at 1080p, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 Ti will tend to offer better value than the Radeon RX 9070. While you will see a measurable, noticeable performance bump in going with the RX 9070, the degree to which performance increased with that card in games at 1080p resolution was typically smaller than the relative increase in cost. Put simply: At 1080p, you pay more for proportionally less gain.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
Another factor: power and heat. The RTX 5060 Ti was also a little less power-hungry than the Radeon RX 9070, which makes it a better fit for compact PCs and ideal for people that want to keep their PC’s power consumption as low as possible for heat-production or electricity-cost reasons.
If heat and power aren’t concerns for you, though, then the better option is to stick with the Radeon RX 9070 if you can afford it. That’s doubly the case if your aim is also maximum frame rates, especially at 1440p. From a pure gaming standpoint, AMD’s pricier card is the better option, particularly for playing at resolutions above 1080p.
As is often the case, more money gets you better results. The question is whether you have the money to spend. And, in the end, GPU-market volatility and card availability may make the decision for you. What you buy could be down to what you can buy, taken out of your hands by circumstances.
