I'm building a new PC and am deciding between the RX 9060 XT 16GB and the RTX 5060 Ti 8GB. I'm happy to stay at 1080p, but I'm unsure whether the 9060 XT's extra VRAM makes it the better long-term choice for demanding games such as GTA 6. The RTX 5060 Ti may have an advantage in ray tracing and software support, so I'd also like to know how these cards compare for ray-traced gaming and applications such as DaVinci Resolve and After Effects. Which would you choose if the prices are similar?
3 Answers
I’d choose the RX 9060 XT 16GB if the prices are close. The extra VRAM should help it age better, especially in newer games with high-resolution textures. Neither card is really ideal for maxed-out ray tracing at this performance level, so the RTX card’s RT advantage probably isn’t enough to offset having only 8GB.
The RTX 5060 Ti is somewhat better at ray tracing, but the 8GB memory buffer can become a serious limitation even at 1080p when RT and demanding textures are enabled. The 9060 XT may be around 20% slower in RT depending on the game, but you can usually use medium RT with high or ultra raster settings and get a better overall balance.
At 1080p, 8GB can still be sufficient today if you lower textures or RT settings, but it gives you less headroom for future releases. GTA 6 is impossible to predict until PC benchmarks exist, though a 16GB card is the safer bet. A faster card such as an RX 9070 GRE would be worth considering if it is available locally and only slightly more expensive, but regional pricing and availability may make that unrealistic.
The 9070 GRE doesn’t appear to be available in my region, and local prices are already higher than international pricing, so I’m limited to these two options.
That’s my thinking too. Both cards will need compromises with heavy ray tracing, so I’d rather have 16GB and avoid hitting a hard VRAM limit.