I'm building my first gaming PC and can spend up to $600 on the graphics card. I already have a PS5, so I mainly want the PC for competitive Apex Legends rather than demanding AAA games. I'm considering an RTX 5060 Ti with 8GB of VRAM or an RX 9060 XT with 16GB. The 5060 Ti option I found is about $50–$60 cheaper, but I keep hearing that 8GB may not be enough for modern games. Would that matter for my use case, especially at competitive settings? My planned build includes a Ryzen 5 9600X, Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE, ASRock B650M Pro RS, 16GB DDR5-6000 with plans to upgrade to 32GB, a 512GB NVMe SSD with plans to expand to 2TB, a 650W 80+ Gold power supply, and a JONSPLUS/JONSBO Z20 case.
4 Answers
AMD cards can perform very well in competitive shooters, and the 16GB RX 9060 XT gives you more headroom for future games. I’d personally choose it unless the 8GB RTX 5060 Ti is substantially cheaper. For Apex alone, though, either card should be more than sufficient.
I recently went with an RX 9060 XT 16GB for a similar decision and liked having the extra memory. It costs more up front, but it gives you more flexibility if your plans change and you start playing heavier games later.
For competitive games at low or optimized settings, 8GB of VRAM should be adequate, so I’d mainly compare price and performance. Both cards should run Apex far beyond PS5-level performance. If you might start playing newer AAA games later, the RX 9060 XT 16GB is the safer long-term choice.
That makes sense. I’m leaning toward the cheaper 5060 Ti because it’s around $50–$60 less, but I’m still unsure whether the extra VRAM is worth paying for.
If Apex is truly the only demanding game you plan to play, you don’t need to prioritize VRAM as heavily. A previous-generation card could also handle it well and potentially save money, although you should check its power draw and thermals with your 650W power supply.
That was my thought with older cards too, but I’m trying to avoid something that runs particularly hot or leaves little power headroom.
My main concern with AMD is hearing reports about occasional stuttering or crashes. I’m not sure how common that actually is.