AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB review: NVIDIA's budget cards have a problem and this is it

Note: This review was first published on 4 June 2025.

It wouldn’t be a stretch to call AMD’s Radeon RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT a solid step forward for the company’s RDNA 4 lineup. Both cards offer strong gaming performance at a relatively competitive price, particularly when stacked up against NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 5070 and 5070 Ti. AMD’s strategy of undercutting NVIDIA’s SRPs while delivering comparable – and in some cases better – performance at 1440p and even entry-level 4K gaming has certainly resonated with gamers. It’s one of the few recent GPU launches that feels priced with actual gamers in mind. Now, AMD is setting its sights on the lower end of the market with the Radeon RX 9060 XT.

Like the RX 9070 cards, the Radeon RX 9060 XT is based on AMD’s new RDNA 4 architecture, though it features a significantly reduced transistor count, fewer ray accelerators, and a narrower memory bus. In terms of positioning, it succeeds the previous-generation Radeon RX 7600. The standout feature here is the availability of both 8GB and 16GB configurations, priced at US$299 and US$349 respectively – marking a notable shift from the RX 7600, which was limited to 8GB. That said, buyers should pay close attention to which model they’re picking up, as it’s easy to assume you’re getting the 16GB version when that may not be the case. It’s the same criticism I had with NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 5060 Ti, which, unsurprisingly, is the very GPU AMD is aiming to challenge with the Radeon RX 9060 XT.

What’s disappointing, though not unexpected, is AMD’s continued absence of reference cards – including for the RX 9060 XT GPU. That’s a shame because, like NVIDIA, AMD makes some well-built and good-looking reference cards. Instead, AMD sent over the Gigabyte Radeon RX 9060 XT Gaming OC 16G graphics card. An understated card that occupies 2.5-slot in the PC, it features Gigabyte’s Windforce cooling system, a touch of RGB lighting and what the company claims is server-grade thermal conducive gel. Compared to the PowerColor Hellhound Radeon RX 9070 cards, this Gigabyte Radeon card certainly gets my vote in the looks department. For power, it runs off a single 8-pin PCIe connector.

Our test rig

Our test machine remains unchanged from the one used in all of our GeForce RTX 50 series and Radeon RX 9000 series GPU reviews and comes with the following specifications:

• AMD Ryzen 9 9950X
• ROG Crossfire X870E Hero
• Samsung 990 Pro 1TB SSD
• Kingston Fury 32GB DDR5
• Windows 11 Home 64-bit
• ASUS ROG Swift OLED PG32UCDM 4K Gaming Monitor

For this review, my focus will be the Radeon RX 9060 XT’s performance against its direct competitor, the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti (16GB) and vanilla RTX 5060 (8GB). For context, I'll also include the Radeon RX 9070 XT and non-XT, as well as the rest of the GeForce RTX 50 series stacks and – surprise, surprise – the Intel Arc B580 too.

Gaming performance (rasterisation)

My game list includes a mixture of old and recent games to test the Radeon RX 9060 XT’s performance, and while the list isn’t exhaustive by any measure there are enough different game engines and APIs variety to give us an idea of broader performance trends.

In terms of performance, the Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB finds itself in a close fight with NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB. Across the board, both cards trade blows at 1080p, with results in titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and Shadow of the Tomb Raider virtually identical. In fact, the Radeon RX 9060 XT kept pace remarkably well, matching the RTX 5060 Ti frame-for-frame in some games, and falling just a few frames behind in others like Total War: Warhammer III. The story at 1440p is slightly more mixed. Here, the RTX 5060 Ti usually comes out on top by a small but consistent margin suggesting that NVIDIA’s card still enjoys a slight edge in raw compute horsepower.

What’s interesting is how the RX 9060 XT handles 4K workloads. While it's obviously not designed for 4K gaming, its 16GB of memory does appear to help it hold its ground in titles like Cyberpunk 2077, where it runs neck-and-neck with the RTX 5060 Ti. That extra VRAM also gives it a clear advantage over the vanilla RTX 5060 8GB, particularly at higher resolutions or in more demanding titles. The RTX 5060 might occasionally sneak ahead in lighter games, but its 8GB limitation starts to show in heavier workloads – especially at 1440p and beyond.

So while the RX 9060 XT doesn’t walk away with an outright win in performance terms, it does offer respectable results in both 1080p and 1440p gaming – and more crucially, at a way lower MSRP than the RTX 5060 Ti 8GB and 16GB cards. The value proposition for the Radeon RX 9060 XT is undebatable when compared to the RTX 5060 Ti options.

FSR vs DLSS

With upscaling features turned on, the Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB continues to offer reasonable performance, but the gap between it and NVIDIA’s mid-range offerings starts to widen – especially when Multi-Frame Generation (MFG) is factored in. At 1080p, the RX 9060 XT manages 100fps in Cyberpunk 2077 using FSR and ray tracing switched on, which puts it slightly behind the RTX 5060 Ti’s 114fps. But once MFG kicks in, NVIDIA’s card jumps to 206 fps, while AMD’s FSR implementation simply doesn’t offer an equivalent frame-boosting feature. The same story plays out at 1440p, where the RX 9060 XT is noticeably behind the RTX 5060 Ti.

In tests where super sampling is used without MFG – across all three resolutions – the RX 9060 XT lands fairly close to the RTX 5060 Ti in raw performance terms. Again, the 16GB frame buffer of the RX 9060 XT helps it stay composed at higher resolutions, but it’s clear that NVIDIA’s ability to leverage DLSS with Frame Generation gives the RTX 5060 Ti a real-world advantage in games that support it.

That’s ultimately where the Radeon RX 9060 XT feels a step behind – not due to raw rendering power, but because AMD still lacks a proper counterpart to DLSS 4’s MFG – for now. If you're playing games that support DLSS 4 (or even last generation’s DLSS 3), the RTX 5060 Ti becomes a much more attractive proposition for high frame rate gaming. Without MFG in play, however, AMD holds its ground just fine – offering a more traditional performance-per-dollar proposition for those who prefer raw rasterisation and a larger pool of video memory.

Power and temperature

Thermals and power draw are often overlooked in mainstream GPU comparisons, but they can have a big impact on long-term performance and system compatibility. In our 3DMark Speed Way stress test, the Gigabyte Radeon RX 9060 XT Gaming OC 16G posted a peak temperature of just 59 degrees Celsius – the coolest card on the chart by a fair margin –which speaks well of Gigabyte’s WindForce thermal design. This is despite the card drawing a peak of 219W under load (and yes, that little bit of RGB lighting probably doesn’t help either).

That said, these results reflect the thermal and power performance of specific AIB models, not reference cards. Brands like Gigabyte, MSI, and ASUS apply their own cooling solutions, board layouts, and BIOS settings, all of which influence how a card behaves under load. So while the RX 9060 XT looks excellent here in terms of cooling efficiency, mileage may vary across other AIB implementations. Still, as a general reference point, these results suggest AMD's Radeon RX 9060 XT cards (16GB version) isn’t just competitive on frame rates – it’s also surprisingly efficient thermally, even if it seems to draws more power than its NVIDIA rivals.

Final thoughts

The Radeon RX 9060 XT doesn’t try to be something it’s not. It’s a budget-tier graphics card aimed squarely at gamers who just want smooth 1080p performance, decent thermal behaviour, and a card that won’t choke the moment you crank up the texture settings. And for the most part, it delivers. It trades blows with the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti in traditional rasterised games, and comfortably outpaces the GeForce RTX 5060 non-Ti card, especially in titles that push past 8GB of VRAM. The 16GB option gives it some breathing room for newer games, and while it doesn’t quite have an answer to DLSS 4’s Frame Generation, the performance you get without it is still pretty good.

Where it really stands out, though, is in the value department. On paper, you’re getting more memory and comparable (if not better) performance for less money. Even the 8GB version undercuts both of NVIDIA’s current-gen offerings, making it the more sensible pick for anyone who doesn’t care about DLSS or MFG. That’s not nothing in a market where GPU pricing often feels out of touch with what most gamers are willing – or able – to spend.

That said, pricing is still the elephant in the room. The US$299 and US$349 MSRPs look fair, but as we’ve seen with the Radeon RX 9070 series and NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 50 series cards, real-world pricing rarely sticks to the script. So whether the RX 9060 XT actually delivers on its value depends on whether partners stick close to AMD’s suggested figures. If they do, this could be one of the more reasonable GPU buys of the year – the other being the Intel Arc B580 (which launched at US$249 with 12GB of VRAM).

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