ASUS Prime RTX 5060 Ti OC 16GB Review

The 60-class graphics cards are probably the most popular RTX 50 series GPU release next to the RTX 5090 due to the supposed affordability and large user base of gamers. That said, most consumers the reference version of these budget oriented cards as OC models barely add any performance uplift apart from improved aesthetics and lower thermals. The ASUS Prime RTX 5060 Ti OC is an OC variant without much frills that focuses on better build quality and improved cooling capacity. Let’s see if the premium over the reference RTX 5060 Ti is something to consider.

Nvidia Blackwell Architecture

The Blackwell Architecture is probably one of the most hyped graphics architectures from NVIDIA since the announcement of the NVIDIA GH200 Grace Hopper Superchip for data centers, especially for AI. Its performance advancement in the server and AI fields led enthusiasts to believe in a similar uplift on the consumer side. NVIDIA highlights Neural Rendering as the next era of computer graphics, and that is what Blackwell is built upon. Blackwell Architecture uses the latest NVIDIA DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation, NVIDIA Reflex 2 features with NVIDIA RTX Neural Shaders alongside other advancements such as the use of GDDR7 memory.

DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation

One of the key highlights of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 50 series is DLSS 4, which takes advantage of the RTX Neural Shaders. In a nutshell, DLSS 4 is a steroid version of DLSS 3.,5 where it’s able to generate up to three frames based on one rendered frame. unlike DLSS 3.5’s one generated frame per one rendered frame.

To put it into perspective, in a DLSS Frame Generation 4X setup at 120 FPS, only 30 frames are rasterized, aka “traditionally rendered,” while the 90 frames are AI-generated with 15 out of 16 pixels generated by AI. There are three frames inserted in between the traditional rendered frames.

Neural Shaders, Shader Execution Reordering & Flip Metering

Is DLSS 4 available on previous RTX GPUs? Yes and No

While DLSS 4 features an upgrade in every aspect of its feature set, the main DLSS Multi Frame Generation feature is exclusive to the RTX 50 series GPUs. DLSS 3 Frame Generation’s AI model relied on game data and the RTX 40 series’ optical flow accelerator based on motion vectors and depth to generate one frame. DLSS 4 Multi-FrameGen takes advantage of the RTX 50 series’ Neural Shaders, more efficient SER, and AI management processor to render additional frames.

Multiframe generation is taxing on older RTX GPUs due to the hardware or architectural limitations, making them a “decelerator” as these renders happen within a few milliseconds. Nvidia 5th Gen Tensor Cores addresses this by having up to 2.5x more AI processing performance compared to the last gen. That said, there are complexities in generating three frames in between traditional ones. For this reason, Blackwell uses hardware Flip Metering, which transfers the frame pacing logic to the GPU instead of the CPU for better display timings.

These combinations of hardware and software implementations improve, or at the very least, minimize the negative impact on image quality, smoothness, and latency especially when compared to the previous DLSS technology.

DLSS Transformer Model

The previous DLSS technologies used Convolutional Neural Networks(CNNs) to generate new pixels by analyzing localized context and tracking changes in those areas over successive frames. Nvidia claimed to have peaked in maximizing DLSS CNN architecture six years after the introduction of DLSS on the RTX 20 series. This prompted them to move to the new Transformer Model for Image Quality improvements.

The new DLSS Transformer Model uses a vision transformer, enabling self-attention operations to evaluate the importance of each pixel in a frame and the next frame/s. This new model doubles the parameters of the CNN model, allowing it to generate pixels with better stability, reduced ghosting, higher details, and smoother edges depending on the scene.

Nvidia Reflex 2

Nvidia implements Frame Warp, a technology commonly used in VR games. Based on the latest mouse or controller input, the CPU calculates the camera position of the next frame as the frame is being rendered by the GPU. Frame warp uses the new camera position and “warps” the frame just rendered by the GPU to the extrapolated frame. The warping is done at the last possible moment, before the rendered frame is sent to the display, ensuring the latest input is reflected on the display.

The “warped frame” has small holes or blank pixels as the supposed pixels are moved to reflect the recent movement. Nvidia’s predictive rendering algorithm uses camera, color, and depth data from prior frames to in-paint these holes. This results in users seeing the rendered frame with an updated camera perspective, without the holes. This effectively reduces the latency for any camera-moving actions in the game for better aiming or tracking.

There are currently no games that support Reflex 2 at launch, but Nvidia confirmed that Reflex 2 will be coming to Valorant and The Finals.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti Specifications

RTX 50 SERIES SPECS	RTX 5090	RTX 5080	RTX 5070 Ti	RTX 4090	RTX 4080 SUPER	RTX 4080	RTX 4070 Ti SUPER	RTX 4070 Ti	RTX 4070 SUPER
Cores	21760	10752	8960	16384	10240	9728	8448	7680	7168
Tensor Cores	680	336	280	512	320	304	264	240	224
RT Cores	170	84	70	128	80	76	66	60	56
Boost Clock (GHz)	2.41	2.62	2,45	2.52	2.55	2.51	2.61	2.61	2.48
Base Clock (GHz)	2.01	2.3	2.3	2.21	2.21	2.21	2.34	2.31	1.92
Memory Config	32GB GDDR7	16GB GDDR7	16GB GDDR7	24GB GDDR6X	16GB GDDR6X	16GB GDDR6X	16GB GDDR6X	12GB GDDR6X	12GB GDDR6X
Memory Interface	512-bit	256-bit	256-bit	384-bit	256-bit	256-bit	256-bit	192-bit	192-bit
Total Graphics Power	575W	360W	300W	450W	320W	320W	285W	285W	220W
Min Required PSU	1000W	850W	750W	850W	750W	750W	700W	700W	650W
Price	Php 145,800	Php 72,860	Php 54,630	Php 112,300	Php 69,300	Php 84,200	Php 55,420	Php 63,200	Php 41,550

ASUS Prime RTX 5060 Ti OC 16GB – A Closer Look

The ASUS Prime RTX 5060 Ti OC’s packaging design shares similar aspects with ASUS’ ProArt line albeit in a much more muted design. You have a render of the cooler shroud next to its branding. The back showcases more features about the Prime series..

As mentioned in previous RTX 50 series prime reviews, the new Prime cooling shroud looks heavily inspired by ASUS’ very own ProArt line, offering a great minimalist alternative in terms of design over the aggressive, gamer-y TUF and ROG branding.

The Prime RTX 5060 Ti OC has one of the cleanest backplates we’ve seen so far albeit you have a slightly off cutout where the PCB ends. Instead of having a more exposed cutout, there are parts that aren’t removed due to the overall structural rigidity of the whole GPU. That said, it’s one of the most exposed flow-through design we’ve seen for RTX 50 series GPUs so far.

The triple-fan Prime RTX 5060 Ti still fits Nvidia’s SFF ready specifications as it’s still a 2.5-slot graphics card measuring  ____ mm

ASUS made a smart choice in using the legacy 8-pin PCIe power connector as opposed to the new 12v2x6 power connector. Using the older connector means less hassle for those upgrading from a relatively older system as they don’t have to purchase a new PSU or use any adapters.

ASUS has made the dual-BIOS switch a standard for all of its non-reference/base model graphics card as even the Prime has the switch. The BIOS switch is set to Performance mode by default and therefore will be the mode used throughout our testing and benchmark.

One key difference of the Prime over the higher end models from ASUS’ laptop is its port selection. Unfortunately you only have the standard three DisplayPort 2.1b and one HDMI 2.1b port on the Prime RTX 5060 Ti. The extra HDMI 2.1b port seems to be reserved for TUF and higher models.

Size Comparison vs other GPUs

Gigabyte RTX 5060 Ti Gaming OC 16GB MSI RTX 5060Ti Ventus 2X PLUS vs MSI RTX 5070Ti Ventus 3X OC

The ASUS Prime RTX 5060 Ti OC 16GB is our largest RTX 5060 Ti GPU so far with dimensions matching most RTX 5070 and RTX 5070 Ti GPUs. That said, it will likely fit in most PC cases.

Benchmark Setup and Test Methodology

Gadget Pilipinas’ testing philosophy is to provide detail-oriented results as accurately as possible so that our readers can replicate our tests, given that these conditions are met. Different benchmarking apps and sequences are used depending on the tested component or device.

CPU	AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
COOLER	ASUS ROG RYUJIN II 360mm V2 – Noctua NT-H2 Thermal Paste
MOTHERBOARD	Gigabyte X870E Aorus Master | BIOS F4i
MEMORY	GSkill Trident Z Neo 32GB(2x16GB) DDR5-6000 CL28
GPUs	Nvidia RTX 5090 Founders Edition | Nvidia RTX 5080 Founders Edition | Inno3D RTX 5080 X3 | Nvidia RTX 4090 Founders Edition
STORAGE	Kingston Renegade 2TB NVME SSD
POWER SUPPLY	FSP VITA GM1000W Gold ATX 3.1
OPERATING SYSTEM	Windows 11 Pro Build 24H2, VBS off
CASE	Open Benchtable V2

We use CapFrameX 1.7.5 BETA as our primary FPS capture and analysis tool for all our gaming benchmarks. The latest build version of Windows 11 Pro and WHQL-certified drivers are used for our benchmarks. Readings such as temperatures and power draws are recorded using HWINFO64, and other relevant software for cross-checking.

For more info, read our Review and Benchmark methodology article.

ASUS Prime RTX 5060 Ti OC 16GB – Synthetic and Productivity Benchmarks

ADOBE PREMIERE PRO VIDEO EDITING BENCHMARK

Procyon benchmark suite is developed by UL, the same team behind 3DMark and PCMark benchmarks. The UL Procycon video editing benchmark uses Adobe Premiere in a typical video editing workflow. The benchmark starts by importing two video project files with various edits, adjustments, and effects – the second project uses several GPU-accelerated effects. Each project is exported in 1080p with H.264 encoding and again in 4K with HEVC H.265. The reported score is based on the time taken to export all four videos. GPU acceleration is turned on for GPU benchmarks.

PCMark10

From the same developers of the popular game benchmarking tool 3DMark, PCMark 10 is a benchmarking app for measuring a whole PC’s performance. It covers a wide variety of tests to reflect common tasks performed in a modern workplace. We selected PCMark 10’s extended benchmark and reported both the overall score and the Digital Content Creation Score. 

V-RAY 6

V-Ray Benchmark is a stand-alone version of V-Ray developed by Chaos Group. It is designed to test the CPU and GPU by rendering sample scenes at a fixed amount of time. V-Ray is a plug-in mostly utilized by 3D computer graphics software applications mainly for industrial design, product design, architecture, film, and video game production. V-Ray is not limited to 64-threads as it supports multi and mega-threading.

GeekBench 6.3

Geekbench is a multi-platform benchmark used to gauge CPU performance and compare them across Windows, Mac, and Mobile. Geekbench 6 is the latest version and doesn’t rely on memory more than the previous Geekbench 4, making it a great tool to measure both single-core and multi-core CPU performance. Geekbench also sa GPU benchmarks using the OpenCL and Vulkan API.

BLENDER 4.3.0

Blender is a widely used, free, open-source 3D creation suite. It supports the whole 3D pipeline process from modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, and even motion tracking. Blender has become a standard for CPU benchmarks with the BMW27 and Classroom Scene most used. This prompted the company to release Blender Open Data Benchmark in 2018, a benchmark-specific version allowing users to run a preset benchmark and share the results online like 3DMark.

HANDBRAKE 1.8.2

Handbrake is a top-rated open-source video conversion software that is used by professionals, enthusiasts, and even reviewers as a reference point, mainly because of its wide variety of media codecs. The rise of streaming and blogging makes video content, both encoding and transcoding, important for these people, regardless of whether they’re seasoned professionals or just starting out. Handbrake also takes advantage of AVX-512 and OpenCL to accelerate certain types of media codecs. Our Handbrake benchmark converts a 3:16 4K60 clip shot from an S24 Ultra to 1080p60 H264 mp4 for CPU or 1080p NVENC H265 for GPU.

3DMark Benchmark Suite

3DMark is the go-to benchmark for gamers because of the ability to share and compare results online. We test GPUs both in DX11 Firestike and DX12 Timespy for the “classic” benchmarks. We also used 3DMark’s latest Steel Nomad and SpeedWay benchmarks as we slowly shift to these “more accurate” synthetic game benchmarks.

ASUS Prime RTX 5060 Ti OC 16GB – AI Benchmarks

Geekbench AI

Computer Vision – Procyon

Image Generation – Procyon

Text Generation – Procyon

ASUS Prime RTX 5060 Ti OC 16GB – Gaming Benchmarks

RETURNAL

Returnal is one of the most technologically advanced games since the launch of Cyberpunk 2077. Released last April 2021 on PS5 and February 2023 on PC, it uses Unreal Engine 4 and supports multiple technologies such as Ray Tracing, DLSS, VSR, and FSR.

COUNTERSTRIKE 2

CounterStrike 2 or CS2 is the successor to the now-retired CSGO and now uses the Source 2 Engine – the same engine used on DOTA 2. CS2 is a great FPS game to test out CPU performance. Our benchmark process uses the replay function of the game.

DOTA 2

Dota 2 is a good reputation among F2P titles, especially MOBAs and RTS as it lands on the demanding side of the spectrum. Its gameplay and quality of life updates are far more frequent than most F2P titles, thanks to its vast popularity. Our benchmark sequence is based on a replay of Liquid vs. Gaimin Gladiators in the The International Grand Finals Game 3 from the team fight that happened from 16:24 to 17:24. 

SPIDER-MAN: MILES MORALES

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony, is one of the most popular PC port titles last 2022. It’s one of the few modern game titles that support upscaling technologies FSR, DLSS, and XeSS, making it a great title to use for benchmarks.

F1 23

F1 23 is the official video game of the 2023 Formula One and Formula 2 championships, developed by Codemasters. F1 2023 is the sixteenth installment in the franchise and uses the Ego Engine 4.0. F1 233 is a good representation of racing games thanks to its realistic graphics and fairly demanding spec requirements as well as support for Ray Tracing and the latest upscaling technologies such as DLSS, XeSS, and FSR.

ASSASSIN’S CREED: MIRAGE

Assassin’s Creed Mirage is the latest Assassin’s Creed game from Ubisoft making it the thirteenth major installment in the franchise. It uses the AnvilNext 2.0 game engine and is the very first AC game to support the latest upscaling technology such as XeSS, FSR, and DLSS.

Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077 is arguably the most hyped game of 2020. Developed by CD Projekt Red, the dystopian open-world, action-adventure RPG sports is one of the most demanding titles to date. Cyberpunk 2077 also supports three Ray Tracing settings as well as DLSS, which makes the game a great tool to measure Ray Tracing performance for both AMD and Nvidia graphics cards.

HORIZON FORBIDDEN WEST

Horizon Forbidden West is a 2022 action role-playing game developed by Guerrilla Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The Horizon Zero Dawn game sequel launched on PC last March 2024 built on the Decima Game Engine, the same one used on Death Stranding. Horizon Forbidden West features Ray Tracing and Upscaling technologies not present in the prequel game.

BLACK MYTH WUKONG

Black Myth: Wukong is one of the most popular game titles launched in 2024, with its stunning graphics thanks to the Unreal Engine 5. Developed by Game Science, Black Myth: Wukong is one of the most demanding titles recently released titles with complete Ray Tracing and Upscaling technology features, making it a great benchmark for new hardware.

GHOST OF TSUSHIMA

Ghost of Tsushima is an action-adventure game developed by Sucker Punch Productions and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was initially released for the PlayStation 4 in July 2020 and later for PlayStation 5 and Windows. Ghost of Tsushima runs on a modified and optimized version of Sucker Punch’s in-house engine, originally built for the PlayStation platforms.

HOGWARTS LEGACY

Hogwarts Legacy is a popular game catering to the hearts of Harry Potter fans and gamers with its rich world and engaging gameplay. Developed by Avalanche Software and built on the Unreal Engine 4, Hogwarts Legacy delivers detailed environments and character models with support for the latest rendering and upscaling technologies.

FAR CRY 6

FarCry 6 is an FPS game published by Ubisoft that uses the Dunia engine. It heavily relies on and takes advantage of DirectX 12 to render a realistic environment that is taxing to both the CPU and GPU. It’s also the first game in the franchise to support Ray Tracing.

ASUS Prime RTX 5060 Ti OC 16GB – Temps and Power Draw

The larger form factor of the ASUS Prime RTX 5060 Ti OC speaks up for itself with a relatively cool max temp of only 65.7°C during our testing. Its triple-fan setup is definitely overkill for the RTX 5060 Ti GPU.

Conclusion

OC variants of GPUs tend to have great diminishing returns in terms of performance as you scale up with their price. Going down the GPU tier further amplifies the diminishing returns as the price premium of these models goes to parts that don’t directly contribute to increasing the card’s performance. A huge chunk of the premium goes to a card’s aesthetics and build quality, and while the latter does improve the performance at one point, it’s more towards long-term reliability than squeezing out every frame a GPU can render.

The ASUS Prime RTX 5060 Ti OC sits well within the “optimal” mark of the curve, with a very tangible performance improvement over our MSRP RTX 5060 Ti GPUs, while having a reasonable premium over the 16GB Php 29,999 SRP. Priced at Php 34,180, the ASUS Prime RTX 5060 Ti commands a rough Php 5,000 increase for a better built GPU, quiet operation, much higher frame rates, at a very cool operating temperature that frankly is overkill for its class.

So, if you’re in the market for an RTX 5060 Ti that offers a no-compromise approach without the unnecessary premium spent on bling and gimmicks, then the ASUS Prime RTX 5060 Ti OC 16GB offers almost unrivaled performance, build quality, and temperatures for its relatively competitive price.