New information regarding Nvidia's entry-level RTX 5060 GPU suggests it will retain an 8GB VRAM buffer, similar to the last generation's RTX 4060, per Benchlife. The RTX 5060 Ti, however, will launch in 8GB and 16GB flavors, with the latter coming with a price premium. This echoes EEC filings we covered a while back, where Maxsun registered several RTX 5060 Ti models with 8GB and 16GB capacities.
Recently, a video surfaced at TikTok showing purported RTX 5060 boxes from Zotac seemingly bearing 16GB labels. However, hardware leaker MEGAsizeGPU and Benchlife have promptly shut down these rumors as the video was found to be doctored, obvious from the outdated DLSS 3 logo. Like the last generation, Blackwell is expected to include an RTX 5060 and RTX 5060 Ti, rumored to launch as early as next month, coinciding with AMD's Radeon RX 9070 series.
This is fake. There is no plan for 5060 16G, and the box is photoshopped from the last-gen Zotac box. You can see this from the DLSS3 mark and the cooler design. https://t.co/LQ2IhOm4K6February 8, 2025
With that context in mind, Benchlife asserts that the RTX 5060 Ti will indeed offer 8GB and 16GB capacities, while the base RTX 5060 will stick with a paltry 8GB. With an expected 128-bit memory interface, the GPU bandwidth roughly comes out to be 448 GB/s thanks to the use of faster GDDR7 memory (presumably 28 Gbps). However, 8GB is still pretty limiting, even at 1080p if you crank the textures high enough. Despite the generational uplift, the RTX 5060 might lose to Intel's Arc B580 in VRAM-bound scenarios or at 1440p.
RTX NTC (Neural Texture Compression) also isn't a viable solution for this problem. While the tech is promising and delivers impressive results, it's still in beta and we probably will not see mainstream adoption for a few years. It's unlikely that developers will go back and add NTC support in older titles, which will continue to suffer from memory limitations unless modders provide a workaround. What we're trying to say is that NTC might breathe new life into your VRAM-bound GPU tomorrow, but what about today?
GDDR7 allows for 24Gb (3GB) modules, as used on the RTX 5090 laptop. With the same high-density ICs, the RTX 5060 could have had 12GB of memory. Nonetheless, we might see a Super refresh next year with upgraded capacities but that ultimately depends on whether AMD ships a potential RX 9060/9050 with more than 8GB of memory or not.
