Nvidia’s next-gen desktop graphics cards have been the subject of a flood of leaks lately, but this time we’re hearing about the RTX 5060 models that’ll sit at the bottom of the Blackwell GeForce stack (assuming there’s no RTX 5050, as there wasn’t a desktop 4050 of course).
Wccftech has word from the usual anonymous sources – be cautious around this rumor, naturally, as with anything from the grapevine – providing some specs of the RTX 5060 Ti and RTX 5060.
The most interesting contention is that regarding the on-board video memory, Nvidia’s RTX 5060 Ti is going to run with 16GB of VRAM, the same as the higher-end flavor of the 4060 Ti – but the bad news is the RTX 5060 is also going to stick on 8GB.
Apparently both graphics cards will use the same board (PG152) and the GB206 Blackwell chip (as previously rumored), with a 128-bit memory bus. With GDDR7 video RAM running at 28Gbps, both of these graphics cards are looking at a memory bandwidth of 448GB/s in theory.
We’re told to expect these GPUs to launch in late February to March of 2025, which backs up another recent rumor on the release timeframe.
Analysis: Video RAM confusion
The idea that the RTX 5060 could stay on an 8GB loadout for VRAM has not gone down well with the followers of GPU rumors, as you might imagine. The RTX 4060 having this memory configuration was controversial, so for a new generation of Nvidia graphics cards to stick at this level will be fuel to the flames (quite literally – Team Green better don its finest fire-retardant suit). If this turns out to be true, of course.
Capacity isn’t the only element of the memory equation here, though, and that GDDR7 VRAM is a big upgrade in itself. That rumored memory bandwidth of 448GB/s for the RTX 5060 and its Ti sibling will be a considerable step up from the RTX 4060 flavors. In fact, it’s 55% faster and 65% faster than the RTX 4060 and 4060 Ti respectively, as Wccftech points out.
The worry is that 8GB could really hamstring the RTX 5060 for future-proofing, and consign the card more to 1080p duties, as going forward, 1440p might prove to be more of a struggle for a thin allocation of video memory such as this – even now that’s true to an extent.
More positively, the RTX 5060 Ti could have a healthy 16GB of VRAM, although that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense when you consider the RTX 5070 has been rumored to have 12GB. Now, Nvidia has been known to equip a lower-tier GPU with more VRAM than a higher-up model in the past, but that can sometimes be a case of a beefier model launching down the line – and it doesn’t feel likely Nvidia would push out an RTX 5070 12GB and very quickly follow that with an RTX 5060 Ti 16GB. Particularly when the RTX 5080 theoretically runs with 16GB, too.
In short, we’d regard this leaked info with more skepticism than normal – although it could also be read as a sign that the RTX 5070 12GB info is off the mark (here’s hoping on that score).
Meanwhile, Intel has just brought out its affordable new Battlemage GPU, the B580, and that has 12GB of VRAM, a relatively robust helping for the price bracket this graphics card sits in. Can Nvidia fly in the face of its rivals’ video memory strategies? Well, of course it can, but it remains to be seen if Team Green actually will.