Nvidia yesterday introduced the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti in 16GB and 8GB versions, along with the more affordable 8GB GeForce RTX 5060. Today the embargo lifts, and here’s our first review of the RTX 5060 Ti—the MSI GeForce RTX 5060 Ti Gaming OC 16GB. This 180W card is fairly efficient and only needs a dual-fan cooler to deliver excellent thermals and acoustics. The price, however, is less appealing due to the current market situation.
By today’s standards, the card can be considered relatively compact. The cooler is sufficiently served by two fans. The shroud is made from a mix of different plastics – primarily metallic gray, with black accents and sections of dark translucent plastic.
On the outer edge of the card, there’s an MSI logo on the translucent plastic, behind which are three fins with ARGB LED backlighting. Another three fins are located near the slot.
The illuminated fins are easily visible from the top. Most of the heatsink behind the rear fan is open for airflow. However, it’s hard to understand why MSI prioritized design over function by partially obstructing this opening with a dragon emblem. Even on a full metal backplate, there’s enough room for the emblem without restricting airflow – it just wouldn’t look as striking.
There’s also a backlit dragon crest on the rear corner of the card.
The rear of the card is protected by a contoured metal backplate, which helps cool components and reinforces the card’s structure.
The cooler shroud and fans can be easily removed without detaching the heatsink from the GPU. It’s held by six screws on the backplate and two on the bracket. One of these screws has a warranty sticker. It would have been preferable if this sticker were placed on the heatsink clamp instead.
The cooler features a simple nickel-plated copper base that dissipates heat from the GPU and memory modules. Memory chips are also located on the rear side of the PCB under the backplate, where thermal pads help transfer heat to the metal plate.
From the side, it’s clear that the heatsink with its transverse fin layout fills most of the space under the shroud. The large heatsink also aids in cooling the power delivery circuitry.
The fans fall somewhere in the middle of today’s size range – the impellers are 95 mm in diameter and 10 mm in height. This size keeps noise levels moderate even when running at higher speeds under load, which is more than can be said for more powerful cards.
At just 776 grams, the card is also relatively lightweight – we’ve tested models up to four times heavier.
The PCB itself is only slightly longer than the PCI Express connector, with the entire card measuring just 25 cm in length.
The width, just under 3 cm from the bracket, is not excessive, and in terms of height, the card takes up about two and a half slots.
The bracket features the usual output configuration – three DisplayPort 2.1b connectors with UHBR20 and one HDMI 2.1b connector.
For additional power, there is a single 12V-2×6 connector. The included adapter works with two 8-pin connectors, 300 W is more than enough for this card.
That’s it for the card’s design—let’s move on to the test results.
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