The information embargo on Radeon RX 9060 XT test results has been lifted. Let’s take a look at how the new Radeon stacks up against the competing GeForce RTX 5060 and RTX 5060 Ti. The 16GB variant is priced closer to Nvidia’s 8GB models and offers a better price-to-performance ratio than the 16GB RTX 5060 Ti. The more affordable Sapphire Pulse RX 9060 XT model adds great thermal and acoustic performance on top of that.
While Nvidia has been launching one GeForce model after another for several months, AMD took a break following the release of the Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070, saving the unveiling of its next RX 9000-series Radeon for Computex. There, it introduced the RX 9060 XT with the new, smaller Navi 44 chip as a competitor to the recently launched GeForce RTX 5060 Ti and GeForce RTX 5060.
The Radeon RX 9060 XT cards are designed for gaming at 1440p and 1080p resolutions. They will be available in two variants with 8 GB and 16 GB of memory. The 8 GB version is suitable for titles and settings that aren’t demanding on video memory and for lower 1080p resolution. It’s ideal for players focused on achieving high frame rates at lower graphic settings – typically how esports games are played. The more expensive 16 GB version is better suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming with high-quality graphics, including ray tracing.
The key innovations and changes that the new generation of Radeons, including the RX 9060 XT, bring compared to the RX 7000 series include:
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Improved ray tracing: The third generation of RT accelerators offers double the performance compared to the previous generation.
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Enhanced AI acceleration: Second-generation AI accelerators with significantly higher performance per unit and support for new data types such as FP8
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FidelityFX Super Resolution 4 (FSR 4): Advanced supersampling and frame generation using AI.
These new technologies and improvements introduced with the latest Radeons are discussed in more detail in our article dedicated to the RDNA4 architecture, which we published alongside the release of the Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070.
We also already covered the basic specs of the Navi 44 and the RX 9060 XT at the cards’ unveiling. You’ll find the specifications in the table below, so here’s a quick summary – the new Navi 44 chip in the Radeon RX 9060 XT features 2048 stream processors, 128 texture units, and 64 raster units. The memory bus is 128 bits wide and connects the chip to either 8 or 16 GB of GDDR6 memory running at 20 Gb/s.
There likely won’t be many stock-clocked models available; that’s why the table includes specs for factory-overclocked models. Keep in mind that with higher clocks, the power limit also goes up – in the middle column is an example from XFX, whose listed power draw increases from 160 to 180 W. The specs of the 8GB variant are similar to the base 16GB version, but the listed power draw is 10 W lower.
The new Navi 44 GPU is essentially half of the Navi 48 from the higher-end Radeon RX 9070 XT in terms of compute units, memory bus width, and infinity cache size.
The Radeon RX 9060 XT cards are equipped with a PCI Express 5.0 x16 interface. In this regard, they have an edge over their direct Nvidia counterparts, which have a PCIe 5.0 interface trimmed down to just eight lanes. In certain scenarios, this could result in a smaller performance drop when the card is installed in older motherboards with PCIe 4.0 or 3.0 interfaces.
We’ll start by testing one of the base models from Sapphire, which should be available for the MSRP of 350 USD.
Sapphire Pulse AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB (11350-03-20G)
The Pulse product line from Sapphire is positioned at the entry level. Even though it ranks among the most affordable cards on the market, it typically offers good operating characteristics thanks to sufficiently oversized coolers and well-tuned fan control.
The tested card comes factory-overclocked, with the game clock increased from the reference 2530 MHz to 2700 MHz and the boost clock raised from up to 3130 MHz to 3290 MHz. According to specifications, the listed power draw is also bumped by 10 W to 170 W.
The new version of GPU-Z, labeled 2.66.0, already recognizes the cards.
The monitoring allows you to observe basic parameters and sensors. Both fans are connected to a single header, so only one set of RPM data is available. The power limit can be adjusted in a range from -30% to +10%.
HWiNFO reads significantly more data from the card than GPU-Z. The sensors currently available for monitoring are shown in the screenshot below. They confirm the 170 W power limit.
This is a basic model, so the packaging is understandably simple with minimal accessories. The back of the box just includes a summary of AMD technologies the card supports and system requirements.
Inside the package, you’ll find just the card itself and a brief installation guide. But nothing more is really needed.
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