AMD is set to launch its Radeon RX 9060 XT on June 6, and the reviews are live one day early.
Despite some trepidation regarding AMD's decision to follow NVIDIA's move with 8GB and 16GB versions of the same mid-range card, reviews so far are looking very positive for the RX 9060 XT.
It appears that the majority of reviewers received a 16GB version of the 9060 XT to review, which is set to launch with a $349 MSRP. That's considerably cheaper than the 16GB NVIDIA RTX 5060 Ti, which debuted with a $429 MSRP. It's also not much more expensive than the 8GB RTX 5060's $299 MSRP.
I expect that reviews for the RX 9060 XT with 8GB of VRAM won't be nearly as kind when they do arrive, as seen with the 8GB 5060 Ti.
I've put together this roundup of AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT reviews from major outlets to give you a better idea of what to expect come official launch.
- KitGuru (85%): "The bottom line – AMD has a very good thing on its hands with the RX 9060 XT 16GB. Simply offering 16GB of VRAM at this price point is enough to give it a huge advantage over the competition, not to mention its solid gaming performance, much improved ray tracing and FSR 4 support. We'd expect this to sell very well indeed at the £315 MSRP."
- PCGamer (84%): "When it comes to the entry-level GPU market, pricing is everything. And while the RX 9060 XT isn't quite capable of outright beating Nvidia's RTX 5060 Ti, it often comes within touching distance of it—all for an $80 lower MSRP. That makes it the budget card to beat right now, if you ask me."
- PCGamesN (80%): "At MSRP, the Radeon RX 9060 XT is a fantastic buy. It's quicker than the RTX 5060, while the 16GB version costs $80 less than the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB and isn't far off its pace. The lack of widespread game support for FSR 4 dents its appeal, though, as does the potential for price rises beyond its MSRP."
- IGN (80%): "The AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT is an awesome 1080p graphics card. It can handle pretty much anything at that resolution, and even in extremely demanding games like Assassin’s Creed Shadows and Black Myth: Wukong, you can still get excellent framerates, provided you tweak with upscaling a bit more. Assuming the price doesn’t move too much, the 9060 XT is going to be the card to beat at 1080p this year."
- Engadget: "The Radeon RX 9060 XT is a reminder of a world where we didn’t have to pay more than $400 to get a capable GPU. We already know more than 80 percent of PC gamers play at 1440p or lower resolutions, according to Steam’s data. So for the vast majority of players out there — the ones who aren’t using monitors with crazy high refresh rates or 4K+ resolutions — it’s all the GPU you really need."
- OC3D: "Checking through our graphs we were impressed at how tightly matched this card is to Nvidia’s RTX 5060 Ti. Naturally, both companies have games that are stronger on one than the other. As a general rule though when the AMD Radeon tech is the right one for a particular game, it really spanks the Nvidia card. As a quick example, Call of Duty with FSR on the XFX RX 9060 XT ends up giving us the same score as the RTX 5080. Even without the FSR tech it’s beating RTX 3080 Tis. No slouch."
- Guru3D: "Direct competing cards are the 7700 XT and the 5060 and 5060 Ti series from NVIDIA. It isn't a clear win for AMD as with some titles performance drop to 5060 levels. But most of the time it's on the heels of the 400+ USD GeForce 5060 Ti. Whether you’re building a powerhouse workstation or upgrading your living-room PC, this card delivers reliable, efficient performance at a reasonable price point."
- Eurogamer: "Re-focusing on the RX 9060 XT, the 16GB model is recommended at that price - assuming that the price is actually "real". It does for the 60-class cards what MSRP-level 70 class offerings from AMD did to the RTX 5070 and RTX 5070 Ti. We'll see how real world pricing pans out, but for now at least, based on the costing info we have from AMD along with the performance delivered by the card itself, it's a highly compelling offering."
- TechPowerUp: "While I would definitely say that this is a 1080p card, 1440p is definitely in reach, certainly in older games, and also once you enable performance enhancing features like FSR upscaling and frame generation. Some of the most demanding titles, or when RT is enabled will require you to use FSR, too, to get a good gaming experience."
- Hardware Canucks: "So basically, what AMD has done here is make NVIDIA's entire RTX 5060 Ti lineup — yes, even the 16GB model — look completely and positively overpriced by comparison."
- Gamers Nexus: "As far as performance versus the RTX 5060, if we come back to that, it's at least better in nearly all instances. It's often around the levels of the 3070 Ti, tends to be between the 3070 and 3070 Ti."
- Hardware Unboxed: "So, for me, the 9060 XT 16GB really does tick all the boxes. That is assuming AMD can supply enough product to meet the demand, which might not be the case for the first few months."
- Digital Foundry: "Kind of slots into a market defined by three NVIDIA GPUs, only one of which has enough memory in my opinion. Based on my tests, you're getting the lion's share of 5060 Ti 16GB performance while being cheaper than the 8GB model."
Should you buy the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT?
While reviewers have so far focused on the 16GB version of the RX 9060 XT, it does appear to be a win for AMD.
As mentioned, I expect the 8GB VRAM version reviews to be much harsher, but the fact that AMD is selling the 16GB version for only about $50 more than the 8GB RTX 5060 is no small factor.
That's especially true considering it appears that the 16GB RX 9060 XT bests the RTX 5060 in most tests while also coming very close to the RTX 5060 Ti in many instances.
If you're a gamer who primarily plays on a 1080p display, the RX 9060 XT seems like a no brainer, at least as long as pricing doesn't get out of hand following launch.
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