The RTX 5060 from Nvidia may be missing one important specification, but there remains a possibility for improvement.

      Nvidia's RTX 5060 and RTX 5060 Ti are reportedly on the way, but their performance compared to some of the top graphics cards remains uncertain. Nonetheless, numerous leaks indicate one specification that many hoped Nvidia would upgrade this time: a rather narrow memory bus.

      A recent shipping manifest reveals that both the RTX 5060 Ti and the RTX 5060 will feature a 128-bit memory bus, irrespective of the VRAM amount. Here's why this may not suffice for 2025 and why Nvidia might manage to justify this choice once again.

      Shipping manifest verifies expected details

      Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

      As noted by VideoCardz, the RTX 5060 Ti and RTX 5060 were noticed in shipping manifests. The publication determined that both models will use the PG152 PCB, identifying the RTX 5060 as PG152 SKU 25 and possibly the RTX 5060 Ti as PG152 SKU 10.

      These alphanumeric identifiers may seem insignificant on their own, but they reveal some crucial information in context. Firstly, both cards appear (this being a leak, not fully confirmed) to utilize the GB206 GPU. Additionally, the PG152 is associated with a 128-bit memory interface.

      Current indications suggest a repetition of the RTX 4060 Ti and RTX 4060. Likely, the RTX 5060 Ti will have either 16GB or 8GB of memory, followed by the RTX 5060 with 8GB, with all three cards sharing the same narrow memory bus. Naturally, all information about these cards comes from leaks, as Nvidia has yet to officially announce them, although an announcement is anticipated soon.

      It might not be too concerning

      Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

      I admit — as we enter the RTX 50-series, one of my primary hopes was that Nvidia would provide its lower-end cards with a performance boost. The previous generation's RTX 4060 Ti did not impress, even with 16GB of memory, partly due to its specifications.

      The RTX 30-series card had a greater number of CUDA cores, along with a significantly wider 256-bit memory bus. Although architectural advancements were made from Ampere to Ada, it's challenging to overcome such a minor difference in specifications. Based on cores and memory interface alone, the RTX 3060 Ti was superior, which explains why it outperformed the RTX 4060 Ti in several benchmarks. Even when the 4060 Ti achieved a win, it was often by a slim margin.

      The positive news is that we likely won't see a direct comparison to the previous generation. The distinction arises from GDDR6 compared to GDDR7 memory.

      Personally, I believe the leaks suggesting Nvidia will adopt a similar VRAM approach as the last generation. However, it also made a significant change with the RTX 50-series: it upgraded the entire lineup to GDDR7 memory, which is considerably faster. This will provide these cards with considerable extra bandwidth, despite the narrow memory bus and limited 8GB VRAM. VideoCardz performed calculations indicating that the GPU should experience a 55% increase in bandwidth, reaching up to 448GB/s.

      This is promising news, and in my opinion, it's somewhat of a redeeming factor for Nvidia's upcoming graphics cards. Additionally, it helps that AMD is reportedly taking a similar route, maintaining the RX 9060 XT with 8GB and 16GB of VRAM, similar to the previous generation, while also keeping the 128-bit interface.

      Will the RTX 5060 meet the demands of 2025?

      Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

      The RTX 5060 and RTX 5060 Ti are two GPUs that could be emerging at just the right moment to find success.

      The GPU market is currently constrained. Prices are high, and stock levels are low. Many gamers may not have the opportunity to ponder whether the specs of these two cards will adequately meet their needs; moreover, the xx60 cards are generally Nvidia’s most popular, which adds to their appeal.

      We’ve recently discovered that at least for the RTX 5060 Ti, we can expect similar pricing to the previous generation. This carries both positive and negative implications. While a price reduction might have alleviated concerns regarding the limited memory interface and slight specs improvement, the market conditions tend to favor higher prices.

      With that aside, will these 16GB and 8GB cards be sufficient for AAA games in 2025 and beyond?

      We are already witnessing games requiring more than 8GB of video memory. It’s true that 8GB GPUs are gradually being phased out, but they aren't entirely obsolete yet. With advancements like DLSS, even a card that may lack sufficient VRAM for specific titles (like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle) should still perform reliably.

      Outside of DLSS, it’s challenging to predict how well these cards will perform. Nvidia is expected to announce them on April 15,