Conclusion
The ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB GDDR7 OC Edition is ASUS’s top-end GeForce RTX 5060 Ti GPU-based video card with an ASUS estore price of $599.99. It features all the best from ASUS, loaded with its custom design and cooling, and a factory overclock that impresses. It pushes beyond standard cards by providing a higher power target for enthusiast overclocking and tweaking, and 16GB of GDDR7 VRAM.
ASUS will offer both its TUF Gaming and PRIME series of graphics cards based on the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti, as well as a Dual series card. The TUF Gaming series are the cards with the most robust design, cooling ability, factory overclocks, and power targets, while the PRIME series is a bit more toned down, but still custom. ASUS has both 8GB and 16GB models available in the TUF Gaming and PRIME series, as well as OC Editions and non-OC Editions. The single Dual model card is a 16GB card, and more basic. Naturally, pricing is different between all of them, with the TUF Gaming carrying the highest price premium.
Game Performance
To test the gaming performance of the ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB OC Edition, we focused on the 1080p gameplay experience. In every game, at raster performance and native AA, the ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB OC Edition provided a high level of gameplay performance and a playable experience at the highest settings in games. In Alan Wake 2, this meant the highest settings at 82FPS average, and this was positioned well above the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti. Black Myth: Wukong was the one game we had to drop the game settings to “High”, but this allowed a very high framerate that was enjoyable at 78FPS. The ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB OC Edition was again much faster than the RTX 4060 Ti, and very close to GeForce RTX 4070 performance.
In Cyberpunk 2077, the ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB OC Edition allowed a very playable experience well above 100FPS at Ultra settings, again beating everything except the GeForce RTX 4070. This was repeated in Horizon Forbidden West, where the 16GB of VRAM really came in handy and allowed a much more consistent performance compared to the 8GB GeForce RTX 4060 Ti. Indiana Jones was another title where the 16GB of VRAM helped a lot, it allowed us to play at the “Supreme” quality settings at over 100FPS very smoothly. This was something the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB could not do, it was limited to only “Medium” settings in this game.
In Kingdom Come Deliverance II, the ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB OC Edition provided a smooth experience at 85FPS and beat again everything but the GeForce RTX 4070. As demanding as Stalker 2 is, the ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB OC Edition did great here, allowing 71FPS at EPIC game settings at 1080p. Even in Star Wars Outlaws, the ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB OC Edition provided a smooth experience that was faster than the RTX 4060 Ti, and only the RTX 4070 beat it.
When it comes to Ray Tracing performance, this will depend on the game. In many games, Ray Tracing is viable on the ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB OC Edition at native resolution at 1080p. There are some games, though, where DLSS Upscaling is needed, but in those cases, that does exist as an option. Alan Wake 2, for example, did need DLSS Upscaling, but that then allowed 60FPS gameplay with RT, and that was faster than the RTX 4060 Ti. Black Myth Wukong and Star Wars Outlaws were the most demanding, in those games, DLSS Upscaling and lower RT settings are needed, but it can be tweaked. Cyberpunk 2077 ran great with Ultra RT. We were even impressed by Indiana Jones, which allowed Medium Path Tracing to be playable at 1080p Native AA!
When it comes to the performance with overclocking, this is where the ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB OC Edition really shone. By way of the incredible overclocking we got on the ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB OC Edition, it pushed the video card up to levels of GeForce RTX 4070 performance in a lot of cases. There were some games where the ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB OC Edition even edged out GeForce RTX 4070 performance when overclocked, but mostly it was more aligned with the RTX 4070 performance. The ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB OC Edition received such a consistently high overclock that it made it get to that level.
Final Points
The ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB GDDR7 OC Edition does incur a price premium at $599.99, according to the ASUS estore pricing. It is interesting times at the time of writing, in which availability and pricing are in flux. Pricing could change over time, and this is something you will want to keep an eye on.
The ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB OC Edition does offer some hardware features over a standard GeForce RTX 5060 Ti. For example, the ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB OC Edition has an increased power target limit, giving you more headroom for enthusiast tweaking and overclocking abilities. It also allows Voltage manipulation in GPU Tweak III, and with the enhanced range overclocking of the software, you can really start to realize the potential of the GPU. In our testing, this resulted in performance results that made the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti finally align with GeForce RTX 4070 performance.
None of this overclocking, though, would be possible if not for the excellent cooling ASUS has in place. All the technologies that have gone into the cooling, and all the little things that add up like MaxContact and other features, all culminate together to offer a package that withstands the trials of enthusiast tweaking.
Even if you aren’t an overclocker and you have no interest in manual overclocking and never plan to overclock this card yourself, all of that engineering has delivered a very high default GPU Boost Clock anyway. Out of the box, the ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB OC Edition runs at a very high clock speed, and importantly, runs extremely cool and quiet. Because it runs so cool, the fans aren’t loud; they don’t need to be, so it remains very quiet.
At the end of the day, you are paying for the brand, you are paying for the quality, you are paying for the build, aesthetics, features, and you are paying well over the NVIDIA asking MSRP for a 16GB GeForce RTX 5060 Ti. If it is a price that is too much for you to justify, it’s understandable. ASUS does offer other models as well, at cheaper prices, such as the PRIME and DUAL variants with 16GB configurations. The GeForce RTX 5060 Ti is a powerful enough GPU where 16GB of VRAM is justified, and should be the minimum for this level of GPU performance at this price point. If you just want the best ASUS has to offer in the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti series, and importantly, you can justify the cost, the ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB GDDR7 OC Edition is that card.