Introduction
AMD’s $349 16GB GPU is here, with the launch of the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT on June 4th, 2025, with an on-shelf date of June 5th, 2025. Well, actually, two video cards, technically the Radeon RX 9060 XT with 8GB also exists, with an MSRP of $299, and the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB model with an MSRP of $349. The AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT sits just under the AMD Radeon RX 9070 in the stack, and is using the NAVI 44 GPU, based on the same RDNA 4 architecture for this 2025 generation. Today, we review the XFX Swift AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT OC Gaming Edition 16GB model, which has an MSRP of $349 at launch for a higher TBP of 180W and a factory overclock, all for the AMD 16GB MSRP pricing.
At Computex 2025, on May 20th, 2025, AMD announced the new Radeon RX 9060 XT video card, among other things. We detailed this announcement, with all the information we had at the time. A high-level overview indicates that the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT is based on the NAVI 44 GPU, compared to NAVI 48 on the RX 9070/XT, and there are two VRAM models, an 8GB and a 16GB capacity model, but both share the same GPU and specifications. At a high level, the Radeon RX 9060 XT will have 32 Compute Units, 32 RT Accelerators, 64 AI Accelerators, 821 peak AI TOPS, and a boost clock of 3.13GHz with a Total Board Power of 150W-182W depending on the VRAM capacity model. Notably, the video card will support PCIe 5.0 x16 connectivity.
If we dive a little bit more into the specs, the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT is manufactured on the TSMC N4P process, has 29.7 billion transistors, and has a die size of 199 mm2. It has 32 Compute Units, 32 Ray Accelerators, 64 AI Accelerators, 64 ROPs, 2048 Stream Processors, 32MB of 3rd Gen AMD Infinity Cache, and a Game GPU Clock of 2530MHz and a Boost GPU Clock of 3130MHz. It has either 8GB or 16GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit memory bus, at 20Gbps, providing 320GB/s of memory bandwidth. Both models have a PCIe 5.0 x16 interface.
The Total Board Power, however, is different; the 8GB model has a TBP of 150W while the 16GB model has a TBP of 160W. The Radeon RX 9060 XT also goes one step further, with a higher TBP 180W partner card variant, which also has a higher clock speed. Keep in mind that the Radeon RX 9060 XT is a partner-only card; there isn’t a made-by AMD reference card, so AIBs are able to make either reference spec cards or higher TBP spec cards, such as these 180W models, which we have for review today.
Previous Gen
If we look back at the previous generation RDNA 3 GPUs from AMD, two stick out that hover around the new Radeon RX 9060 XT. Firstly, there is the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT, which launched at an MSRP of $329, so only $20 apart from the RX 9060 XT in terms of MSRP. The Radeon RX 7600 XT was notably also a 16GB graphics card, based on the RDNA 3 architecture and TSMC N6 node, it had a total board power of 190W, and less overall bandwidth compared to the RX 9060 XT. However, it had the same number of Compute Units at 32, Stream Processors at 2048, and ROPs at 64, as well as RT Cores at 32, but was clocked at a lower Game Clock of 2470MHz and Boost Clock of 2755MHz, and also a PCIe 4.0 x8 interface.
Then there is the Radeon RX 7700 XT, which launched at an MSRP of $449, but then pricing came down and was adjusted to $419 over time. The Radeon RX 7700 XT is a 12GB video card, based on the RDNA 3 architecture and TSMC N6 node. It had more Compute Units at 54, more RT cores at 54, more Stream Processors at 3456, and more ROPs at 96. It was clocked at a Game Clock of 2171MHz and a Boost Clock of 2544MHz and had a TBP of 245W with 12GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit memory bus. We are going to include this higher-priced, higher-power, lower VRAM capacity card in this review, because the results are quite interesting.
XFX Swift AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT OC Gaming Edition 16GB
Now we come to the AIB partner card we have for review, the XFX Swift AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT OC Gaming Edition 16GB, which is a factory overclocked 180W 16GB Radeon RX 9060 XT variant (TGP 182W). Indeed, this video card has a factory overclock that sets the Game Clock to 2780MHz and the Boost Clock up to 3320MHz! That puts the game clock 10% above the AMD reference spec, and the boost clock 6% above the AMD reference spec. To achieve these higher clocks, the XFX Swift Radeon RX 9060 XT Gaming Edition 16GB also has a 180W TBP, which is 20W above the reference spec for a 16GB card, or 12.5% higher power target.
XFX has several models of the Radeon RX 9060 XT for this launch, with both 8GB models and 16GB models. The top-end card in their lineup is from the Mercury Class series, where it features only a 16GB model, has a three-fan configuration, is factory overclocked, and has a full-length white LED. Interestingly, this model has the same factory overclock that the XFX Swift AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT OC Gaming Edition 16GB has, which we are reviewing today.
Under the Swift Class series, XFX has sevearl 16GB and 8GB RX 9060 XT cards, divided up by the number of fans, either the Triple Fan Gaming Edition video cards, or the regular Gaming Edition which have a dual fan design, and are more compact, the later is what we are reviewing. XFX also offers a white version of both the Triple Fan and Dual Fan versions. Finally, XFX follows with several 8GB variants, also in a Triple Fan design or Dual Fan design, and also has white options of both, so plenty of options.
The model we are reviewing today, as stated on XFX’s website, is: XFX Swift AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT OC Gaming Edition 16GB (RX-96TSW16BQ). The complete full product description is: XFX Swift AMD Radeon RX 9060XT OC Gaming Edition with 16GB GDDR6 HDMI 2xDP, AMD RDNA 4. The XFX Swift Radeon RX 9060 XT OC Gaming Edition 16GB has a Game Clock set at 2780MHz and a Boost Clock up to 3320MHz, which is the same as the Mercury Class from XFX, and represents XFX’s highest factory overclocked Radeon RX 9060 XT. It has a higher 180W TBP compared to the reference spec, and requires a 450W PSU with 1x PCI-E 8-pin power connector. It features 16GB of GDDR6 at 20 Gbps, and is a dual-fan video card, and very compact. It has 2x DisplayPort 2.1 and 1x HDMI 2.1.
XFX does not have a detailed description of the cooling on its website, but it does state that it uses a nickel-plated copper cold plate, high-performance fans, and 6mm heatpipes. We can also see that it has a shroud and full backplate, with vented air pass-through. The actual PCB is quite compact, and the remaining length is used for more heatsink and air to pass through, cooling the fins and heatpipes, and it is unobstructed, so this is great for air flow. The fans are also quite large for the size of this video card, meaning they don’t need to spin as fast, thus reducing noise.
Everyone will appreciate the use of a single standard 8-pin power connector atop the video card. The XFX Swift Radeon RX 9060 XT OC Gaming Edition 16GB also has a DUAL BIOS, as you can see from the switch above. We tried both positions of the switch in testing, and had identical fan performance and clock speed. The I/O port is vented, but it is blocked by the heatsink, most of the air will get exhausted out the top and bottom of the video card, as well as the back air passthrough. The video card is quite light, and it is also small, measuring 10.63″ inches in length, 4.88″ inches in width, and 1.89″ inches in height. The shroud does extend past the I/O bracket, so this is a greater than 2-slot video card.
The XFX Swift Radeon RX 9060 XT OC Gaming Edition 16GB does not have any RGB, not even a hint of an LED, so it is quite literally stealth. With its compact size, it will fit well in any case size, and fits a small form factor very well, especially due to its low power demands.