RTX 5060 vs RX 9060 XT: best budget GPU in the UK?

The RX 9060 XT is a few per cent faster than the RTX 5060, and the gap is too small to change how a game feels at 1080p. What separates them is price and video memory. The RTX 5060 is the cheaper card today, and the RX 9060 XT 16GB is the safer one to keep for years.

This guide shows the speed gap, what 8GB of video memory means in 2026, and who should buy which card at current UK prices. Prices move weekly because of the memory shortage, so treat every figure as a snapshot.

Which is better value in the UK: the RTX 5060 or the RX 9060 XT?

It depends on which RX 9060 XT you mean. There are two, and they are not the same purchase.

• RTX 5060 (8GB): roughly £375 to £400 in October 2026. It supports DLSS, Nvidia's upscaling and frame generation.
• RX 9060 XT 8GB: roughly £400. A few per cent faster than the 5060, with the same 8GB of memory.
• RX 9060 XT 16GB: roughly £495 to £530. The same chip with twice the video memory.

At launch the pricing was calmer: TechRadar listed the RX 9060 XT at around £270 for the 8GB version and £330 for the 16GB. Prices are much higher now, and the 8GB RX 9060 XT no longer undercuts the RTX 5060. That changes the maths: a card that was an easy pick on price has to justify itself on something else.

Here are three real listings on Amazon.co.uk, one per card. The prices below are live and refresh daily.

Other models of the same chip sit higher. Some RTX 5060 cards with bigger coolers are listed at roughly £440 to £450, and the Sapphire Pure 16GB is around £530. Compare a few models on the day you buy.

How much faster is the RX 9060 XT than the RTX 5060?

In the press tests we have seen, the RX 9060 XT is about 3 to 11% ahead. In our own table the gap is about 8%. The table below gives estimates at 1080p, the resolution both cards are built for.

These FPS are estimates and depend on your settings. They do not separate the 8GB and 16GB versions, so they ignore what happens when video memory runs out. That limit is the real difference between the cards, and the next section covers it.

At 1440p both cards slow down noticeably.

Both cards can run 1440p if you lower the settings or use upscaling, but neither is comfortable there. If 1440p is your goal, look at the next step up in our RTX 5070 vs RX 9070 comparison.

Is 8GB of VRAM enough in 2026?

VRAM is the memory on the graphics card itself. When a game needs more than the card has, it spills into your PC's RAM and the game stutters or loads lower-quality textures.

For 1080p at High settings, 8GB still works in most games. The problems start with Ultra textures and recent, heavy titles. TechSpot found that Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 with its 4K texture pack goes past 8GB even on the RX 9060 XT 8GB, and flagged Monster Hunter Wilds and Dragon Age: The Veilguard as problem games on 8GB cards. Those tests used a different 8GB card, so read them as a warning about the memory size, not about one model.

There is a second difference. The RTX 5060 uses only 8 lanes of the PCIe connection, while the RX 9060 XT uses 16. When video memory overflows, the card has to fetch data from system memory through that connection, and TechSpot found the RX 9060 XT copes better, especially on a PCIe 4.0 or older motherboard.

What to do if you buy an 8GB card:

• Set textures to High rather than Ultra. You lose little visible detail.
• Use DLSS or FSR upscaling when a game offers it.
• Take 32GB of system RAM so the spill has somewhere to go. Our RAM guide explains why.

RX 9060 XT 8GB or 16GB: is the extra money worth it?

For most people who plan to keep the card, yes. TechSpot and TechRadar both recommend the 16GB version over the 8GB. PCGamesN reported a telling example: Indiana Jones and the Great Circle at Ultra settings in 1440p runs on the 16GB card, while the RTX 5060 cannot run it even at 1080p because it runs out of memory.

The cost is roughly £100 to £130 more than the 8GB card at today's prices. That is a lot on a budget of £400, so be honest about your habits.

The 16GB version is worth it if you play new releases, like Ultra textures or want a card that lasts. The 8GB version is fine for esports titles, older games and 1080p High. If you are in that second group, the RTX 5060 is usually the better 8GB buy, because it costs a little less.

What about DLSS, FSR 4 and ray tracing?

The RTX 5060 supports DLSS and Nvidia's multi frame generation, which inserts extra frames to raise the displayed FPS. The RX 9060 XT relies on FSR 4, AMD's upscaler, which plays the same role on AMD cards.

Frame generation raises the number on the counter but not the real responsiveness of the game. Treat it as a bonus on top of a solid base frame rate, not a way to rescue a weak one. Ray tracing is also demanding on cards at this price, so expect to turn it down.

Which one should you buy?

Choose by what you play and how long you keep the card.

• You want the lowest price and mostly play popular 1080p games: the RTX 5060. It is the cheaper card and DLSS is widely supported.
• You keep a card for three to five years or play recent games with high textures: the RX 9060 XT 16GB. The extra £100 to £130 buys real protection against running out of memory.
• The RX 9060 XT 8GB: only when it is cheaper than the RTX 5060. At today's prices it is not.

If you are building a whole PC around the card, see our best gaming PC under £1,000 and gaming PC under £1,500 guides. If you are swapping it into an existing PC, check your power supply first with what power supply you need.

If you are still unsure, our assistant takes your games, your monitor and today's prices into account and tells you which of the three cards fits.

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