AMD Radeon RX 9060 benchmarks show it pummels the RTX 5050 for budget gaming

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 non-XT has already been put through its paces in a new online review, just a week after it was quietly unveiled with no fanfare by the chipmaker. Although reports have suggested this entry-level graphics card is unlikely to go on general sale, it still looks to be a powerful option for budget gamers, with performance that shoots well ahead of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5050.

AMD has knocked it out of the park with its current gaming GPU lineup, with cards such as the RX 9060 XT already featuring in our best graphics card guide. We fully expected the company to prepare a GPU that could compete with the $249 Nvidia GeForce RTX 5050, but this review seems to suggest that the RX 9060 could even deliver performance that was close to the RTX 5060 in some games.

South Korean YouTube channel Technosaurus was able to put the RX 9060 non-XT to the test in several games. The video also explains that existing AMD drivers already supported the RX 9060, so it's likely been in the pipeline for some time.

Technosaurus' tests pitted it against the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8GB, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5050, and RTX 5060 to see how it compared as an entry-level card. Across various in-game tests, including Cyberpunk 2077, PUBG, and Black Myth Wukong, the RX 9060 was only 2% slower on average than the RTX 5060 at 1080p, and only 6.2% slower than the RX 9060 XT 8GB.

However, compared to the RTX 5050, in-game frame rates showed the RX 9060 was 19% faster on average, giving it a huge boost compared to that entry-level Nvidia card.

AMD hasn't publicly shared how it intends to produce or market the RX 9060 non-XT. Technosaurus speculates that AMD may have recycled chips to produce the RX 9060 from low-yield production runs of its other GPUs, disabling the faulty cores, giving it a low production volume, and making a wider release unlikely.

However, while this is just one test, the initial signs show that AMD does have a reasonable option for budget-conscious 1080p gamers in the RX 9060. With the RX 9060 XT 8GB already on sale for as low as $299, however, it's likely that the company doesn't see this as being a card it can make profitable for general release, even if it was prepared or able to mass-produce it.

Still, if you're thinking about picking up a budget gaming PC with an AMD Radeon RX 9060 graphics card installed in the future, these stats show it may be able to handle itself pretty well at 1080p. We've not tested it ourselves, but if we can get our hands on one, we'll be sure to put it through its paces.

In the meantime, make sure to check out our AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB review to see why that $349 card is one of our favorites for budget gamers. You can also check out our best gaming PC guide for pre-built options, powered by AMD and Nvidia GPUs, if you're due for an upgrade.

You can also follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides. We also have a vibrant community Discord server, where you can chat about this story with members of the team and fellow readers.