Summary

  • Nvidia is releasing the highly anticipated RTX 5060 during Computex.
  • Reviews might be delayed due to a driver, limiting early assessments.
  • Concerns surround the 8GB RTX 5060 due to its frame buffer size.

Just a couple of weeks before Computex kicks off, Nvidia made a surprise announcement that its much-anticipated RTX 5060 would launch during the annual event. The GPU goes on sale on May 19, just a day before Computex begins officially, and during a time when the vast majority of the tech press will be on the ground in Taiwan. Despite board partners already shipping cards out to reviewers, Nvidia says it won't provide a driver for testing the RTX 5060 until the card releases, according to Ignor's Lab, essentially locking out day-one reviews.

👁 The Nvidia RTX 5070 graphics card installed in a test bench.
3 reasons why the RTX 5060 will be dead on arrival

Despite some promising rumors of elevated stock and reasonable pricing, Nvidia still haven't done enough to make the 5060 worth buying.

We might not see any RTX 5060 reviews on release day

Between the largest computing event of the year and a lagging driver, it's not looking good

Igor Wallossek, the namesake of Igor's Lab, made the situation clear. Despite having access to RTX 5060 review units, Nvidia has yet to provide the outlet a driver to perform the review. And while waiting for the driver to show up by May 19, Wallossek will be in Taiwan for Computex and won't be able to return to test the card until May 26. It's tough to say what the situation is elsewhere, as any reviews are certainly under an embargo until a day before (or the day of) the RTX 5060's official release.

Still, Igor's Lab isn't alone. Popular YouTube channel HardwareUnboxed alleges that Nvidia is "trying to hide" the RTX 5060, pointing to the recent release of the 8GB RTX 5060 Ti that wasn't widely available to customers nor widely seeded to reviewers. Hardware Unboxed says it has "multiple RTX 5060 samples" from Nvidia's board partners, but it doesn't expect to review them until a week after the card goes on sale.

Despite traditionally being the most popular class of Nvidia graphics cards among PC gamers, the RTX 5060 has already found itself embroiled in controversy. The upset mainly concerns the card's 8GB frame buffer, which has been widely criticized as being inadequate for the demands of modern games, even at 1080p. It seems that PC gamers are making their voices heard on that front, too. Despite a decent success for the 16GB RTX 5060 Ti, the cheaper 8GB variant has reportedly seen poor sales since release.

Although the RTX 5060 launches during Computex, we might not hear much about the card from Nvidia. In recent keynote addresses, Nvidia's gaming-focused launches have been a footnote in presentations largely focused on AI advancements. Thankfully, Nvidia's board partners will be at the show and likely eager to show off their new GPU models.