AMD RX 9060 XT (16GB) review

Beyond the fisticuffs of framerates, the RX 9060 XT is packed with some properly future-facing tech. It's all built around that new AMD RDNA 4 architecture, which brings with it some serious generational improvements. For the tech-heads, it’s fabbed on a TSMC N4P process node, which is nerd-speak for "it's very small and efficient". The main event for most gamers will be the 16GB of GDDR6 memory. While there's an 8GB version floating about, having 16GB gives this card some serious breathing room for high-resolution textures, meaning it's less likely to get a stitch when running the blockbusters of tomorrow.

AMD has also been doing its homework on the tricky subjects of AI and Ray Tracing. This card packs in 3rd Generation Ray Accelerators and 2nd Generation AI Accelerators, both of which promise a hefty performance leap over the last generation. The new architecture claims to double the ray traversal capabilities of its predecessor, a bold claim we’re keen to test.

The big software weapon in its arsenal is AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution 4 (FSR 4). This is an ML-powered upscaling trick that's exclusive to the new 9000-series cards. In essence, it uses AI smarts to render the game at a lower resolution and then intelligently scale it up, giving you a massive frame rate boost while aiming for better image quality and less of that weird ghosting you sometimes see. Throw in modern connectivity like DisplayPort 2.1a and a full-fat PCIe 5.0 x16 connection, and you’ve got a card that’s ready for today and tomorrow.

How does this thing actually run games? We put the Sapphire Pulse RX 9060 XT through its paces at 1440p. Starting with the neon-drenched streets of Cyberpunk 2077, at native 1440p with Ultra settings, the card managed a playable 45FPS. A solid start, but a flick of the FSR upscaling switch to 'Quality' mode saw that number leap to a silky-smooth 82FPS average. Interestingly, using Frame Generation instead yielded a similar 84FPS, but we found the image from FSR upscaling was noticeably smoother and crisper. AMD's Achilles' heel, however, remains Ray Tracing. Turning it on sent the frame rate plummeting to a slideshow-like 12FPS. Even with Frame Generation clawing it back to 24FPS, the experience felt jarring and uneven. Frankly, the game looks stunning without it, so we’d suggest you’re not missing much.

Next up, the gorgeous and demanding Black Myth: Wukong. At 1440p with the highest settings, we saw 34FPS natively. Here, we found that enabling AMD's Frame Generation was the best path to glory; the game ran beautifully with stable performance and very little visual weirdness. And Ray Tracing? At 15FPS, it’s best left to the gods.

In Doom: The Dark Ages, a game that mandates some form of Ray Tracing, we hit a hefty 55FPS at 1440p Ultra settings (with the super-demanding Path Tracing off). Engaging FSR upscaling on 'Quality' blasted the frame rate up to a heavenly 85FPS average. For science, we turned Path Tracing on and watched in horror as it chugged along at 19FPS.

Finally, in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, another title with mandatory Ray Tracing, the card averaged 39FPS. Ubisoft has included a clever setting that confines the fancy lighting to your hideout, which is a neat touch. FSR on 'Quality' only nudged this to a slightly disappointing 45FPS, but enabling Frame Generation got us over the line to a much more comfortable 61FPS.

So, how does it stack up against the Green Team? Compared to its direct rival, the Nvidia RTX 5060 Ti, the AMD card struggles to keep up in raw performance. Most games run about 10-20% better on the Nvidia card in pure rasterisation. When you factor in Ray Tracing, that gap becomes a chasm. The RX 9060 XT is cheaper, yes, but Nvidia's lead, especially in the RT department, is undeniable.

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The AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT is a thoroughly decent graphics card. It delivers a solid 1440p gaming experience, and with the magic of FSR and Frame Generation, it can turn chugging frame rates into buttery smooth gameplay. The 16GB of VRAM is a welcome comfort blanket for anyone worried about the ever-increasing memory demands of new games.

However, it lives in the shadow of its rival. While it does undercut the Nvidia RTX 5060 Ti on price, the performance gap is just wide enough to give you pause for thought. For a few thousand rupees more, you get tangibly better performance across the board, and a Ray Tracing experience that is leagues ahead. AMD needed to be more aggressive with the pricing to make this a stone-cold, no-brainer recommendation. As it stands, the RX 9060 XT is a very good GPU, but not quite the value champion it could have been. It’s a contender, for sure, but it doesn’t quite land the knockout blow.