Upgrade from GTX 1060 to RTX 5060 Ti worth it?

[Sunk Cost Fallacy]

Its been almost 9 years since I've been holding onto this 1060 card I bought in late 2016.

I don't play much nowadays, and my preferred resolution is always 1080p, but I can still feel the card's weakness whenever I want to try out a new game (i.e Deadlock) where I'm forced to tone down graphic settings to medium or something.

Recently found a deal for a 5060ti 16gb for 560$ where I live (don't bother asking, its the cheapest I could find).

Do I make the jump or are there better alternatives?

P.S while we're at it, do I change my 1080p 75hz monitor to a higher refresh rate or should I not bother?

[Rumpelcrutchskin]

GTX 1060 is beyond outdated at this point so yes the 16 GB version of 5060 Ti is worthwhile upgrade along with 160 Hz+ 1440p monitor.
Ideally you would want RTX 5070 Ti or RX 9070 XT as somewhat future proof card but prices of those are too freaking steep.
Another option is to wait a little for RX 9060 XT release soon.
RX 9070 is also good option with little better then RTX 5070 performance but again price is rather high.

[PopinFRESH]

Yeah, nearly the lowest-end card from a decade old GPU generation is going to have a lot of issues with any modern games. It doesn't support a lot of things that are requirements for most newer games (and I'm not meaning DLSS/RT, I'm talking specific shader versions, DX support, and things like mesh shading).

I'd also 2nd the notion of bumping up to a 1440p (either 2560x1440 QHD or 3440x1440 WQHD) with 120Hz or higher with gsync compatibility. You'd be surprised at how much different things look with just that bump up in resolution compared to 1080p. A lot of the higher quality settings will look muddier at 1080p vs 1440p so even though you'd be able to enable more image quality settings some of those settings can actually look worse on a 1080p display.

Personally, imo I'd not spend more than MSRP for a GPU and I'd just try to wait until you can find one in-stock from a reputable retailer for the actual price it should be. Unfortunately, Nvidia isn't making a firstparty card for the 5060 Ti and so far I haven't seen any of the AIBs make a basic "reference" version for the MSRP of $379.

For that $550 price point I'd try to constantly check your local retailers like BestBuy, Microcenter, etc. to see if you can catch when they get a shipment of stock in for the RTX 5070 12GB.

[Illusion of Progress]

I had a GTX 1060 6 GB and moved to a 7800 XT a year and a half ago and it was many times faster. If you got with the RTX 5060 Ti (please avoid the 8 GB version), I figure you should see almost a similar uplift.

If you're willing to wait a few weeks, I think the RX 9060 series should be coming and it might be worth waiting to see how the market changes? On the other hand, it might not be much and that could backfire with the way the market is going these days. It's depressing.

nVidia's lineup doesn't resemble the structure it had back when you got your GTX 1060, so you'll be moving to a relatively lower end product despite it still being called an x60 as that tier has been entry level for the last two generations whereas your GTX 1060 was very performant for a mid-range card at the time. It's almost a decade newer though so anything in the current generation is going to be an improvement.

[Freqsync]

Buying meat cheap and learning to cut it makes for a good life.

Originally posted by Sunk Cost Fallacy:

Upgrade from GTX 1060 to RTX 5060 Ti worth it?


Its been almost 9 years since I've been holding onto this 1060 card I bought in late 2016.

I don't play much nowadays, and my preferred resolution is always 1080p, but I can still feel the card's weakness whenever I want to try out a new game (i.e Deadlock) where I'm forced to tone down graphic settings to medium or something.

Recently found a deal for a 5060ti 16gb for 560$ where I live (don't bother asking, its the cheapest I could find).

Do I make the jump or are there better alternatives?

P.S while we're at it, do I change my 1080p 75hz monitor to a higher refresh rate or should I not bother?

120 watt GTX 1060
145-180 RTX 5060

Windows 12? will be rumored soon.
since ram of gpu is gddr7 that the m.2s begin to carry into GPU slots that are micronized SLI
6 to 16... isn't enough 24 would be a sure thing.

Best to learn to cut down with what you got and find that sweet spot and the swap into the new OS prepped and prime able to do the best optimization you've learned thus far.

as for monitor?
ever try using as a game board to play. How many orientation can you use it at could be the premise for a while. Yet monitor for the new GPU really... is a must. even if you end up going windowed borderless with the old card.

[Sunk Cost Fallacy]

Originally posted by PopinFRESH:

see if you can catch when they get a shipment of stock in for the RTX 5070 12GB.

The cheapest 5070 in my country costs 750$.

[Monk]

I'd not pay over the base pricefir any card tbh, you have waited this long, what is another month or 2?

As gir which card to get, you can go 5060ti 16GB or consider looking gir a second hand card from either side, you might be able to find a good deal, even more do oknce supplies are sorted.

What I can tell you is the 5060ti 16GB is very capable, I got the 180w msi ventus version for my htpc and it over clocks to 3100MHz + giving a notable boost from stock.

I would expect a 200w variant to get an extra 100-200MHz on top of that, but, they seem to cost £50-100 more (mine was £400), at which point, you'd be better looking at a 5070 or 9070 I feel and 3080ti to 3090, maybe a 4070/ti are all becoming possible buys for not much more (at proper prices) which will beat it, although not all will have all the features (mfg mainly).

There is also the upcoming 9060 and 9070 gre variants that could be good options depending where they land price / perfirmance wise.

If you want something now, id say to try and pick up one of the base models, the fancy ones are not really worth the premium.

As an idea of real world perfirmance, while playing oblivion remastered at pretty much max settings, 1440p with dlss quality and frame gen the card sits around 70-80c at 3100MHz in a small fractal designs ridge case tucked into a spot without too much space for air around it, the game runs at 120fps inside buildings / dungeons and 80-100fps in the outdoors and towns with large views in the wild.

[Sunk Cost Fallacy]

Originally posted by Monk:

I'd not pay over the base pricefir any card tbh, you have waited this long, what is another month or 2?

Implying that card prices are somehow going to magically drop in the coming months… you’re very naive.

I don’t live in the US or UK. Never once in my life have I seen any card priced near MSRP (base price) after the 30 series dropped.

Thankfully I’m not in a hurry, so whatever.

[Monk]

They always do, iniitial supplies suck, but as production ramps up and people get their cards demand drops, same thing has pretty much been happening for 20 years now.

Heck if you put in the effort you could even get msrp cards at the height of mining booms globally.

[fourfourtwo79]

You could break up with your GTX 1060 and replace it with the 5060 Ti, which in terms of performance is a big upgrade by now, sure.


Or you could give your GTX 1060 one final goodbye and let it enjoy the 100+ hours of KCD2 instead!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbbCa6gX7xE

[Alice Liddell]

GPU upgrade wise, yes, it is worth it.

But what CPU and MOBO are you going to pair it with would be more of the concern.

[HIVEmind]

Originally posted by Alice Liddell:

GPU upgrade wise, yes, it is worth it.

But what CPU and MOBO are you going to pair it with would be more of the concern.

and monitor. is it 4k or 1080p

[Alice Liddell]

Originally posted by HIVEmind:

Originally posted by Alice Liddell:

GPU upgrade wise, yes, it is worth it.

But what CPU and MOBO are you going to pair it with would be more of the concern.

and monitor. is it 4k or 1080p

Originally posted by Sunk Cost Fallacy:

I don't play much nowadays, and my preferred resolution is always 1080p...

For me it is 1440p (well, a mix of 1440p and 1080p) but for the OP it is straight 1080p.

For the OP, if they had went with a GTX 1080Ti, they would be set for life if they never played newer games as that GPU is still running strong with 90% of new titles from 2024/25 but the GPU is starting to show signs of slowing down.

[Sunk Cost Fallacy]

Originally posted by Alice Liddell:

GPU upgrade wise, yes, it is worth it.

But what CPU and MOBO are you going to pair it with would be more of the concern.

CPU: Ryzen 5600x

MOBO: Gigabyte B550 X V2

[Rumpelcrutchskin]

Originally posted by Sunk Cost Fallacy:

Originally posted by Alice Liddell:

GPU upgrade wise, yes, it is worth it.

But what CPU and MOBO are you going to pair it with would be more of the concern.

CPU: Ryzen 5600x

MOBO: Gigabyte B550 X V2

This will be fine with 5060 Ti. Your obsolete GTX 1060 is what`s holding you back at the moment.