MSI GeForce RTX 5060 Ti Ventus 2X 16GB Review - DLSS 4 goes mainstream

TweakTown Rating: 90%

Our Verdict

DLSS 4 goes mainstream with the MSI GeForce RTX 5060 Ti VENTUS 2X 16GB, an excellent option for 1440p gaming, thanks to the additional VRAM and RTX technologies. It's also efficient, with a low power draw, and MSI's Ventus design is compact and lightweight.

Pros

• Great for 1440p gaming
• DLSS 4 is a gamer changer
• 16GB of VRAM and a lower MSRP than previous generations
• Path Tracing at 1080p thanks to DLSS 4
• Power efficient and compact

Cons

• It falls short of matching the RTX 4070
• Value drops when the price goes higher than $429

Should you buy it?

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Introduction

The GeForce RTX 50 Series launch has not been without issues, from hard-to-find stock to inflated pricing to problems with drivers affecting some gamers. We didn't run into any issues with the benchmarking process for this review of the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti in reference-spec MSI Ventus 2X MSRP form - we're just hoping that pricing stays as close to the $379 for the 8GB and $429 for the 16GB GeForce RTX 5060 Ti as possible. And for good reason. As the flagship 60-Class GPU in the RTX Blackwell line-up, we're now beginning to see what the more mainstream and affordable options can do - cards that will end up outselling (quantity-wise) everything that we've seen up until now.

A quick look at the MSI GeForce RTX 5060 Ti Ventus 2X 16GB

Looking at the latest Steam Hardware Survey results, odds are people will be looking to upgrade from the GeForce RTX 30 or 20 Series, namely cards like the GeForce RTX 3060 and RTX 3060 Ti. Right off the bat, the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti is a relatively impressive and efficient GPU with 1440p gaming performance that is 33.3% faster than the RTX 3060 Ti and a whopping 71.4% faster than the most popular GPU currently out there - the GeForce RTX 3060. It's also 50% faster than the GeForce RTX 4060, on average, for 1440p gaming - making it an impressive generational improvement.

Naturally, there's a lot more to the story than raw performance. And as impressive as those numbers are, performance does fall short of the GeForce RTX 4070. However, the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti benefits immensely from NVIDIA's latest DLSS 4 technology, which includes the new transformer AI model for Super Resolution and Ray Reconstruction. And with great 1080p and 1440p performance in most titles, there's also the option to enable Multi Frame Generation to max out the refresh rate of a 1080p or 1440p display.

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NVIDIA's leadership in AI can be felt when playing modern titles like Alan Wake 2 or Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on the RTX 5060 Ti, with the RTX 5060 Ti able to handle Full Ray Tracing or Path Tracing at 1080p with triple-digit frame rates thanks to DLSS 4 and the RTX suite of rendering technologies. It's a GPU better positioned than any other 'mainstream' option on the market to handle the next couple of years of PC games - titles that will leverage the latest Neural Rendering technologies baked into the RTX Blackwell architecture.

NVIDIA supplied us with the MSI GeForce RTX 5060 Ti Ventus 2X 16GB variant for this review. As of writing, we're unsure of the performance differences between the 8GB and 16GB models. That said, the RTX 5060 Ti in 16GB form is a fantastic option for gamers and content creators alike.

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RTX Blackwell - NVIDIA's Gaming Architecture for the AI Era

Below is a summary of NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 50 Series and RTX Blackwell architecture, applicable to all models.

NVIDIA describes 'Neural Rendering,' which includes all previous versions of DLSS and the brand-new DLSS 4, as the 'next era for computer graphics.' They're not alone; the Lead System Architect for the PlayStation 5 Pro console, Mark Cerny, recently said that ray-tracing is the future of games and that AI will play an integral role in making that happen. DOOM: The Dark Ages developer id Software shared a similar sentiment, adding that the arrival of DLSS was an 'inflection point' for PC game visuals and performance and on par with the arrival of dedicated GPUs and programmable shaders.

With the arrival of the Blackwell generation and the GeForce RTX 50 Series, AI is now being used to accelerate programmable shaders with the brand-new RTX Neural Shaders. Yes, these are actual neural networks that use live game data, and the power of Tensor Cores to do everything from compress textures, render lifelike materials with a level of detail impossible to match using traditional rendering methods, and even use AI to partially trace rays and then infer "an infinite amount

of rays and bounces for a more accurate representation of indirect lighting in the game scene."

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RTX Mega Geometry is incredible in its own right; it essentially increases a scene's geometry detail and complexity (triangles or polygons) by up to 100x. 100 times the detail, it's hard to wrap your head around - but the added benefit in a game like Alan Wake 2 is dramatically improving the performance of the game's Full Ray Tracing or Path Tracing mode. With DLSS 4 and RTX Neural Shaders, NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 50 Series and RTX Blackwell architecture (which includes the same AI optimizations as data center Blackwell) can be viewed as the turning point for PC gaming - the moment when AI becomes integral to everything from designing a game to programming and then finally rendering it on a 4K display to play.

DLSS 4 includes more goodies than NVIDIA's highly touted new Multi Frame Generation technology, but let's start there. DLSS 3's version of Frame Generation has evolved with DLSS 4, powered by Blackwell hardware and software, and an innovative use of AI to generate frames 40% faster while using 30% less VRAM. Switching to a new model also means that Frame Generation and Multi-Frame Generation could soon come to GeForce RTX 20, 30, and RTX 40 Series owners. DLSS 4 benefits all GeForce RTX gamers.

With the 5th Generation of Tensor Cores in the GeForce RTX 50 Series delivering 2.5X more AI performance, NVIDIA's latest GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs can execute five complex AI models - covering Super Resolution, Ray Reconstruction, and Multi Frame Generation in a couple of milliseconds. Part of the reason it happens so quickly is the addition of hardware Flip Metering, which shifts frame pacing to the Blackwell display engine. The result is frame rates of up to 4K at 240 FPS and higher, without stuttering issues. With up to 15 of every 16 pixels generated by AI, the result is up to 8X the performance when compared to native rendering or rasterized performance.

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DLSS Super Resolution and Ray Reconstruction are also switching to a new 'Transformer' model, with over double the parameters and four times the compute requirement. This is one of the most exciting aspects of the GeForce RTX 50 Series, as it pushes DLSS into a new realm of image quality and performance. The best part is that it will work on all GeForce RTX GPUs; however, there will be a performance hit compared to running it on an RTX 50 Series GPU. Already available in games, DLSS 4's Transformer model is another DLSS 2.0-like moment for the technology, and the results speak for themselves.

Even better, DLSS 4 is integrated into the NVIDIA App with a new 'DLSS Override' feature that allows users to experience the latest tech without waiting for a patch or game update. DLSS 4 is built to be backward compatible, with 75 games and apps supported (so far).

It doesn't stop there, as the new AI Management Processor (AMP) allows AI models to share the GPU with graphics workloads. As a result, expect to see digital humans in games alongside AI assistants like NVIDIA's Project G-Assist becoming more prevalent in the coming years. This filters down to the creator side, with AI assistants for streamers, who will also benefit from the GeForce RTX 50 Series' expanded creator features.

RTX Blackwell introduces 4:2:2 chroma-sampled video encoding and decoding. The ninth-generation NVENC encoder also improves AV1 and HEVC quality. RTX Blackwell is a game changer for creators and editors, especially with the new low-voltage and cutting-edge GDDR7 memory that dramatically improves memory bandwidth and speed.

Specs and Test System

Specifications

Here's a look at the specs of the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti compared to the previous generation's GeForce RTX 4060 Ti, GeForce RTX 4070, and GeForce RTX 5070.

Without a process node shrink, the GeForce RTX 50 Series is a GPU generation that is not a massive upgrade over the previous RTX 40 Series generation. However, improvements to the Blackwell architecture and the move to cutting-edge GDDR7 memory have led to some notable gains. Looking at the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti specs, the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti only features 5.9% more CUDA Cores, Tensor Cores, and RT Cores, and yet - per our benchmark results - it's 23.5% faster than the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti for 1440p gaming.

Again, part of this is due to the faster GDDR7 memory and the 16GB of VRAM in the MSI GeForce RTX 5060 Ti Ventus 2X 16GB reviewed here. But with the latest generation of Tensor Cores and RT Cores and architectural changes to how Blackwell handles AI workloads like DLSS alongside rendering, keeping the same or similar custom TSMC 4N process isn't a roadblock toward meaningful generational gains. With a power rating of 180W, it's highly efficient compared to higher-end cards, making it an excellent option for SFF (small form factor) builds.

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For non-gaming workloads, the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti benefits from all of the RTX Blackwell advancements. From FP4 support for AI that delivers 759 AI TOPS of performance, double that of the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti, there's also the latest generation of encoders and decoders for content creators with 16GB of VRAM offering plenty of buffer for tasks. There's also the move to DisplayPort 2.1b with greater bandwidth for higher resolutions; however, gaming-wise, the RTX 5060 Ti isn't positioned as a 4K card and certainly not something you'd pair with an 8K display.

Like the GeForce RTX 5070 and other RTX 50 Series GPUs, the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti is a card you can overclock to boost performance. However, the thermal design of each model will determine how this affects temperatures. As an MSRP model, the MSI GeForce RTX 5060 Ti Ventus 2X 16GB is OC-ready. However, we used stock settings for all benchmarks to gauge out-of-the-box performance and see how it runs when stressed.

Kosta's Test System

Physical Design and Cooling

As we move into the more mainstream and popular GeForce RTX 50 Series GPU bracket, it's always exciting to see what a compact and lightweight card can do performance-wise. The MSI GeForce RTX 5060 Ti Ventus 2X 16GB is the smallest twin-fan RTX 50 Series GPU we've reviewed so far and the lightest. Weighing in at 600 grams with a thickness of only 41mm, you're looking at a compact card perfect for even the smallest gaming PC.

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This isn't to say that MSI's Ventus design is cheap or flimsy, as you still have a sturdy metal backplate with vents to enhance airflow and cooling. It also ships with two of MSI's new STORMFORCE fans, which feature seven blades and a "claw texture" pattern designed to maximize airflow while keeping noise levels down. Our testing found that even when the fan speeds were around 2000 RPM, the MSI GeForce RTX 5060 Ti Ventus 2X 16GB was relatively quiet. When the temperature drops below a certain point, the fans stop for a truly silent performance when you're not gaming.

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As for the physical design, this is one of MSI's most minimal cards with no RGB lighting and a two-tone grey and black look. Outside of the prominent GeForce RTX and MSI logo branding, it has a clean and simple design that should suit most builds. Underneath the hood, you'll find a custom PCB with additional fuse protection, clay-based thermal pads, and other elements designed to protect the GPU and enhance heat transfer. Again, the most impressive thing here is its compact size and lightweight build.

The Games and Tests

PC gaming not only covers a wide range of genres and styles, from indie games with simple 2D graphics to massive 3D worlds lit by cutting-edge real-time ray tracing technology. With that, the needs and requirements of each gamer vary. High refresh rates and latency reduction become more important than flashy visuals or playing at the highest resolution possible for those who live and breathe fast-paced competitive games. For those who want to live in a cinematic world and become a key player in an expansive narrative, ray-tracing and high-fidelity visuals are a stepping stone toward immersion.

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Our chosen benchmarks cover various games, engines, APIs, and technologies. For the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti, all tests are run at 1080p and 1440p and include results for performance-boosting Super Resolution technologies like NVIDIA DLSS 4 - including Frame Generation and the new Multi Frame Generation. In many ways, DLSS numbers are more important in 2025 than native rendering - a title with ray tracing isn't meant to be played without Super Resolution. Also, DLSS technologies like Ray Reconstruction and the new RTX Mega Geometry dramatically improve visual fidelity and detail compared to native rendering. However, our benchmark results are still sorted using 'raw performance' or native rendering.

Here's the breakdown of games, settings, and what's being tested.

Games and Settings Benchmarked

Path Tracing Games and Settings Benchmarked

Gaming Performance Analysis - 1080p and 1440p

Average Gaming Performance - 1080p Results

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NVIDIA's 60 Class GPUs have always targeted the mainstream gaming segment, focusing on delivering excellent performance at the popular 1080p resolution. From our testing, the MSI GeForce RTX 5060 Ti Ventus 2X 16GB is a card that also excels at 1440p, but looking at its 1080p performance, we see that it sits comfortably in between the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti and the GeForce RTX 4070. At this resolution, on average, the MSI GeForce RTX 5060 Ti Ventus 2X 16GB is 19% faster than the RTX 4060 Ti and 31% faster than the RTX 3060 Ti. It's also 42% faster than the RTX 4060, which is an impressive result, and 69% faster than the RTX 3060. As an upgrade for all these GPUs, this is the sort of performance uplift you immediately notice, especially for those with RTX 30 Series cards looking to upgrade.

However, the GeForce RTX 4070 is 11% faster than the RTX 5060 Ti for 1080p gaming. That said, there are a couple of titles where the MSI GeForce RTX 5060 Ti Ventus 2X 16GB closely matches the RTX 4070's performance or beats it - Black Myth: Wukong, Cyberpunk 2077 without ray-tracing, and Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2. Also, at this resolution, even though the GeForce RTX 5070 is around 29% faster on average - this is in line with the price increase. This means that the performance per dollar value of the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti is on par with the GeForce RTX 5070.

Average Gaming Performance - 1440p Results

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As mentioned above, when looking at 60 Class GPUs from NVIDIA, the focus is often placed on 1080p gaming. However, the jump to 1440p is huge regarding the additional image quality you get with those extra pixels. This is one of the reasons 1440p is the fastest-growing resolution in the display market. For the MSI GeForce RTX 5060 Ti Ventus 2X 16GB, the good news is moving from 1080p to 1440p only means a 28.8% drop-off in raw performance and a 13.5% drop-off in performance when adding DLSS 4's Quality mode Super Resolution into the mix.

DLSS 4's image quality is a game changer, so the 102 FPS average for the RTX 5060 Ti at this resolution means you're getting 'better than native' image quality and a notable 21% improvement in performance, on average, compared to native rendering. Delivered via AI and software, it's a testament to the importance of features like DLSS as a selling point, especially for more mainstream GPUs like the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti.

DLSS 4 wouldn't be able to do its thing without great raw performance, and thanks to the 16GB of VRAM, the MSI GeForce RTX 5060 Ti Ventus 2X 16GB is an excellent option for 1440p gamers. Here, its lead over the RTX 4060 Ti increases to 23.5%, with its lead over the RTX 3060 Ti rising to 33.3%. For RTX 3060 and RTX 4060 owners, you're looking at a massive uplift of 71% and 50%, respectively. However, the GeForce RTX 4070 is still 11.9% faster here, on average, and the GeForce RTX 5070 sees its lead increase to 34%.

Benchmarks - 3DMark Synthetic Tests

3DMark offers a suite of synthetic benchmarks built to test GPUs in various scenarios. 3DMark Steel Nomad is a cutting-edge DirectX 12 benchmark with newer, modern rendering techniques designed to push GPUs to their limit. The 'Light' version tests at 1440p, while the main Steel Nomad benchmark tests pure native 4K rendering. Port Royal is a benchmark focusing exclusively on real-time ray tracing for lighting effects like reflections, shadows, and more.

Looking at the Steel Nomad Light 1440p benchmark results, the MSI GeForce RTX 5060 Ti Ventus 2X 16GB's score is 15% higher than the RTX 4060 Ti, which is slightly lower than what we found in real-world gaming benchmarks. Still, it's close enough to present a realistic look at what to expect, with the score also being 30% higher than the RTX 3060 Ti and 47% higher than the RTX 4060. Looking at the Steel Nomad 4K results and the 16GB of VRAM helps keep performance within 12% of the RTX 4070 while increasing its lead over the RTX 4060 Ti to around 20%.

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The Port Royal ray-tracing benchmark results show that some of the most significant gains for the RTX 5060 Ti come with ray-tracing performance (check our breakdown of Path Tracing performance below). The score here is 22% higher than the RTX 4060 Ti and 41% higher than the RTX 3060 Ti. The result here is also 62% higher than the RTX 4060, making the MSI GeForce RTX 5060 Ti Ventus 2X 16GB an excellent option for playing games with ray-tracing enabled at 1080p and even 1440p in some cases.

Benchmarks - 1080p Gaming

Benchmarks - 1440p Gaming

DLSS 4, Frame Generation, and the new Multi-Frame Generation

DLSS 4 and Multi Frame Generation are impressive bits of technology, thanks mainly to the overall improvements to performance and latency on the Frame Generation side and the new 'Transformer' model for Super Resolution and Ray Reconstruction. We used the DLSS 'Quality' mode preset for these benchmarks, often delivering better-than-native image quality.

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DLSS 4 adds much value to the GeForce RTX 50 Series, with or without Multi Frame Generation. To stress the MSI GeForce RTX 5060 Ti Ventus 2X 16GB, we tested Cyberpunk 2077, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and Marvel Rivals at 1440p. Going from 32 FPS in Cyberpunk 2077 with the RT Ultra preset to 162 FPS with DLSS 4 and Multi Frame Generation is impressive. The improved smoothness and latency is a night-and-day difference. This is where you see a 2X, 3X, and 4X improvement in performance; honestly, it's fantastic to see that the full DLSS 4 suite works exceptionally well with the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti.

In fact, for extra performance, you can use the DLSS 'Balanced' preset at 1440p because the image quality is still fantastic. Triple-digit 1440p gaming is not something we associate with 60 Class GPUs, and even though Frame Generation is not the same thing as native or even DLSS Super Resolution rendering, it's not a case of sacrificing image quality or latency for more frames.

Path Tracing Performance - 1080p

Path Tracing, or Full Ray Tracing, arrived with the GeForce RTX 40 Series and DLSS 3 and is leveling up with the GeForce RTX 50 Series and DLSS 4. It's only possible thanks to AI technologies like DLSS Super Resolution, Ray Reconstruction, and RTX Neural Shader technology like RTX Mega Geometry. It's designed specifically for these technologies, and we're only including native or rasterized performance to highlight just how intensive it is on a GPU like the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti. In fact, outside of the massive increase in performance, these games also look notably worse without DLSS 4.

It's pretty wild to think that even after five years, Cyberpunk 2077 is still one of the best-looking PC games out there and one of the most cutting-edge in terms of image quality and ray tracing. Here, we see one of the most significant gains when moving from the RTX 4060 Ti to the RTX 5060 Ti, with raw Path Tracing performance that is 45% faster. With DLSS 4 and Multi Frame Generation, you can easily hit 100+ FPS at 1080p with a smooth presentation, great image quality, and responsive controls.

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Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, like Alan Wake 2 and Cyberpunk 2077, look stunning when you enable Full Ray Tracing. So much so that it makes the Xbox Series X version of the game look last-gen in terms of image fidelity and lighting. Running on a GeForce RTX 50 Series GPU, it's also one of the best performing Full Ray Tracing titles with the MSI GeForce RTX 5060 Ti Ventus 2X 16GB able to deliver close to 80 FPS without Frame Generation. With raw performance 27% faster than the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti, Multi Frame Generation makes this shoot through the roof with 200+ FPS possible. We found that playing Indiana Jones and the Great Circle at 1440p with the MSI GeForce RTX 5060 Ti Ventus 2X 16GB is also an option with the DLSS 4 'Balanced' preset and Multi Frame Generation delivering 100+ FPS.

Temperature and Power Efficiency

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The GeForce RTX 5060 Ti is the most power-efficient GPU in the RTX 50 Series line-up, with an average power draw hovering around 150W when gaming at 1440p - an impressive result. Running a stress test, we also found that MSI's compact Ventus 2X design runs cool, with a GPU temperature of around 62 degrees Celsius and fan speeds of around 40%. With an overclock of around +200 MHz to the boost clock speed of 2572 MHz and +200 MHz to the GDDR7 memory, we saw temperatures increase but not drastically so. Looking at a couple of titles, you can get an additional 5% more performance through overclocking using MSI Afterburner.

Final Thoughts

The GeForce RTX 5060 Ti is here, and after testing our first 16GB model with the reference-specced MSI GeForce RTX 5060 Ti Ventus 2X 16GB, we found it to be a fantastic option for 1440p gaming. With a generational uplift of 23.5%, it's the best 60-class GPU from NVIDIA since the Ampere generation. Best of all, RTX 3060 Ti, RTX 4060, and RTX 3060 owners, you're getting a sizable boost in performance - 33%, 50%, and a whopping 71%. And with DLSS 4 delivering exceptional image quality, the RTX 5060 Ti benefits from that 'free' performance uplift thanks to AI and software. It's even a card that can deliver max settings Path Tracing at 1080p for true cinematic gaming in titles like Alan Wake 2, Cyberpunk 2077, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

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Of course, even though the $429 MSRP of the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB is notably lower than previous generations, this price doesn't include tariffs or regional import taxes. With the current state of the market seeing most new GeForce RTX and Radeon RX GPUs sold with a 30% price premium, the overall value of the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB will vary from country to country and person to person. Outside of that, our only complaint is that we would have liked to have seen the MSI GeForce RTX 5060 Ti Ventus 2X 16GB match the performance of the GeForce RTX 4070, as this would have made it one of NVIDIA's best 60 Class GPUs in years. It still is, but hey, we can dream. Perhaps stiff competition from RDNA 4 and the upcoming Radeon RX 9060 XT from AMD will push NVIDIA to go above and beyond next time around.

It's also worth noting that we've also been testing MSI's premium overclocked Gaming Trio option. Based on what we've seen so far, the OC models for the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti close the gap between the RTX 5060 Ti and RTX 4070 - but not entirely. In the end, MSI's MSRP Ventus 2X model is also worth celebrating as a compact and lightweight GPU with excellent thermal performance for its size.