Cost Per Frame MSRP
So the big one really comes down to cost per frame and it’s here at 1080p when looking at MSRP where we can actually see the 5060 Ti faring pretty well, with it being the best value card here at $2.21 per frame, but it doesn’t take long for that to have a caveat. If we look at the next closest card then we can see the RTX 4060, which yes, does come in at a much lower average frame rate, and yes, does lack in memory and multi frame generation, but what it does better is an MSRP price of only $300, which is a pretty significant saving, especially if you’re on a budget and this only places it a single cent behind in its cost per frame standings, making it more or less identical in value but for a cheaper price overall, if that’s what you’re all about. If we compare to the RTX 4060 Ti 8GB, because we don’t have a 16GB model, then we can see a better value argument from the newer card. This value change is pretty easy to explain though, as when we look at the launch price of the two cards side by side, we only actually see a difference of $30, which is almost nothing when we’re talking about GPUs. Additionally, the extra performance from the new card helps to widen this gap, and as a result,t sets the cards 21 cents per frame apart, which doesn’t really sound like a lot, and just goes to justify my point that the 50 series makes no sense for an existing 40 series user. We do see a better value proposition over the 3060 Ti though, as at $2.70 per frame it starts to lag behind a bit, and does begin to make the 5060 Ti look more appealing, especially when you consider that the 3060 Ti doesn’t feature frame generation of any kind, and the 5060 Ti features not just frame gen, but multi frame gen which really is its big selling point.
Something important we need to consider is that the MSRP of these cards is shaky at best, and the market really doesn’t work that way, so to help build a more realistic picture of the state of things we like to look at the current selling prices of cards to get a better idea of what is actually best for the consumer, and for the sake of fairness we have estimated the price of the 5060 Ti at around $100 more expensive than MSRP to get an idea of what that does for our standings and even then, that’s being generous as it’s more than likely going to be $150 or more on top of the $429 price point, which then puts it above what the RTX 5070 should be MSRP, but that’s closer to the 5070 Ti MSRP in terms of selling price, and so on and so on, so realistically, buy an RTX 5090 and be done with it..
All jokes to one side, the increase in price doesn’t actually do much, as the cost per frame does predictably increase from $2.21 to $2.72, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s still one of the better value cards here. What is interesting though is that if we look at this newer price compared to the 4060 Ti we actually see the 4060 Ti 8GB coming in 15 cents lower per frame, making it a better value for money, again proving that going from the 40 series to the 50 series is a pretty hard sell. What makes the 5060 Ti an even harder sell, is the RTX 5070, which has been included here with its MSRP pricing because it falls very close to our estimated cost of the 5060 Ti, and assuming that this is how prices go, then the 5070 is a much better sell, since it’s average frame rate is so much higher and for a lower cost per frame, whilst only actually coming in at $20 more than the estimated selling price, though again, that has an inflated price too when not thinking about MSRP, so really we’re at a point where it’s harder than ever to comment and judge these new card releases.
When we go back to MSRP but look at 1440p data, we can see the 5060 Ti has taken a bit of a hit in value, with the 5070 now providing a slightly better proposition, even though it costs $120 more. This is due to the much higher average frame rate from the 5070, which we found difficult to recommend, so things aren’t looking amazing here, but if you are dead set on a new card and plan to play at 1440p then the RTX 5070 is objectively a better deal here, until we look at the current pricing at least. Something else of note here is that the RTX 4060 non Ti is only just barely a worse value card than the 5060 Ti, but it comes in with a much lower MSRP, and with this being a lower tier card from last generation, we could still see a decent deal on it in the used market. What I find the most important here, though, is the 9070 XT, which at an MSRP cost of $600, it significantly outdoes the 5060 Ti in terms of value, with a 53% higher average frame rate at a 36-cent lower cost per frame.
Cost Per Frame Selling Price
Finally here is how the selling price of the cards compare at 1440p, and here we can see that even with the inflated price of $800, the 9070 Xt still comes out as a better value card than the 5060 Ti, even if it is by only by 5 cents, and quite frankly it’s embarrassing. This price difference should make it a no-brainer but if you’re after a good value PC instead of a cheap one then I can’t recommend the 5060 Ti at all here, since the 9070 XT performs so much better. Things don’t improve when we look at the last generation either, as the 4060 Ti also manages to find itself as a better value offering, with a 21-cent cheaper cost per frame than NVIDIA’s latest card. One thing is certain here, and that is that there are better deals to be had than the 5060 Ti, such as the 7900 GRE, which is a better deal, with a better cost per frame and a higher FPS overall.
