AMD covertly announced a new 8GB Radeon graphics card — where’s all the outrage?

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The AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT graphics cards, long-anticipated following weeks of speculation, have been formally announced and are scheduled to be released on June 5. Two versions will be available, boasting 8GB and 16GB VRAM respectively. This information was disclosed at Computex 2025, an event currently taking place in Taipei, Taiwan.

The 8GB RX 9060 XT is anticipated to debut with a base price of $299, and the 16GB model will likely be introduced at $349. AMD labels the 16GB version as “the top-tier graphics cards available for under $350.

Indeed, Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) isn’t as significant nowadays, so it’ll be intriguing to learn the pricing strategies that board partners will adopt. Notably, AMD won’t be introducing their own reference card in this instance.

As a researcher, I’m excited to announce the arrival of the Radeon RX 9060 XT, joining its more robust counterparts, the RX 9070 XT and RX 9070, which debuted on March 6 with suggested retail prices of $599 and $549 respectively.

Here’s a look at the RX 5060 XT’s raw specs as shared by AMD in its presentation.

Spec AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT AMD Radeon RX 9070 NVIDIA RTX 5060 Ti
RDNA 4 Compute units 32 64 56 N/A
RT cores/accelerators 32 64 56 36
AI cores/accelerators 64 128 112 144
VRAM 8GB | 16GB GDDR6 16GB GDDR6 16GB GDDR6 8GB | 16GB GDDR7
Memory bus 128-bit 256-bit 256-bit 128-bit
Boost clock 3.13GHz 2.97GHz 2.52GHz 2.57GHz
Typical board power 150W (8GB) | 182W (16GB) 304W 220W 180W
Connectivity PCIe 5.0 x16 PCIe 5.0 x16 PCIe 5.0 x16 PCIe 5.0 x8
AI TOPS (Int4) 821 1,557 1,165 TBD
Launch MSRP $299 (8GB) | $349 (16GB $599 $549 $379 (8GB) | $429 (16GB)

AMD buried the 8GB RX 9060 XT at its Computex presentation

There are a few things that don’t sit right with me regarding AMD’s Computex presentation.

In an approach reminiscent of NVIDIA’s latest strategy, AMD conspicuously avoided mentioning the RX 9060 XT model equipped with 8GB of VRAM in its recent unveilings.

Initially, releasing the same graphics card with varying amounts of Video Random Access Memory (VRAM) was considered an error. However, nowadays, this practice is commonplace, leading to consumer confusion due to complex naming conventions that often result in higher costs.

Instead of watching the AMD presentation above, you might not find any detailed conversation about the lower-end graphics card. The only instance where it appeared was quickly on a slide that listed its price, release date, and collaborating manufacturers.

It seems that AMD’s performance comparisons are not fair because they often match the higher-end 16GB RX 9060 XT with a lower-tier 8GB RTX 5060 Ti model instead.

It seems that AMD is prioritizing pricing, and the 9060 XT 16GB for $349 offers a more competitive price compared to the RTX 5060 TI 8GB priced at $379. For context, the 5060 Ti 16GB initially launched at $429.

Given the challenging circumstances of finding AMD’s RDNA 4 GPUs at their suggested retail price, it proves rather tough to give these comparisons much credence. Comparing a 16GB card with an 8GB one under 1440p Ultra and Ultra Raytracing settings yields expected outcomes.

A larger VRAM capacity allows for smoother performance at higher resolutions and advanced in-game settings, but AMD’s assertion that it provides 6% faster gaming in 40 games under such conditions seems a bit underwhelming to me.

Asserting a 15% boost in gaming performance for every dollar spent over the 8GB RTX 5060 Ti is quite remarkable, but I’ll reserve judgment until we have the prices on June 5th when the 9060 XT is launched.

Instead of directly comparing AMD and NVIDIA’s 8GB and 16GB cards, it might be more illuminating to do so, as I suspect the data wouldn’t paint as favorable a picture for AMD.

Where’s the backlash for AMD’s 8GB RX 9060 XT?

Just a few hours have passed since AMD unveiled its RX 9060 XT, yet there seems to be relatively little criticism or negative feedback about this particular model that comes with 8GB of VRAM from both publishers and consumers.

Critics are giving NVIDIA a tough time over their release of both 8GB and 16GB variants of the RTX 5060 Ti graphics card, and it’s easy to see why.

2025 calls for more than 8GB of VRAM as games debut with exceptionally high-resolution textures and constant ray tracing, making it a challenge to run them smoothly.

For some time now, I’ve been reporting on the challenges facing NVIDIA ever since the launch of their RTX 50-series, opening up an ideal moment for AMD to potentially outdo NVIDIA in the mid-range market.

Rather than offering transparency, AMD is resorting to deceptive practices by concealing the 8GB model and marketing two graphics cards with the same name. I’m disheartened by this move, AMD.

It seems that some criticism may arise during the review process, however, it remains uncertain whether AMD intends to provide a 8GB version for testing purposes.

AMD announces Redstone as an upgrade to FSR

The new Radeon RX 9060 XT wasn’t the only announcement from AMD at Computex 2025.

As an onlooker, I witnessed AMD’s latest reveal: the upgraded FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) – a significant step forward in their technological journey. Alongside this, they introduced the new Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9000 and 9000 WX-series CPUs, a Radeon AI PRO R9700 GPU tailored for high-performance workstations, and ASUS Expert P Series Copilot+ PCs equipped with Ryzen AI 300 chips. All these innovations aim to elevate the user experience in the realm of high-performance computing.

Redstone represents an enhancement over FSR 4’s Super Resolution and Frame Generation capabilities, both of which are driven by machine learning. Its primary goal is to boost image quality without placing a heavy demand on your Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) for raw processing power.

2025’s second half is anticipated as the arrival timeframe for RDNA 4 GPUs, but there’s been no mention yet about whether older models will receive compatibility updates.

From my perspective as an enthusiast, Redstone by AMD primarily concentrates on enhancing or incorporating Neural Radiance Caching, refining Machine Learning Ray Regeneration, and developing Machine Learning Frame Generation.

This approach brings us nearer to the level provided by NVIDIA’s DLSS, but we’ll have to wait and see how it stacks up in comparison.

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2025-05-21 17:10