The graphics card industry is facing another controversial launch as Nvidia has confirmed it will not provide pre-release drivers to reviewers for its upcoming RTX 5060 GPU. This decision effectively prevents independent performance analysis until after the card hits store shelves on May 19, raising concerns about transparency in the mainstream GPU market.
Driver Withholding Strategy
Nvidia has officially confirmed to multiple tech publications that drivers for the RTX 5060 will only be made available on the card's launch day. This unusual move breaks with the decades-long industry practice of providing reviewers with pre-release drivers to conduct thorough testing before products reach consumers. Without these essential drivers, PCs cannot properly recognize or operate new GPUs, making performance benchmarking impossible. Several prominent tech outlets including TechSpot, Hardware Unboxed, Hardwareluxx, PC Games Hardware, and Igor's Lab have all reported being affected by this decision.
Timing Complications
The May 19 launch date for the RTX 5060 creates additional complications for comprehensive reviews. The release falls just one day before Computex 2025, one of the tech industry's largest annual trade shows. Many publications will have team members traveling to Taiwan for the event, further limiting their ability to conduct timely testing of the new GPU. Andreas Schilling of Hardwareluxx noted on social media that his team would be unable to test the RTX 5060 on launch day due to Computex commitments, effectively delaying their analysis until after the expo concludes.
Pattern of Behavior
This isn't the first time Nvidia has employed such tactics with its latest generation of graphics cards. Reviewers previously faced similar obstacles with the 8GB variant of the RTX 5060 Ti, which was withheld from pre-launch testing. When reviews eventually emerged, they revealed significant performance shortcomings compared to the 16GB model, particularly in memory-intensive gaming scenarios. The 8GB RTX 5060 Ti was even outperformed in some tests by Intel's cheaper 12GB Arc B580, a GPU positioned at least one tier below Nvidia's offering in terms of market segmentation and pricing.
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| The MSI GeForce RTX graphics card showcases the performance comparisons discussed, highlighting the competitive landscape and issues related to performance in the recent graphics card reviews |
Consumer Impact
The timing and approach to the RTX 5060 launch are particularly concerning given the card's market position. As a $300 mainstream GPU, the RTX 5060 is likely to become the most popular model in the RTX 50 series lineup, according to Steam hardware survey trends. Budget-conscious gamers looking to upgrade will now face purchasing decisions without independent verification of performance claims, raising questions about consumer protection in the increasingly complex GPU market.
Technical Specifications
Despite the controversy surrounding its launch, the RTX 5060 does offer promising specifications on paper. The card features 3,840 CUDA cores, a 2.5GHz boost clock, and Nvidia's latest neural rendering technology. These specifications suggest a meaningful performance improvement over previous generation cards like the RTX 4060 and RTX 3060. However, like its bigger sibling, the RTX 5060 will ship with 8GB of VRAM, a specification that recent reviews have shown may be insufficient for optimal performance in modern games at higher quality settings.
Market Competition
The RTX 5060 enters a competitive segment with AMD's Radeon RX 9060 XT launching just one day earlier on May 18. Intel's Arc B580, which has received positive reviews for its price-to-performance ratio at $249, also presents a compelling alternative in the mainstream GPU market. Without independent reviews available at launch, consumers will have limited information to make comparisons between these competing options.
Industry Implications
Nvidia's approach to the RTX 5060 launch raises broader questions about transparency in hardware releases. The practice of withholding drivers from reviewers could potentially become more common if it proves effective at managing public perception of new products. This would represent a significant shift away from the open review process that has traditionally helped consumers make informed purchasing decisions in the technology sector.