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Choosing a RX 9060 XT 16GB

nheather

nheather

nheather

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19 May 2004
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Horsham, West Sussex
Okay, I have decided on an RX 9060 XT 16GB, so which one to buy.

Looking in the store I can 16 cards ranging in price from £314.99 to £399.95.

Of course, I'm attracted by the £314.99 price (PowerColor Radeon RX 9060 XT Reaper 16GB GDDR6), but before I jump and press the button, what is the difference, why such a wide price range. Is it just down to the cooler or are there other things to consider. I've never had a PowerColor product, are they good?

Cheers,

Nigel
 
(ordered by price, it looks like this:)
2 fans = cheapest
3 fans = better cooler
white = a small premium
asus = brand loyalty premium

basically to simplify the decision for you:

if you want it to be cooler/quieter get this:
(30 quid for a better overall product is worth imo)

if you aren't that bothered and just want to save money get this:
 
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I'd normally just say Pulse, the end. But, Sapphire have gone with sleeve bearings and that leaves a bad taste for a card that is £300+, when cheaper ones didn't have them in the last gen.

The Reaper does at least have ball bearings, but the cooler appears to be very weak (based on numbers in TPU's review), with high hotspot and memory temps, even with relatively low power draw (there's a table on the Pulse and Reaper reviews, which helps to make comparisons).

The Prime (on the quiet BIOS) and the Steel Legend did perform well overall, especially considering the higher power draw on the Steel Legend that the cooler had to deal with. The XFX Swift was middle of the road.
 
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I’ve just watched a video comparison of the XFX, the Sapphire and the PowerColor two-fan offerings and I was surprised by just how tiny the PowerColor is. That doesn’t come across in store listings which have photos of the card without any context.

I guess that would be useful for small cases but I have a full-ATX tower case with plenty of room so it would see silly to go for such a small card.

Strangely, although the review tore down each of the cards it didn’t look at the fans at all (other than diameter) so didn’t pick up what bearings are used.

What it did pick up is that the extra 8GB of VRAM is on the back of the PCB so is only cooled by the thin backplate whereas the first 8GB is cooled by the heatsink and fans. I’m sure it doesn’t matter but not ideal as the two blocks of VRAMs will run at different temperatures. But I suspect that design will be the same for all 16GB cards, whether you are paying £315 or £400.
 
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Also if you want RGB, then they usually won't be on the cards closer to £315. I still think overall I'd go with the Pulse. Sapphire warranty is also 3 years where I'm not sure about the xfx as I think the swift only has 2.

Whichever one you choose, I'm sure you'll enjoy playing all the games at a much higher FPS/resolution/both.
 
Jazz2k said:
Also if you want RGB, then they usually won't be on the cards closer to £315. I still think overall I'd go with the Pulse. Sapphire warranty is also 3 years where I'm not sure about the xfx as I think the swift only has 2.

Whichever one you choose, I'm sure you'll enjoy playing all the games at a much higher FPS/resolution/both.
Click to expand...
Not interested in RGB. Think I agree with the Pulse, I need to stick to the lower end of the 9060 range otherwise I will stray into 5060Ti 16GB pricing.

My understanding is that the 5060Ti 16GB is slightly better than the 9060 XT 16GB, but the Radeon has a price advantage. But that is only true if you stick to the cheaper 9060 cards, the more expensive ones are pretty much the same price as the Geforce.
 
nheather said:
I need to stick to the lower end of the 9060 range otherwise I will stray into 5060Ti 16GB pricing.
Click to expand...
That's comparing a decent model of 9060XT with a low end 5060Ti though. Compare like for like.
Take Asus for example as they're in both categories, the difference is £60.
Also Gigabyte is in both categories too, even bigger difference of £90.
 
I think if you want a 9060xt, which is now a low/mid card, I don't see the point in spending an extra £40-50 more as if you're getting that one, price is a high factor. If you're spending 650+, then £40 more as a % of the total cost is much lower and therefore not really as noticeable.
 
BUDFORCE said:
I'd just buy whatever the cheapest 16gb Sapphire one is .

Sapphire is my go to for AMD graphics cards, over the last 20 years
Click to expand...
My last 3 AMD GPUs have been Sapphire, including a blower Vega56 which I loved.

Currently rocking a temp 6600xt nitro+ I bought 2nd hand after selling the 3070ti for £350.

Just waiting for prices to come down a little more before I get a 9070XT to enjoy.
 
nheather said:
Strangely, although the review tore down each of the cards it didn’t look at the fans at all (other than diameter) so didn’t pick up what bearings are used.
Click to expand...
Asus, Sapphire, Powercolor, XFX and Gigabyte are all open about it on their spec pages. I can't find it on ASRock's page.

nheather said:
What it did pick up is that the extra 8GB of VRAM is on the back of the PCB so is only cooled by the thin backplate whereas the first 8GB is cooled by the heatsink and fans. I’m sure it doesn’t matter but not ideal as the two blocks of VRAMs will run at different temperatures. But I suspect that design will be the same for all 16GB cards, whether you are paying £315 or £400.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that is common with cards that didn't increase the bus width between the two versions, it was the same with the 7600 XT. The most important thing I'd look for is that the backplate is metal and that they use thermal pads. A plastic backplate with no pads, no thank you.
 
Thanks for all the feedback. Narrowing my choice between the

Sapphire Pulse or Pure
XFX Swift

Here's my thoughts, appreciate your advice

  • The Pure and Pulse at first appear to be the same card but in different colours. But I find that the Pure has RGB built in (which I'm not interested in) and twin ball-raced fan bearings (the Pulse has sleeved bearings). Why the differences and are there any others that I haven't spotted. Personally, I prefer the black without RGB (though as it is locked away in a case it doesn't really matter), but I prefer the ball-raced bearings.
  • The XFX Swift has a much bigger heatsink, which is more appealing, and I have plenty of space for it in my PC.
  • When I look at the XFX and Sapphire websites, there is much more information on the Sapphire website, pretty scant on the XFX website. So, I perceive, rightly or wrongly, that Sapphire is a more premium brand and would have better support
 
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nheather said:
Why the differences and are there any others that I haven't spotted.
Click to expand...
It looks like the Pure has become Sapphire's mid-tier card with ARGB * and better fans, rather than just a white offering. With the Nitro still being Sapphire's top tier.

* The lighting on previous Pure cards was a fixed colour (red).

I'd guess that the Pure's PCB is the same as the Pulse, but I can't find any pictures of the Pure's PCB.

nheather said:
XFX Swift
Click to expand...
One thing I do like about the swift is the dual bios.

nheather said:
When I look at the XFX and Sapphire websites, there is much more information on the Sapphire website, pretty scant on the XFX website. So, I perceive, rightly or wrongly, that Sapphire is a more premium brand and would have better support
Click to expand...
Sapphire has always been the top brand for AMD and used to have great support. They rarely built a bad card and would prioritise quiet, even if that meant slightly higher temps.

XFX had a very bad reputation for CS at one point, but as with Sapphire, I don't know what they're like now.
 
Looks like the Pure then, it is the same price as the Pulse, not bothered by the white finish nor the RGB, but I do like the proper fan bearings.

I do like the size of the XFX heatsink and the bigger fans, the BIOS switch is nice too, but their website leaves me uncomfortable. The Sapphire website is very detailed and informative compared with the XFX website is very limited.
 
nheather said:
Looks like the Pure then, it is the same price as the Pulse, not bothered by the white finish nor the RGB, but I do like the proper fan bearings.
Click to expand...
I'd also buy the Pure at the same price as the Pulse, seems to be a better card overall if you don't mind white.

nheather said:
The Sapphire website is very detailed and informative compared with the XFX website is very limited.
Click to expand...
It does leave a better impression!
 
Anyone know of the lowest possible fan noise I am torn between brands not too much info on fan noise.......! Even the Asrock makes noise on some UT5 engine games which is a bit surprising!
 
nheather said:
Okay, I have decided on an RX 9060 XT 16GB, so which one to buy.

Looking in the store I can 16 cards ranging in price from £314.99 to £399.95.

Of course, I'm attracted by the £314.99 price (PowerColor Radeon RX 9060 XT Reaper 16GB GDDR6), but before I jump and press the button, what is the difference, why such a wide price range. Is it just down to the cooler or are there other things to consider. I've never had a PowerColor product, are they good?

Cheers,

Nigel
Click to expand...

The Powercolor Reaper is two slot. The Sapphire Pulse is larger but has a better cooler.
 
AWPC said:
Anyone know of the lowest possible fan noise I am torn between brands not too much info on fan noise.......! Even the Asrock makes noise on some UT5 engine games which is a bit surprising!
Click to expand...
In TPU's reviews, the Nitro was the quietest, but the Prime (on the quiet BIOS) and the Steel legend were only a bit higher noise. The Pulse was the lowest noise of the lower tier cards.
 
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