As I predicted, Nvidia's RTX 5060 Ti 8GB will incur a 'motherboard tax' – it suffers a significant performance loss using PCIe 4.0

• Nvidia's RTX 5060 Ti 8GB GPU suffers up to 10% performance loss using PCIe 4.0
• This comes after speculation that its PCIe 5.0 x8 specification and 8GB VRAM capacity would be a downside
• It means gamers will have to buy a PCIe 5.0 motherboard for better performance using the GPU

Nvidia's RTX 5000 series launch isn't complete yet, with the RTX 5060 now set to launch on May 19. However, RTX 5060 Ti 8GB GPU owners may be suffering a significant performance loss without realizing it.

According to ComputerBase, the RTX 5060 Ti 8GB GPU suffers a performance loss of up to 10% when using PCIe 4.0 over PCIe 5.0. This was previously rumored before its launch, as one of MSI's models was leaked, revealing its PCIe x8 specification, which was purported to be a detriment to the 8GB VRAM version.

We can now clarify that this is the case, as ComputerBase's tests reveal an average FPS of 44.3 using PCIe 5.0, versus an average FPS of 37.9 using PCIe 4.0 on the RTX 5060 Ti 8GB GPU, based on performance across several games.

This is an important matter for those using PCIe 4.0 motherboards; the 8GB GPU is already weaker than its 16GB counterpart and the likes of the RTX 5070 Ti, so further performance losses may hit consumers much harder. It points towards 8GB GPUs yet again, and whether they are enough to handle triple-A gaming today – and the evidence shows, they can't.

More of a reason why 8GB GPUs must go...

Considering the 8GB VRAM capacity, I had a strong feeling that the rumor regarding the PCIe performance limitations was legitimate, and that appears to be the case.

Gamers using more powerful GPUs like the RTX 5070 Ti or RTX 5080 might suffer little-to-no performance loss using PCIe 4 or lower instead of PCIe 5.0; and even if there was a sizable performance loss, it wouldn't be nearly enough to be frustrated over.

However, with a much weaker 8GB GPU (and frankly, one that most consumers won't want to pursue), those performance drops will be more important as performance won't be great in GPU-intensive games to begin with. A lot of this can be resolved by lowering graphics settings or gaming at 1080p, but 8GB VRAM capacities can only last so long before it's completely untenable.

If the message wasn't clear enough already, it's best to choose another card over the RTX 5060 Ti – unless you're okay with 8GB of VRAM and buying a new PCIe 5.0 motherboard...

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