Colorful GeForce RTX 5060 NB EX Review: Triple-Fan Power in Budget Form
Two years after introducing the Ada Lovelace series, NVIDIA is back with a fresh generation of GPUs under the new Blackwell architecture. Enter the GeForce RTX 5060 – a $299 entry-level card bringing advanced AI enhancements and next-gen display features to budget gamers
. Today, we’re diving into the Colorful GeForce RTX 5060 Battle AX 8GB-V, a custom triple-fan model that pushes entry-level cooling and design further than most.
Officially unveiled at CES 2025, the RTX 50 lineup represents a serious upgrade path, not only in gaming performance but also in content creation and AI workloads. The Blackwell GPU brings:
- Revamped Streaming Multiprocessors
- 5th Gen Tensor Cores
- 4th Gen Ray Tracing Cores
- Dedicated AI Management Processor
- Support for blazing-fast GDDR7 memory
- Next-gen NVENC/NVDEC encoders and DisplayPort 2.1b
The Colorful RTX 5060 Battle AX version goes a step further with its triple-fan cooler, beefy heatsink, and factory tweaks. While 8GB VRAM might sound modest in 2025, performance numbers in our synthetic and real-world gaming benchmarks show it’s more than capable in 1080p scenarios.
Performance & Benchmarks
The 5060 offers a sweet spot between energy efficiency and respectable frame rates across Vulkan and DirectX 12 titles. Ray tracing performance is enhanced by the 4th-gen RT cores, though it’s best reserved for medium settings unless paired with DLSS or Frame Generation.
Thermals & Cooling
Despite being an entry-tier GPU, Colorful’s cooler design rivals that of higher-end models. Even under stress tests, the card maintained under 70°C, remaining whisper quiet throughout.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for a modern GPU under $350 with great 1080p performance, updated feature support, and a surprisingly powerful cooler, the Colorful RTX 5060 Battle AX 8GB-V is a worthy option. Just don’t expect miracles in 1440p or 4K, where memory limitations may start to show.