It has been a hell of a week but through it all the tech news persisted it was AMD’s turn to launch their $300 class GPUs this week. The RX 9060 XT 8GB and the $350 RX 9060 XT 16GB and you know what a GPU launch in 2025 means a trite and unnecessary distraction from the GPU’s objective performance evaluation because reviewers were instead forced to address AMD’s shady launch tactics and Nvidia-like behavior on the plus side.
Though the GPU supply situation seems to be on the mend and Microsoft wants to put the universal back into USB via a Windows 11 certification program which is just thrilling for those sick of the constant upgrade to Windows 11 bombardment though it is some consolation that Microsoft is shoving Windows 11 down hardware manufacturers throats too but not much.
Talking of having things shoved down your throat – know what I heard your mom really enjoys? the tech news excellent! One of the things I’ve always liked most about PC hardware is its objectivity you can plaster all the marketing fluff in the world on a new GPU but it won’t change its measurable performance given a proper test setup and methodology i believe there are many in the community who share my appreciation for this objectivity when it comes to hardware for the fundamental verifiable truth that theoretically underlies each review especially in a world where objective truth is becoming more and more scarce.
While its value seems to be continually degraded I also believe this to be the core reason why attempts to undermine or manipulate this system result in such heated and intense community backlash but nevertheless those attempts persisted and arguably worsened this generation particularly when it comes to the high volume GPU models that have discussed in recent weeks $300 to $450 GPUs that are much more likely to be purchased by less informed buyers or to be slapped into pre-built systems that are also likely to be bought by buyers who aren’t aware of the drastic difference the jump from 8 GB of VRAM to 16 GB can be or even that a higher memory version of the card exists.
Nvidia was rightfully read across the coals a few weeks back when they blocked the majority of reviewers from early RTX 5060 testing except the cherrypicked outlets who agreed to their restrictions of course alongside a deliberately inconvenient and unnecessary mid-computex launch and now with the 960 XT launch AMD has proven that they also do not give a f**k about customers just as they do not give a f**k about manipulating uninformed buyers with tricky marketing tactics because they’re pulling the same s**t as Nvidia except that they suck at it just a little bit more.
They could have given the RX 9060 XT 8 gig and 16 gig different names like they did with the 7600 and 7600 XT but they didn’t do so they could trick uninformed buyers just like Nvidia did with the 5060 Ti.
they could have not had Frank Azor post this infuriating message about 1080p gaming which is the feeblest crutch upon which to support your weak 8 GB GPU argument they could have sampled both the 8 and 16 gig versions of the 9060 XT so both could be included in embargo lift reviews but they didn’t they instead made a wishy-washy statement about samples going out based on regional market demand which meant only two of the 30 plus reviews that went live when the embargo lifted Wednesday morning included 8 gig results
Amd also specifically said only the cards they sampled directly could be reviewed on Wednesday blocking any further 8 gigabyte contamination of the initial wave of reviews ensuring that those will be the test results the conclusion and generally the pretty positive reviews for the 16 gig card that someone googling 9060 XT will be much more likely to see in the future which is of course the exact same result that Nvidia was going for with the RTX 5060 8 gig launch.
Nvidia and AMD are two heads of the same Hydra just that I guess AMD is content to be the B-tier version the discount bin option the inferior solution that deserves both its “okay deal if it’s on sale” buy rating and its commensurate piddling market share and you know speaking of those 9060 XT 16 gig reviews that were actually not bad – assuming the $350 MSRP availability of course – well I would love to go over those numbers but I’ve spent all my time addressing AMD’s other distracting behavior it’s a shame it has overshadowed what could have been a decent GPU launch.
Now that I’ve expressed my dissatisfaction with AMD’s RX 9060 XT launch I think I’ve gotten most of the negativity out of my system so we can focus on some more uplifting news while we might not have liked how some of these recent GPUs launched they have launched and are now available which means there are more choices for PC gamers on the market particularly compared to recent months.
The end of 2024 one big question that we can sort of answer is if RX9060 XT stock would hold up and thanks to these big stacks of GPUs and warehouses the answer seems to be yes or at least mostly as of Friday here in the US Newegg still had multiple 8 gig versions of the RX9060 XT in stock and available to order at the $300 MSRP although the $350 versions of the 16 gig model sold out much more quickly it is now limited to overclocked markedup versions that are in the $380 to $390 range and it really needs to stay back down towards 350 where it’s a much better deal versus the 5060 Ti so I guess perhaps some of the 8 gig VRAM commentary has permeated and impacted sales for the lower-end version but in a broader sense now that both AMD and Nvidia have launched most if not all of their nextG cards for this cycle ridiculous price increases are simply untenable since other higher tier cards of GPUs exist practically speaking I think the first question for a GPU buyer right now would be what’s the cheapest 16 gig card which would be a 9060 XT 16 gig for $350 if possible and I guess we’ll have to wait and see if those get restocked soon but it’s notable that Tech PowerUp said in their review that every single board partner that I talked to who was willing to discuss pricing said that the MSRP of $350 is a fantasy and it will be impossible to reach without kickbacks from AMD such campaigns are usually limited to a certain number of GPUs sold so if the 9060 behaves like the RX9070s did and prices go way up because of that or just because of limited inventory then the 5060 Ti 16 gig will be the way to go but those are currently at $480 at the cheapest in the US which is a big jump so despite my AMD Nvidia vitriol and the comments accusing me of hypocrisy in my recent build fix series I do not think that 8 gig GPUs are worthless or should not exist and if you’re aware of the limitations and the next best option is about $200 more expensive a 9060 XT or RTX 5060 8 GB might make sense to you but only as a last resort because you’ll find that the 8 gig limit will also hurt its resale value down the line as well which you don’t always take into consideration when you’re making a first-time purchase if you’re really on a budget and need a GPU right now though what should you really buy i’d say an Intel Arc B580 for less than $300 if you can find one or even better a used RTX 3080 for $350 or so those often sell for less than $400 these days but you got to keep your eye out for the right deal and as always when buying used beware of scams moving on from the GPU news this week we have a few smaller tidbits to devour which we will handle in these tech briefs usb was supposed to be the last plug we would ever need hence both its universality and its bustiness but over time things have gotten a bit confused with multiple plug types varying data and power transfer rates and a near infinite variety of connectable devices some standards enforcement was becoming necessary and Microsoft has stepped in to provide the muscle primarily for laptops if manufacturers want to claim USB 3 or USB 4 support and run Windows 114H2 or later they must adhere to this guide there are five data transfer rates and overall a much simplified plan that prevents laptops from claiming they have more ports when said ports are hamstrung in some way following these rules means they can add a shiny Windows hardware compatibility program or WHCP badge to their laptop that most users will never peel off speaking of new Windows 11 features how about this one user interaction aware CPU power management coming with version 25H2 i generally like power management not too sure about the user interaction aware part of it though okay it’s designed to extend battery life on notebooks by reducing CPU activity when the system detects no user interaction such as keyboard mouse or other input devices it also applies more aggressive processor power management settings so on one hand this just seems like a slightly more aggressive system idle and sleep configuration but on the other hand with the inclusion of other input devices it could extend to webcams or movement tracking software that more aggressively monitors if you’re actually looking at and using your computer and opting into something like that seems like a great way for Microsoft to then also use those monitoring tools for advertising data harvesting or other ends that benefit them and not you i’m speculating to be clear here but I’ve seen how these things can go speaking of nefarious deeds Microcenter seems to have been ripped off to the tune of about $90,000 based on current market prices as they now say a batch of at least 32 Zotac RTX 5090 Solid OC video cards they purchased from a distributor in China actually contained two to three Glamaholic backpacks in each box instead of a video card that currently sells for $2,500 to $3,000 this was first reported last week on Reddit by James Ferg 650 who snagged what they thought was their dream GPU at the recent Microcenter Santa Clara soft opening event after it was reported Microcenter checked and confirmed that more suspect 5090s had been sent in that same batch which were compromised at the Zotac China factory before they even shipped to the US per the reports sounds like an inside job fortunately Microcenter has a good reputation when it comes to customer service and shout outs to Justin Joseph and Yousef by the way for helping out James Ferg he has been made whole with an actual Zotac RTX 5090 which I bet he confirmed was a real GPU before he drove home this time now he just needs to get Jensen to sign each one of those Glamaholic backpacks but there you have it guys tech news for the week and if you liked it click that like button or leave me a comment down below while you’re down there all the articles I talked about today are linked in the description if you’re interested and you can check out my blog at yourbestpc.com.
