Nvidia faces harsh criticism over its handling of the GeForce RTX 5060 8GB graphics card launch, scheduled for May 19.The company is restricting independent reviews, instead offering select media outlets “curated previews” under strict guidelines. This move is seen by many as an attempt to control the product’s narrative and potentially mask performance issues tied to its 8GB VRAM, significantly limiting unbiased information for consumers at launch.
The core of the controversy lies in Nvidia’s decision to withhold pre-release drivers from most reviewers, making timely, independent testing impossible for many, as reported by Tom’s Hardware and other outlets. This directly impacts consumers’ ability to make informed decisions. German tech site ComputerBase has been particularly critical, alleging Nvidia’s actions suggest the company’s motive is “presumably because the manufacturer wants to hide potential problems related to the critical 8 GB of graphics memory.”
ComputerBase further states these “previews” are intended to mask potential weaknesses. Consequently, the publication issued a stark warning: “ComputerBase generally advises against buying hardware that has not only not yet been independently tested, but is not even allowed to be independently tested at market launch.”
The situation is compounded by the timing of the public driver release, expected to coincide with the retail embargo date when many tech journalists will be traveling for the Computex event in Taipei, further hindering immediate independent analysis. This has led to accusations that Nvidia is deliberately trying to ‘hide’ the RTX 5060, a sentiment echoed by Hardware Unboxed, which stated, “NVIDIA are trying to hide the RTX 5060, just as they did the RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB.” They elaborated that Nvidia’s strategy appears to be releasing it “the week of Computex when most of the tech media are in Taiwan” and “blocking reviewers from accessing the driver early.”
Nvidia’s Scripted Previews
The “curated previews” that have emerged, such as one from GameStar Tech, operate under tightly controlled conditions. GameStar Tech disclosed that Nvidia provided the necessary driver only to a “very limited number of media outlets worldwide” and that “We were not free to choose which graphics cards and games we would measure, nor with what settings for this preview.” The constraints, also detailed by ComputerBase, limited comparison cards to the RTX 5060, RTX 3060, and RTX 2060 Super. Testing was confined to five specific games—Avowed, Doom: The Dark Ages, Marvel Rivals, Cyberpunk 2077, and Hogwarts Legacy—at a fixed 1080p resolution.
Crucially, Nvidia’s guidelines mandated settings that showcased the RTX 5060’s “vierfache Multiframegeneration” (quadruple multi-frame generation), a feature unavailable to the older cards, thus heavily favoring the new GPU in performance metrics. GameStar Tech’s preview, for instance, highlighted a 473% average frame rate increase for the RTX 5060 over the RTX 3060, largely attributed to DLSS 4 and Multi-Frame Generation (MFG). However, GameStar Tech also noted, citing Nvidia, that the pure raster performance gain is around 20%. VideoCardz.com further reported that Nvidia apparently only granted driver access to media willing to publish these controlled previews, suggesting this was the sole path for those outlets to obtain drivers for any subsequent full reviews.
The Persistent 8GB VRAM Debate
Underlying the review restrictions is the persistent debate over the RTX 5060’s 8GB VRAM. Many critics, including ComputerBase, argue this is insufficient for a mainstream card priced around $299-$319 in 2025, especially when the RTX 3060 launched four years prior with 12GB. ComputerBase bluntly stated its perspective: “The conclusion can therefore only be once again: Nvidia is ashamed to sell gamers 8 GB of graphics memory again in 2025 for around 300 euros.”. The concern, as highlighted by Digital Trends, is that 8GB may prove inadequate for modern games, even at 1080p, and they noted that the 8GB version of the RTX 5060 Ti reportedly saw poor sales.
Even GameStar Tech, within its preview, acknowledged that Cyberpunk 2077 and Hogwarts Legacy, under Nvidia’s prescribed high settings, utilized more than 8GB VRAM on a 12GB RTX 3060. Their assessment was that 8GB is “mostly sufficient” for the RTX 5060 in Full HD with what they consider recommended settings. This VRAM issue echoes the controversy around the RTX 5060 Ti 8GB model. As VideoCardz.com noted, Nvidia did not initially send that specific model to reviewers, and “It was later discovered that the 8GB model is significantly weaker than the 16GB version.” Subsequent independent testing by Hardware Unboxed, reported by Tom’s Hardware, revealed significant performance problems and game crashes with the 8GB RTX 5060 Ti compared to its 16GB counterpart due to VRAM limitations.
Context of the RTX 50-Series and Past Practices
The GeForce RTX 5060 is part of Nvidia’s Blackwell architecture, unveiled at CES 2025, which promises advancements in AI processing, ray tracing, and incorporates DLSS 4 with MFG. The RTX 5060 itself is priced at $299 in the US (with a 319 Euro), featuring 3,840 CUDA cores and a 145W TGP.
Nvidia’s Senior Director Justin Walker had previously defended the 8GB VRAM on the similarly priced RTX 5060 Ti, citing a need to “optimize price and performance” and comparing its launch price favorably to past generations, according to The Verge. However, the current strategy of limiting independent reviews for the RTX 5060, especially with the Computex timing, has intensified scrutiny.
It has fueled accusations that the company is avoiding direct, unbiased comparisons that could highlight potential VRAM bottlenecks or less favorable performance without AI-generated frames. Igor Wallossek of Igor’s Lab confirmed he has an RTX 5060 sample but lamented, “NVIDIA has decided not to provide any press drivers until the launch,” preventing a day-one review. He expects his review will be delayed until May 26, leaving consumers in a difficult position as the RTX 5060 becomes available.
