Eight years separate the GTX 1080 Ti and RTX 5060 - but how big is the performance gap at 1080p? Fresh benchmarks reveal a clear generational shift in NVIDIA’s midrange GPUs.
The GeForce GTX 1080 Ti has long been considered one of NVIDIA’s most iconic GPUs. Even years after launch, it’s still found in plenty of gaming PCs. But how does it stack up against a modern midrange card like the RTX 5060?
A new benchmark from YouTube channel Testing Games puts that question to the test – running both GPUs at 1080p on a high-end system powered by a Ryzen 7 9800X3D, eliminating CPU bottlenecks almost entirely.
1080p gaming results
Across modern AAA titles, the generational difference is hard to miss:
- Battlefield 6 RedSec: 51 FPS (GTX 1080 Ti) vs 91 FPS (RTX 5060)
- Cyberpunk 2077: 54 FPS vs 83 FPS
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33: 45 FPS vs 74 FPS
- S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: 35 FPS vs 61 FPS
- Red Dead Redemption 2: 66 FPS vs 96 FPS
- Horizon Forbidden West: 53 FPS vs 86 FPS
- Silent Hill f: 26 FPS vs 46 FPS
- God of War: Ragnarök: 62 FPS vs 112 FPS
- Ghost of Tsushima: 52 FPS vs 81 FPS
- The Last of Us Part II: 57 FPS vs 95 FPS
In nearly every title, the RTX 5060 delivers 40–80% higher frame rates, often pushing well past the 60 FPS mark where the 1080 Ti struggles.
Why the RTX 5060 Pulls Ahead
On paper, the GTX 1080 Ti still looks respectable thanks to its 11 GB of VRAM. But raw memory capacity no longer tells the full story.
The RTX 5060 benefits from:
- a much newer GPU architecture
- significantly faster memory
- improved compression and cache systems
- better efficiency per watt
Modern game engines are increasingly optimized for newer architectures, and it shows. Even without leaning on advanced features, the RTX 5060 simply processes today’s workloads more efficiently.
The GTX 1080 Ti hasn’t suddenly become unusable, but this comparison makes one thing clear: architectural progress matters more than VRAM size alone.
Eight years of GPU evolution have turned NVIDIA’s midrange into something that comfortably outpaces yesterday’s flagship. For 1080p gaming in 2026, the RTX 5060 isn’t just newer it’s decisively faster.
Source: Testing Games (YouTube)
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