The RTX 5060 Ti launch wasn’t the most exciting ever, but it at least signalled that we’re finally in an era where affordable GPUs could (stocks willing) start gracing the shelves. In fact, as someone still using an RTX 3060 Ti, a reasonably priced RTX 5060 Ti is genuinely tempting in a way the rest of the RTX 50-series is not.
I’ve found myself especially tempted by the Zotac RTX 5060 Ti Solo, a dinky thing with a single fan. It’s just been announced by Zotac, alongside Amp and Twin Edge (OC) designs for RTX 5060-series cards.
Single-fan cards are nothing new, of course—especially not for Zotac—but something about the RTX 5060 Ti Solo tickles my fancy in just the right way.
I’m not sure whether it’s the diagonal lining, subtle brown colouring, or just the fact that it’s a relatively low-power GPU (compared to the rest of the RTX 50 series) that will presumably not be too hampered by the stubby single-fan design—whatever the reason, something about it is calling out to me the current GPU market, which is a hellscape of out of stock signs in the US and apparently completely fine in the UK.
Nvidia’s RTX ’60 Ti cards are often good choices for SFF builds because they tend to offer decent entry-level current-gen performance without all the heat production and power guzzling of RTX ’70 and ’80 cards. In our Jacob R’s RTX 5060 Ti review, he found the latest Nvidia GPU to perform about 20% better than the RTX 4060 Ti and only consume a little more power and produce just a little more heat (though much depends on the specific AIB design, of course).
We tested two triple-fan cards for that review, and both largely stuck around the mid 60 degrees celsius mark. The twin-fan PNY RTX 5060 Ti Dual Fan OC, however, hit mid 70 degrees at times. This single-fan design? Well, let’s just say a 180 W TGP is quite a lot for a compact card to dissipate, but it’s not impossible.
We’re not given any actual pricing for the RTX 5060 Ti Solo yet, though, so I might have to eat my words. But let’s be optimistic, eh?
About this particular card, Zotac says: “For true SFF-PC enthusiasts, the single-fan ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 5060 SOLO remains a top choice for its maximum compactness, and the ability to sit comfortably in 99% of PC cases on the market. Despite being the smallest GPU of ZOTAC GAMING’s 50 Series line-up, the compact SOLO offers the same great performance.”
That 99% figure comes from the fact that it’s two slots wide, and of course a little horizontally challenged—which is a good thing. Zotac’s well into the SFF market, as we’ve seen with the Zotac ZBox Magnus One SFF gaming PC, and I reckon a single-fan RTX 5060 Ti makes a lot of sense as another step in this direction.
That, or I’m just looking for ways to justify finally upgrading my GPU… don’t judge, okay.
