GALAX GeForce RTX 5060 EX 8 GB Graphics Card Review – MSRP Model With Compact, Dual-Fan, RGB-Lit Cooler

GALAX GeForce RTX 5060 EX Unboxing & Closeup

The GALAX GeForce RTX 5060 EX graphics card comes inside a standard cardboard box. The front of the package has a large "GeForce RTX" brand logo along with the "GALAX" logo in the top left corner & the "EX" model name on the bottom left corner. This is also a 1-Click OC variant which means that you can extract more performance with a single-click through GALAX's 1-Click Xtreme Tuner Plus software.

The packaging has put a large emphasis on the RTX side of things as the first feature enlisted by AIBs will be NVIDIA Blackwell architecture, Ray Tracing & DLSS support.

The back of the box is very typical, highlighting the main features and specifications of the cards. There's also a focus towards GeForce.com on each AIB card through which users can download the latest drivers and the GeForce Experience application, which is a must for gamers to access all feature sets of the new cards. The sides of the box greet us with the large GeForce RTX branding. There's also the mention of 8 GB GDDR7 (RTX 5060) memory available on the card.

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Outside of the box, the graphics card and the accessory package are held firmly by foam packaging. The graphics card comes with a few accessories such as an ARGB cable, and manuals, which might not be of much use for hardcore enthusiasts but can be useful for the mainstream gaming audience. The card is nicely wrapped within an anti-static cover, which is useful to prevent any unwanted static discharges on various surfaces that might harm the graphics card.

After the package is taken care of, I can finally start talking about the card itself. This card is a compact variant and is compliant with NVIDIA's SFF standards.

GALAX makes use of its latest Xtreme Cooling system heatsink. The card measures 264 x 145 x 41 mm and features a 2-slot height.

The graphics card adopts a black and white color scheme with a plastic shroud on the front, and a metal backplate.

The back of the card features a solid metal backplate that looks stunning. The backplate offers a lot more functionality than just looks, which I will get back to in a bit.

In terms of design, the card features the "Xtreme Cooling System" cooler, which adopts a dual-fan design.

The new heatsink is a combination of GALAX's dynamic thermal control design and the new Double Wings 3.0 fans.

The only RGB source on the card are the two fans on the front.

Coming to the fans, the card features the latest Double Wings 3.0 design. These fans feature 7 blades in 102 mm frames with axial technology. The larger 102mm frame of these fans allow for 15% higher air pressure, 3C lower temperatures versus Wings 2.0 design, and a reduction of 5% in noise output.

GALAX's new fan system has the 0dB "Silent Extreme" technology, which ensures that the fans don't spin at lower temperatures, avoiding unwanted noise output.

I am back to talking about the full-coverage, full metal-based backplate that the card uses. The whole plate is made of solid metal with rounded edges that add to the durability of this card. The back comes with a dual-tone "White+Black" color scheme.

The graphics card also comes with a compact PCB design, which means that the shroud, heatsink, and backplate are all extended beyond the PCB. The second fan blows air through the heatsink and blows it out from the cutouts that are situated at the very end of the backplate. There are cutouts in screw placements to easily reach the points on the graphics card.

With the outside of the card done, I will now start taking a glance at what's beneath the hood of the card. The first thing to catch my eye is the large fin stack that's part of the heatsink that the card utilizes.

The heatsink has been designed to be denser by increasing the footprint. This includes the use of denser aluminum fins and bigger heat pipes. There are a total of three heat pipes on the card which connect to the baseplate while a fourth heatsink is situated at the front for extra heat dissipation.

I/O on the graphics card sticks with the reference scheme, which includes three Display Port 2.1b & a single HDMI 2.1 port.

The GALAX GeForce RTX 5060 EX comes with a single 8-pin connector to feed its 145W power rating.

The card features a 6-phase VRM with four GDDR7 memory modules. The card features a +53 MHz over-clock of 2550 MHz which is only accessible through the Xtreme Tuner Plus software.

GALAX GeForce RTX 5060 EX RGB Lighting Gallery:

Once again, the GALAX GeForce RTX 5060 EX features two ARGB-lit fans. These come with 20+ effects that are accessible through the Xtreme Tuner App.

The following is what the graphics card looks like when lit up.

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