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Facepalm: As Computex 2025 is ready to unfold in Taipei, a lot of the tech world’s consideration can be understandably drawn to new improvements and massive bulletins on the present. But, amid the excitement, a extra troubling story is enjoying out behind the scenes – one which raises critical issues about transparency, media integrity, and the trustworthiness of GPU launch protection. The difficulty? Nvidia’s launch technique for the GeForce RTX 5060, and the way the corporate is manipulating public notion via tightly managed media “previews.”
{Hardware} Unboxed has discovered loads of success success on YouTube and has turn into a trusted voice within the PC {hardware} group. As you could know, Steve and Tim run HUB independently, and we’re proud to have them proceed collaborating with TechSpot to convey their evaluations to our viewers. Steve has been reviewing PC {hardware} for over 20 years right here, and even earlier than that on a private tech weblog earlier than we teamed up.
Most just lately, Steve and Tim have raised alarms about what they view as an unprecedented stage of media management within the lead-up to the RTX 5060’s launch. In contrast to earlier launches, Nvidia seems to have avoided issuing early review drivers to unbiased reviewers. We reported about that, as an extension of Nvidia’s questionable launch of a brand new era of GPUs with solely 8GB of VRAM, however issues go a lot deeper than that.
The corporate is favoring a handful of extra “pleasant” retailers with early entry, beneath strict situations. These retailers got preview drivers – however solely beneath tips that make their merchandise shine past what’s real-world testing would conclude. To quote two examples:
- One of many restrictions will not be evaluating the brand new RTX 5060 to the RTX 4060. Do not even want to elucidate than one.
- One other restriction or heavy-handed suggestion: run the RTX 5060 with 4x multi-frame generation turned on, inflating FPS outcomes, whereas older GPUs that do not assist MFG look significantly worse in charts.
The outcome: glowing previews revealed simply days earlier than the official launch, creating a primary impression primarily based virtually totally on Nvidia’s advertising narrative.
These previews will not be conventional evaluations. They arrive with vital constraints, together with necessary testing at 1080p, strict sport lists, and the required use of DLSS with multi-frame era enabled. Extra troubling, comparisons are restricted to older playing cards just like the RTX 3060 and 2060 Tremendous – merchandise that do not assist body era.
This permits Nvidia to showcase dramatically inflated efficiency deltas, typically 3 – 4× larger, resulting from artificial benefits that do not translate to precise, uncooked efficiency.
What Nvidia’s dream ‘unbiased’ tech evaluation appears like: pic.twitter.com/pePA2WEABw
– {Hardware} Unboxed (@HardwareUnboxed) May 17, 2025
What makes this case notably egregious is the absence of actual evaluations to counterbalance the spin. In contrast to with the RTX 5070 launch, the place deceptive previews had been rapidly adopted by unbiased evaluations from retailers like {Hardware} Unboxed and Avid gamers Nexus, the RTX 5060 lacks such steadiness. Nvidia has not launched the mandatory drivers to most unbiased reviewers, particularly these attending Computex.
It isn’t the primary time Nvidia has tried to lean on its relationships with media to form early perceptions. From the 8K “meme” advertising of the RTX 3090 to the rigorously framed 4K-only benchmarks of the RTX 3080, {Hardware} Unboxed traces a transparent sample: Nvidia is keen to make use of its affect to selectively showcase best-case situations and bury much less flattering realities.
However the RTX 5060 seems to mark a brand new low. That is the primary time Nvidia has actively excluded virtually all unbiased evaluations and voices from taking part within the launch narrative of a mass-market GPU.
This technique has troubling implications…
- First, it threatens the belief shoppers place within the evaluation course of.
- Second, it units a precedent the place solely media keen to toe the company line achieve entry – marginalizing unbiased, important protection in favor of promotional fluff.
- Third, it dangers reshaping search algorithms and public opinion, as glowing previews dominate on-line discourse through the launch window, earlier than skeptical evaluations actually have a likelihood to seem.
It have to be stated that these issues will not be born out of private grievance, though there’s some history there between Hardware Unboxed and Nvidia.
In a personal assembly in 2019, Nvidia provided {Hardware} Unboxed cash to provide favorable DLSS content material. Steve declined – and a couple of yr later, he was excluded from Nvidia’s evaluation packages.
On the time, Nvidia claimed his evaluations “centered an excessive amount of on rasterization as an alternative of ray tracing” – in different phrases, he wasn’t aligning with the corporate’s most well-liked messaging. After this was made public and the tech group rallied in assist of {Hardware} Unboxed, Nvidia issued an apology simply days later, walked again its calls for for tailor-made testing, and successfully lifted the imposed restrictions.
This is not a conspiracy concept. It is a systemic shift in how media manipulation works in tech. It isn’t at all times about specific bribery. Generally, it is about entry, publicity, and a refined however highly effective alternate of favors that compromises journalistic integrity.
That is additionally taking place at a time when Nvidia is a extra highly effective entity than ever earlier than. Now one of the three largest firms on the earth, with a market cap of $3.3 trillion, its main income comes from data center sales and AI acceleration – fields the place Nvidia’s GPUs have turn into the {hardware} of selection for powering fashions like ChatGPT and just about each main push into generative AI.
As compared, PC gaming represents solely a small fraction of Nvidia’s general enterprise. That is why it is tough to reconcile their aggressive media techniques with their broader company message. If their {hardware} is actually the most effective, why resort to such heavy-handed methods?
At this scale, the danger of backlash or reputational injury – particularly now that Nvidia is a family title past the PC fanatic house – might outweigh any perceived advertising positive aspects.
As for the RTX 5060, the recommendation is easy for all our readers: don’t purchase the RTX 5060 primarily based on present preview protection. Look ahead to actual evaluations. Make knowledgeable choices primarily based on complete, unbiased testing – not on early-access impressions designed to promote a story.
A month in the past, when Nvidia formally launched the 5060 Ti 16GB, 5060 Ti 8GB, and the 5060, they advised us that the $200 RTX 5060 wasn’t aimed toward fans who learn evaluations at TechSpot or YouTube channels like {Hardware} Unboxed, so launch-day evaluations had been much less necessary.
This isn’t solely inaccurate – it is also a weak excuse. Our viewers is not simply rich avid gamers shopping for RTX 5090s. Loads of individuals who try our evaluations are mainstream avid gamers buying mid-range graphics playing cards. Absolutely Nvidia did not anticipate us to simply accept this reasoning, particularly when, in the identical briefing, additionally they claimed that “avid gamers love the 60 sequence.” So which is it? Avid gamers find it irresistible, however fanatic avid gamers do not care about mainstream GPU evaluations?The messaging was utterly contradictory.
You possibly can perhaps make that argument for ultra-budget $150 playing cards – however not for what’s traditionally the most well-liked GPU tier in Nvidia’s lineup every era – simply take a look at the Steam survey and you’ll simply conclude it is all pointless excuses.
This case is a wake-up name. As tech fans, we depend on trustworthy protection to information our purchases. We should demand transparency and assist retailers that prioritize fact over advertising. As a result of if this development continues unchecked, the following era of avid gamers may discover themselves drowning in polished PR, with out even realizing they’re being bought a fantasy.
