The cheapest RTX 5050 a PC gaming outlet could find now costs $400 at Best Buy, which is $21 more than the suggested price of the RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB.
The outlet's writer compared the lowest prices he could find across Nvidia's budget tier. The RTX 5060 is $420 and the RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB is $470, so the whole jump from the 5050 to the 5060 Ti 8 GB is $70. At MSRP (the manufacturer's suggested retail price), that gap would be $130: $249 for the 5050 against $379 for the 5060 Ti 8 GB.
The 16 GB version of the 5060 Ti is worse off. It lists at $789, against an MSRP the writer put at around $429. The RTX 5070 is also $789, so shoppers pay the same for both cards.
The outlet said its own price tracking shows prices spiking again, and tied the climb to the ongoing memory crisis. It did not break down how much of each increase comes from memory.
The markups are uneven, and that is what flattens the lineup. By our math, the 5050 sits about 61% above its MSRP, the 5060 Ti 8 GB about 24% above, and the 5060 Ti 16 GB roughly 84% above. A budget card that costs more than a better card's launch price has lost its reason to exist. The 16 GB card matches the 5070's price without a clear upgrade case, at least on the numbers given.
The practical advice is narrow. At these prices, the $70 step up from the 5050 is the only gap in the lineup that looks reasonable. The 16 GB 5060 Ti is harder to defend next to a card that costs the same. The writer gave no 5070 MSRP, so how far above its own launch price it sits is still unclear.