Gigabyte Aorus RTX 5060 Ti Thunderbolt 5 eGPU hits retail with desktop-class 16GB GPU

Gigabyte initially introduced the Aorus RTX 5060 Ti AI Box in early September 2025 and later offered a more in-depth look at the Thunderbolt 5 eGPU. In the second unveiling, the company went through most details but left out the pricing and availability info.

Well, the Thunderbolt 5 is finally available to purchase, with the current price being $699.99 on Newegg. This price tag isn't much higher than what a desktop Nvidia RTX 5060 Ti 16GB typically costs, making this eGPU a good pick for those interested in building an external GPU setup. It also comes with a 330W power adapter.

Speaking of which, the Aorus RTX 5060 Ti AI Box features a desktop-class GPU, and Gigabyte claims performance is 5% slower than a PCIe on-slot setup with a similar GPU. However, the brand is making this claim through a 3DMark Timespy benchmark score comparison, which isn't the best way to represent real-world performance.

As other independent tests show, there can be a noticeable difference in gaming performance between an on-slot PCIe connection and a Thunderbolt 5 eGPU with the same GPU. There's USB4 v2 support as well, making it widely compatible with some of the recently launched laptops and mini PCs (such as the Minisforum MS-S1 Max).

The Gigabyte Aorus RTX 5060 Ti AI Box can also offer expanded connectivity. In addition to the Thunderbolt 5 port that connects to the host PC, it has the following ports:

• 1x Thunderbolt 5 for peripherals with PD 3.0
• 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C
• 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A
• 1x Ethernet
• 3x DisplayPort 2.1b
• 1x HDMI 2.1b

Check out the spec sheet attached below to learn more about the Thunderbolt 5 eGPU. For those who might require a little more GPU power, there's the Aorus RTX 5090 AI Box, which did relatively well in our in-depth review.