Let’s not beat around the bush — Nvidia’s recent RTX 4060 Ti isn’t just one of the best graphics cards out there today. They don’t even come close.
Still, it’s the second cheapest graphics card in this generation, and for Nvidia, it’s the least expensive yet. For this reason, you may be tempted to buy it for inclusion in a budget oriented PC. Well, here’s my take on telling you that you probably shouldn’t get the RTX 4060 Ti, but there are many other GPUs out there that are worth your money.
frosty welcome
Nvidia’s RTX 3060 and RTX 3060 Ti are among the most popular GPUs of their generation. The RTX 3060 is currently the third most popular graphics card among gamers according to a Steam hardware survey, and unlike the two cards currently above it (GTX 1650 and GTX 1060), it continues its slow climb towards the top.
You’d think the RTX 4060 Ti would be poised for similar success; The perfect gateway to high-end gaming at a more modest price. However, this is simply not the case. The card has received a very lukewarm response so far, and it’s hard to imagine it improving significantly over time unless the GPUs that come next prove more of a failure than the RTX 4060 Ti.
Sure, calling it a flop might be a bit of an exaggeration, but reports from various sources say it simply doesn’t sell well. When it comes to GPU reviews, the response to it has been sparse all around, with some outlets claiming it’s a disaster and others praising it for its performance. whats the truth?
Far from privileged
The RTX 4060 Ti isn’t ready to take on some of the most demanding games of 2023, let alone games that will be released in the next few years. It’s not a bad GPU per se, but some strange design choices combined with the $400 price tag make it a pretty poor value pick.
For starters, the RTX 4060 Ti actually has fewer CUDA cores than its predecessor (4352 vs. 4864). That alone isn’t a problem, since Nvidia gave it a significantly increased cache to make up for it. The problem is VRAM, or rather, the memory bus.
It features the same 8GB of VRAM, which, as we’ve now found out, isn’t enough to run modern games. However, while the RTX 3060 Ti has a roomy 256-bit bus, the RTX 4060 Ti is limited to a paltry 128-bits, resulting in significantly lower memory bandwidth. This can cause serious throttling in some games.
If the RTX 4060 Ti was $100 cheaper, something like that might be excused. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang defends the questionable choices the chipmaker made when designing this model, but no matter how you spin it, the RTX 4060 Ti is limited by its own specs, however, it’s still a mid-range card if you look at the price. lonliness . For $400, most of us would expect to get something better.
We’ve compared the RTX 4060 Ti to its predecessor in some recent games, such as back, and they found that the difference in frame rates is often negligible. The GPU has a lead over the RTX 3060 Ti, but it’s not massive enough to justify that kind of price.
Keep in mind that performance varies across many different tests, so search our review to find out more. The RTX 4060 Ti did a good job of keeping up with our usual test suite, but in newer games and at higher resolutions, it started to struggle. This struggle will only get worse as the years go by and the games need more and more performance from the graphics card.
Of course, the RTX 4060 Ti has an advantage over its predecessors – it unlocks DLSS 3 from Nvidia. But is that enough to sell it as a worthwhile graphics card? I don’t think so, and this is an opinion echoed by many.
Even though it’s the cheapest model in a popular generation of GPUs, it still doesn’t really deliver when it comes to value. Sure, it’ll cost you less, but it’s still hard to say with confidence that it’s worth the $400 price tag.
So what can you do if you are trying to build a new computer or upgrade your existing one? Buy a GPU, but maybe skip the RTX 4060 Ti.
There are a lot of options
Just because the RTX 4060 Ti is the cheapest right now doesn’t mean it’s a good value. Nvidia will soon release an RTX 4060 Ti with 16GB of VRAM, priced at just $100. Without seeing it, it’s hard to say how much better it would be, but it will address the main problem with the 8GB version, and that might only be worth $100 to some people. There will also be a $300 RTX 4060 version in the next couple of months.
Assuming you don’t want to try your luck with the RTX 4060 Ti 16GB, there are still plenty of options that will give you similar performance to the 8GB version without running into issues with limited VRAM. AMD and Nvidia both have cards that make a lot more sense right now.
RTX 4070
Let’s start with the RTX 4070. You can get it for around $600, which is the price it was priced from the start, and it offers a huge improvement over the RTX 4060 Ti. It’s faster, has more VRAM, and handles better at higher resolutions. It is simply a better choice for future proofing.
What’s the downside? It’ll set you back about $600, which is $200 more than the Founders Edition version of the RTX 4060 Ti. However, it’s the most direct upgrade that still unlocks DLSS 3, improved ray tracing, and all the other goodies from Nvidia, while providing more value than the 4060 Ti. And it’s not much more expensive if you buy a GPU made by Nvidia board partners, selling for as much as $460.
RX6700XT
If you just want games that run well and don’t really care about the many bells and whistles, you can also go back to the previous generation and buy an AMD card. These GPUs are a very good value right now, having received significant price cuts since launch. In fact, last-generation options typically deliver much better performance per dollar, though that varies by brand and model.
We’ve compared the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT to the RTX 4060 Ti, and lo and behold, AMD’s latest generation is actually faster in some games, and even when it isn’t, it still keeps up with Nvidia. Since you can get it for around $360, there’s no reason to buy an RTX 4060 Ti over this model unless you’re interested in ray tracing — Nvidia maintains a solid lead there, as it usually is.
RTX 3070
If you want to stick with Nvidia, some of its last-gen options are still solid. The RTX 3070 is more expensive than the 4060 Ti, but if you can add a little to your GPU budget, it’s a good choice. It has significantly more cores and a wider bus (256 bits). It’s still only 8GB of VRAM, but much like the RTX 3060 Ti, it will likely do a better job with newer bandwidth-hungry titles.
With that said, it’s still more expensive than the 4060 Ti. You can find it for about $490 on Amazon. Call it the mid-pack pick type; If you don’t want to shell out for the $600 RTX 4070 but are willing to spend more than $400 on the RTX 4060 Ti, this is a good option to consider if you’d rather shop Nvidia.
RX6800XT
Those who aren’t afraid to buy AMD GPUs have plenty of hidden treasures to take advantage of around this price point. For about $520, you can pick up the RX 6800 XT and go for a whole different set of graphics performance. While the RTX 4060 Ti is marketed as a 1080p graphics card, AMD’s RX 6800 XT can handle 1440p and even 4K just fine. This isn’t to say you can’t use the RTX 4060 Ti for 1440p, but as you mentioned, it doesn’t scale well.
This GPU has twice the VRAM of the RTX 4060 Ti, which means 16GB over a 256-bit memory bus. Bandwidth almost doubles as well. You’re dropping $120 and up for Nvidia’s Frame Generation, but you’re also getting a GPU that’s more likely to withstand future games.
Rx 7600
I know what you might be thinking – suggesting the RX 7600 as a replacement for the RTX 4060 Ti is an odd choice. However, I stand by her. If you’re looking for a GPU that offers a good value and can handle games at 1080p without ray tracing, you can also pick up the RX 7600 for $270 instead of shelling out $400 for the RTX 4060 Ti.
Full disclosure: AMD’s RX 7600 is slower than Nvidia’s card, there’s no competition. You don’t get the same kind of performance with this GPU. However, since Nvidia’s pricing has been somewhat questionable this generation, the real budget pick here will always be the RX 7600 and not the RTX 4060 Ti. This is the way to go if you’re more fussy about budget than winning some extra frame rates in AAA games.
Editors’ recommendations
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