Let’s not turn the bush Nvidia’s recent RTX 4060 Ti isn’t one of the best graphics cards out there right now. It doesn’t even come close.
However, it is the second cheapest graphics card of this generation and, for Nvidia, it is by far the cheapest. Because of this, you might be tempted to buy it to include in a budget-oriented PC build. Well, this is my cue to tell you that you probably shouldn’t get the RTX 4060 Ti, but there are plenty of other GPUs that are more worth your money.
A warm welcome
Nvidias RTX 3060 and RTX 3060 Ti have been some of the most popular GPUs of their generation. The RTX 3060 is currently the third most common graphics card among gamers according to the Steams Hardware Survey, and unlike the two cards that currently top it (GTX 1650 and GTX 1060), it continues its slow ascent to the top .
You’d think the RTX 4060 Ti would be poised to become a similar hit; the perfect gateway to high-end gaming with a more modest price tag. However, that’s simply not the case. The card has received very lukewarm response thus far, and it’s hard to imagine it improving significantly over time unless later GPUs prove to be even more of a flop than the RTX 4060 Ti.
Sure, calling it a flop might be a bit extreme, but reports from various sources say it’s simply not selling well. When it comes to GPU reviews, the response has been all over the place, with some outlets saying it’s a disaster and others praising it for its performance. What is the truth?
Far from perfect
The RTX 4060 Ti is ill-prepared to tackle some of the most demanding games in 2023, let alone the games that will be released in the next few years. It’s not a bad GPU per se, but some odd design choices combined with the $400 price tag make it a pretty poor choice.
For starters, the RTX 4060 Ti actually has fewer CUDA cores than its predecessor (4,352 versus 4,864). That alone isn’t a problem, because Nvidia has given it a hugely increased cache to make up for it. The problem lies with the VRAM and, more precisely, with the memory bus.
It features the same 8GB of VRAM, which, as we were now finding out, isn’t really enough to run modern games. However, while the RTX 3060 Ti has a roomier 256-bit bus, the RTX 4060 Ti is limited to a measly 128-bit, resulting in drastically lower memory bandwidth. This can cause a serious bottleneck in some games.
If the RTX 4060 Ti was $100 cheaper, something like this could have been excused. Nvidias 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, yet it’s still a mid-range card if just look at the price. . For $400, most of us expect to get something better.
We have compared the RTX 4060 Ti with its predecessor in some modern games, such asReturn, and I’ve found the difference in frame rates to be often negligible. The GPU has the edge over the RTX 3060 Ti, but it’s not massive enough to justify this kind of price.
Keep in mind that performance differs in many different tests, so dig into our review to learn more. The RTX 4060 Ti did a good job of keeping up with our usual suite of tests, but in newer games and higher resolutions, it starts to struggle. This struggle will only get worse as the years go by and games demand more and more performance from the graphics card.
Obviously, the RTX 4060 Ti has one edge over its predecessors, it unlocks Nvidias DLSS 3. But is that enough to sell it as a worthwhile graphics card? I don’t think so, and this is an opinion shared by many.
While it’s the cheapest model in a notoriously expensive generation of GPUs, it still doesn’t offer much 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’re trying to build a new PC or upgrade your existing rig? Buy a GPU, but maybe skip the RTX 4060 Ti.
There are many options
Just because the RTX 4060 Ti is the cheapest right now doesn’t mean it’s good value for money. Nvidia will soon release an RTX 4060 Ti with 16GB of VRAM, priced at just $100 more. Without seeing it, it’s hard to say how much better it will be, but it will solve the major problem with the 8GB version, and it might be worth as little as $100 to some people. There will also be a $300 RTX 4060 coming out in the next couple of months.
Assuming you don’t want to try your luck with the 16GB RTX 4060 Ti, there are still plenty of options that will give you similar performance to the 8GB version without running into limited VRAM issues. Both AMD and Nvidia itself have cards that simply make more sense right now.
RTX 4070
Let’s start with the RTX 4070. You can get it for around $600, which is how much it’s been priced from the very beginning, and it’s a huge improvement over the RTX 4060 Ti. It’s faster, has more VRAM, and handles better at higher resolutions. It’s simply a better choice for future-proofing.
The other side of the coin? It’ll cost you around $600, which is $200 more than the Founders Edition version of the RTX 4060 Ti. However, it’s the simplest upgrade yet that unlocks DLSS 3, improved ray tracing, and all other Nvidia goodies, while providing more value than the 4060 Ti. And it’s not even that much more expensive if you buy a GPU made by Nvidia’s board partners, as those sell for upwards of $460.
RX6700XT
If you just want games that run well and you don’t really care about various bells and whistles, you might as well go back to the previous generation and buy an AMD card. Those GPUs are good value right now, having received significant price cuts since launch. In fact, last-gen options typically offer much better performance per dollar, though that varies by make and model.
We pitted the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT against the RTX 4060 Ti, and lo and behold, the latest generation AMD offering is actually faster in some games, and even when it’s not, it still keeps pace with Nvidia. Seeing as you can get it for around $360, there’s no reason to buy the RTX 4060 Ti over this model unless you care about ray tracing Nvidia maintains a strong lead there, as it usually does.
RTX 3070
If you want to stick with Nvidia, some last-gen options are still solid. The RTX 3070 is more expensive than the 4060 Ti, but if you can add a little extra to your GPU budget, it’s a decent choice. It has many more cores and a larger bus (256 bit). That’s still just 8GB of VRAM, but just like the RTX 3060 Ti, it will most likely do a better job with newer, bandwidth-hungry titles.
That said, it’s still more expensive than the 4060 Ti. You can find it for around $490 on Amazon. Call it a mediocre kind of choice; if you don’t want to go up to the $600 RTX 4070 but are willing to spend more than $400 for the RTX 4060 Ti, this is a good option to consider if you’d rather buy Nvidia.
RX6800XT
Those who aren’t afraid to buy AMD GPUs have plenty of hidden treasures to tap into around this price point. For around $520, you could pick up the RX 6800 XT and step up to a whole different league 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. That’s not to say you can’t use the RTX 4060 Ti for 1440p, but like I said, it doesn’t scale as well.
This GPU features double the VRAM of the RTX 4060 Ti, which is 16GB on a 256-bit memory bus. Bandwidth also nearly doubles. You’re giving up $120 and get into Nvidias Frame Generation, but you’re also getting a GPU that’s more likely to hold up well to future games.
RX7600
I know what you might think suggesting that the RX 7600 as a replacement for the RTX 4060 Ti is an odd choice. However, I support it. If you’re looking for a GPU that offers decent value and can handle 1080p games without ray tracing, you might as well pick up the RX 7600 for $270 instead of shelling out $400 on the RTX 4060 Ti.
Full disclosure: AMD’s RX 7600 is slower than Nvidia’s card, no contest. You don’t get the same kind of performance with this GPU. However, seeing as Nvidia’s pricing has been somewhat questionable this generation, the real budget choice here will always be the RX 7600 and not the RTX 4060 Ti. This is the way to go if you’re more concerned about budget than winning a few extra frame rates in AAA games.
Editor’s Recommendations
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