NVIDIA RTX 4060 Ti (8GB) review: Better 1080p ray tracing for $399

To say that I beloved NVIDIA’s RTX 3060 Ti is an understatement. It was the perfect stability of worth and efficiency — one thing that turned much more true when GPU costs fell again all the way down to Earth. With NVIDIA’s RTX 40-series playing cards skyrocketing to dear new heights, I started to fret that the corporate was drifting away from inexpensive GPUs. Properly, fear not. The $399 RTX 4060 Ti proves that NVIDIA can nonetheless ship loads of worth below $500.

To be clear, it is not the dramatic leap ahead that the 3060 Ti was (and in case you have a type of playing cards, simply sit tight for now!). However when you’re nonetheless operating an RTX 2060 GPU, or one thing older, the 4060 shall be a worthwhile improve. It excels at gaming in 1080p with ray tracing at excessive framerates, and it may possibly additionally deal with 1,440p decently in much less demanding video games.

We reviewed the 8GB 4060 Ti, however there’s additionally a mannequin with 16GB of VRAM coming in July for $499. And when you’re searching for the most affordable possibility, there’s additionally a $299 plain 4060 on the horizon too. Judging from the present Steam stats, I might wager that card will find yourself being the preferred. However the $399 mannequin might make sense if you wish to future-proof a bit, even when you do not plan to maneuver past 1080p gaming.

The Founder’s Version 4060 Ti we’re reviewing has the identical fundamental cooling setup as the remainder of the 40-series: A premium metallic case surrounding a bevy of heatsink fins, together with twin rear followers. The GPU is noticeably lighter than the RTX 4070, and its dual-slot design makes it best for small-form issue techniques. Below the hood, the 8GB 4060 Ti is powered by 4,352 CUDA cores, and it may possibly attain as much as 2,535 MHz increase clock (up from a 2,310 MHz base clock). One main improve is its 32MB of L2 cache, an enormous step ahead from 4MB on the earlier two generations of ’60 playing cards.

I knew the RTX 4060 Ti was a winner as quickly as I began benchmarking Cyberpunk 2077. It averaged 86.4 fps in 1080p with extremely ray tracing settings and DLSS 3 enabled. That is easy sufficient to look nice on any monitor, particularly if it helps NVIDIA’s G-SYNC body synchronization, which might assist to scale back display tearing. With out ray tracing, Cyberpunk hit a formidable 158 fps. (I might quite take the ray tracing over these additional frames for a single-player sport, although.)

In 1,440p, Cyberpunk hit a gentle 60fps with extremely ray tracing settings and DLSS 3. That will nonetheless look nice on most screens when you’re not chasing the dream of excessive body charges. The 4060 Ti clearly is not meant to be a 1,440p card with ray tracing, nevertheless it’s succesful in a pinch.

I noticed related leads to Halo Infinite: The 4060 Ti averaged 148 fps in 1080p with maxed out graphics settings, and a serviceable 83 fps in 1,440p. In case you assume you will be spending extra time in 1,440p, you could need to take into account going straight to the $599 RTX 4070. (Whereas the additional RAM on the 16GB 4060 Ti sounds good, I would not guess on that making a dramatic distinction in 1,440p.) Because of its wonderful cooling setup, the GPU by no means went past 65 Celsius after intensive benchmarking. 

In most exams, the 4060 Ti carried out barely higher than the 2 and a half-year outdated RTX 3070. That card retailed for $499, however its road worth was far larger lengthy after its debut. The 4060 Ti makes a extra spectacular efficiency leap when in comparison with the 3060 Ti, however once more it is not large enough to demand a direct improve.

For essentially the most half, the RTX 4060 Ti looks like a reward to players who caught with their older GPUs for years. It will be a welcome introduction to the world of ray tracing for GTX 1060 homeowners. And for folks upgrading from the RTX 2060, the efficiency leap with DLSS 3 shall be dramatic. In case you’re on the fence, although, it could be price ready to see how the remainder of AMD’s Radeon RX 7000 household appears. Recent rumors level to extra of these Radeon playing cards showing subsequent month.

Whereas I am extra excited to see what NVIDIA can eke out from its $299 RTX 4060, the 4060 Ti stays a stable ray tracing performer that many players can really afford.