Nvidia’s RTX 4060 Ti 8GB is one of Nvidia’s three 4060 GPUs filling out the midrange segment of the Ada Lovelace generation. Sporting fewer cores than its predecessor, can it stand its ground against the rest of Nvidia’s top graphics cards?
Contents
- Pricing and availability
- Specs
- Performance
- It depends on your budget
Let’s find out. We’ve had the chance to test the RTX 4060 Ti ourselves, and below, we’ll tell you exactly how it stacks up against the RTX 4070.
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Pricing and availability
Jacob Roach / Digital Trends
Nvidia’s RTX 4060 comes in three flavors: an RTX 4060 Ti 8GB, RTX 4060 Ti 16GB, and lastly, the base RTX 4060. However, only the 8GB version of the RTX 4060 Ti is a Founders Edition card; for the other two, Nvidia is said to be relying on its partners and will not be launching its own versions.
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The 8GB RTX 4060 Ti is the one we will be covering. Launched on May 24, the GPU costs $400. Meanwhile, the improved 16GB version is priced at $100 more ($500), and the non-Ti model is $100 less ($300).
The situation with the RTX 4070 is a lot more straightforward. The GPU hit the shelves on April 13 and was priced at $600 from the get-go; that makes it $200 more expensive than the 8GB RTX 4060 Ti.
Specs
RTX 4060 Ti
RTX 4070
Architecture
Ada Lovelace
Ada Lovelace
Process node
TSMC N4
TSMC N4
CUDA cores
4352
5888
Ray tracing cores
32 cores (3rd-gen)
46 (3rd-gen)
Tensor cores
128 cores (4th-gen)
184 (4th-gen)
Boost clock speed
2.54GHz
2.47GHz
VRAM
8 GDDR6
12GB GGDR6X
L2 cache
32MB
36MB
Bus width
128-bit
192-bit
Total Graphics Power (TGP)
160W/165W
200W
Price
$400
$600
The disparities between the RTX 4060 Ti and the RTX 4070 are easy to spot. The lower-tier GPU suffers from a fairly limited amount of VRAM, a narrow memory bus, and a drastic drop in cores compared to the RTX 4070.
On the other hand, it consumes significantly less power while maintaining a higher clock speed. The L2 cache size is boosted compared to the Ampere generation, and both cards are enjoying the benefits of more cache, which is what helps the RTX 4060 Ti maintain a small lead over the RTX 3060 Ti despite having fewer cores.
Performance
Any number of things can be debated on when it comes to a graphics card, ranging from its architecture to the (often questionable, in Nvidia’s case) pricing. However, the best way to compare one GPU to another is to run some good ol’ benchmarks, which is exactly what we’ve done with both the RTX 4060 Ti and the RTX 4070.
Our test suite covers several titles, with ray tracing both on and off, at ultra settings. We’ve put the GPUs to the test in 1080p, 1440p, and 4K, but it’s worth noting that doesn’t mean that’s what they were intended to do. Both of them can be considered 1440p graphics cards, but how well do they handle that resolution? We’ll let the numbers speak for themselves.
First, let’s talk about 1080p. While some might consider these GPUs overkill for 1080p gaming, the truth is that they handle it well even in the most demanding games, such as Cyberpunk 2077. However, there’s a noticeable gap between the two.
RTX 4060 Ti
RTX 4070
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
116.9 fps
142.4 fps
Gears Tactics
148.8 fps
153.7 fps
Forza Horizon 5
141 fps
169.3 fps
Cyberpunk 2077
100.3 fps
128.4 fps
Horizon Zero Dawn
142 fps
187.5 fps
Red Dead Redemption 2
97.5 fps
123.9 fps
Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition
91.1 fps
117.3 fps
Average
109.6 fps
139.7 fps
Across our entire 1080p test suite, the RTX 4060 Ti was able to maintain 109.6 frames per second (fps) on average. Meanwhile, the RTX 4070 pushes ahead with 139.7 fps. That’s right — the RTX 4060 Ti gets obliterated at this resolution, with the 4070 being a whopping 28% faster.
RTX 4060 Ti
RTX 4070
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
87.6 fps
111.5 fps
Gears Tactics
106.5 fps
122.1 fps
Forza Horizon 5
119.8 fps
147.6 fps
Cyberpunk 2077
63.2 fps
82.3 fps
Horizon Zero Dawn
106 fps
145.5 fps
Red Dead Redemption 2
75.5 fps
99 fps
Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition
65.5 fps
85.5 fps
Average
83.4 fps
111.2 fps
The bad news for the RTX 4060 Ti continues as we move on to 1440p. Across seven different games, on ultra settings, with ray tracing disabled, the 4060 Ti averaged 83.4 fps. The RTX 4070 maintains a considerable lead with 111.2 fps on average.
This victory translates to a 33% performance disparity between the two cards, and this is at their intended resolution, although one could argue that the RTX 4060 Ti is more of a 1080p card.
Lastly, there’s 4K resolution. Nvidia never intended for either one of these GPUs to be 4K gaming fiends, but they can be used for that purpose if you’re into older games. Our GPU-heavy test suite put them through the wringer, though, and it’s hard to claim that either came out victorious — although the RTX 4070 maintains its significant lead.
RTX 4060 Ti
RTX 4070
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
50.5 fps
67.1 fps
Gears Tactics
55.5 fps
69.7 fps
Forza Horizon 5
82.5 fps
106.4 fps
Cyberpunk 2077
27.6 fps
42.6 fps
Horizon Zero Dawn
56 fps
78.1 fps
Red Dead Redemption 2
47.7 fps
64.7 fps
Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition
36.5 fps
48.6 fps
Average
51.1 fps
66.7 fps
The RTX 4060 Ti averages 51.1 fps in 4K gaming scenarios on ultra settings. That’s still pretty good, but if you’re aiming to hit the 60 fps sweet spot, you’ll need the RTX 4070 — that GPU maintained a 66.7 fps average throughout our testing. All in all, the RTX 4070 continues to dominate, being around 30.5% faster than the RTX 4060 Ti in 4K gaming.
When it comes to ray tracing, things only get worse for the cheaper card as we’re entering the “unplayable” territory. Keep in mind, however, that we run our tests at ultra settings; if you’re willing to compromise on quality, you’ll find that these cards can support some ray tracing, but let’s face it, they’re miles behind the RTX 4070 Ti — and that GPU already felt pretty weak when compared to the beastly RTX 4090.
We tested the GPUs in Cyberpunk 2077 with ray tracing enabled. At 1080p, the RTX 4060 Ti delivers a decent, but not outstanding 42.3 fps. Meanwhile, the RTX 4070 is still completely playable with 62.4 fps. Moving on to 1440p makes things pretty disastrous for both cards; they hit 24.5 fps and 38.8 fps, respectively. If we only look at the scores for Cyberpunk 2077, the RTX 4070 is 48% faster in ray tracing in 1080p than the RTX 4060 Ti, and 58% faster in 1440p.
Finally, 4K gaming barely warrants a mention here, because using either of these GPUs for simultaneous 4K and ray tracing (and in Cyberpunk 2077, of all titles) is like bringing a spoon to a gunfight.
It depends on your budget
Jacob Roach / Digital Trends
Just a bit over a month after the RTX 4070, the RTX 4060 Ti arrives in a fairly awkward position in the lineup.
Historically, xx60 graphics cards have always been a hit for Nvidia. Affordable enough to satisfy the mainstream market, but also capable enough to offer an enjoyable gaming experience, GPUs along the lines of the GTX 1060 and the RTX 3060 have long topped Steam’s monthly Hardware Survey charts.
Unfortunately, it’s possible that the RTX 4060 Ti will not quite repeat the smashing success of its predecessors. Even when compared to the RTX 4070, it fails to impress, being around 30% slower than the 4070.
On the other hand, the RTX 4060 Ti has one major winning factor — it’s $200 cheaper. In a budget-constrained PC build, the RTX 4060 Ti can make some sense. After all, it still unlocks Nvidia’s entire bag of tricks for the RTX 40-series, such as DLSS 3, and it’s significantly more affordable than any other card in the lineup.
However, the RTX 4070 is a lot faster. It does cost $200 more (which, on paper, gives the RTX 4060 Ti better performance per dollar), but that $200 is well spent. Ultimately, it all comes down to whether you want to shell out an extra $200 on a graphics card or not.
Another thing to consider that’s not in favor of this version of the RTX 4060 Ti is that there’s a better model coming out shortly. With 16GB of memory, double the size of this card, and a price that’s only $100 more, it should bridge the gap between the two cards and make for a more sensible pick. However, we won’t truly know its capabilities until we test it ourselves.
Long-story short — if you’re not bothered about playing AAA titles on ultra settings and you just want a card that will fit your budget, the RTX 4060 Ti is your only option in Nvidia’s current lineup. However, if you want better performance, both the RTX 4070 and the upcoming RTX 4060 Ti 16GB are likely to be superior choices.