Nvidia RTX 4060 Ti vs. RTX 4060: here’s how they stack up

Nvidia has three new GPUs to flesh out the RTX 40-series lineup: the RTX 4060 Ti 8GB, RTX 4060 Ti 16GB, and RTX 4060. These new graphics cards aim to be more affordable options to some of the powerful and expensive GPUs in Nvidia’s line such as the RTX 4070, RTX 4070 Ti, 4080, and 4090.

We don’t have our own performance data on these cards just yet, but here’s a breakdown of everything we know about them so far.

Specs

We’re concerned primarily with the new cards here, the RTX 4060 Ti and RTX 4060, but it’s helpful to place them in the context of the products they’re replacing. As you can see, these new 40-series cards aren’t a major leap ahead in raw performance. In fact, both the RTX 4060 Ti and RTX 4060 actually have less CUDA cores than their predecessors. The RTX 4060 Ti even features less ray tracing and Tensor cores than the RTX 3060 Ti. They also have a very different configuration in terms of memory subsystems.

That doesn’t mean there isn’t a significant difference between the RTX 4060 Ti and the RTX 4060 though. The RTX 4060 Ti has 29% more CUDA cores than the RTX 4060. That’s even a bigger delta than what existed between the RTX 3060 Ti and the RTX 3060. There’s also a huge difference in total graphics power (TGP), with the RTX 4060 Ti drawing up to 30% more power than the RTX 4060.

What remains similar in both is the memory. You get the option for 8GB or 16GB of VRAM with the RTX 4060 Ti, but both use a very large L2 cache to reduce traffic to the frame buffer. Nvidia claims that we’ll see much better performance over the previous generation thanks to this large cache, despite having a smaller memory bus. Like in other RTX 40-series models, these cards turn up the frequency, with the RTX 4060 Ti cranked up to 2.54GHz boost speeds. The base clock for the RTX 4060 Ti is 21% faster than the RTX 4060.

In terms of comparing the two models of the RTX 4060 Ti, Nvidia assured us that the only difference was VRAM and TGP.

Performance

Until we can test these cards out ourselves, it’s hard to say what exactly the performance delta will be between them. We know, however, that the RTX 3060 and 3060 Ti were very different cards. Despite the similarity in name, the RTX 3060 Ti was a slimmed-down version of the GPU used in the more powerful cards in the lineup, while the RTX 3060 was an entirely different GPU.

The RTX 4060 Ti and RTX 4060 both use the AD106 GPU, but the difference in power, clock speed, and CUDA cores points toward a significant different in performance.

We do have some data provided by Nvidia about how these two cards perform. They’re not exact numbers, but they can be interpolated to get an idea of the frame rates in a series of games.

The slide above shows comparable frame rates for the RTX 4060 in 1080p with Max settings on a variety of games. Nvidia smartly splits the games between ones that support frame generation and those that don’t. All the games shown in the chart hit over 60 frames per second )(fps), with games like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Far Cry 6 getting over 100 fps. Note that despite the drop in CUDA cores between the RTX 4060 and RTX 3060, the newer card still averages 15% to 20% better frame rates, according to Nvidia’s data.

Comparing that to what is seen in Nvidia’s chart for the 8GB RTX 4060 Ti gives a decent idea of the performance delta. In Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, the RTX 4060 Ti hits 120 fps versus 102 fps on the RTX 4060. In Watch Dogs Legion, the RTX 4060 Ti is 15% faster, averaging 78 fps compared to 62 fps on the RTX 4060.

Across the games provided, it appears that without frame generation, we’re looking at an average of around 18%. The biggest difference shown in the provided data was in the Resident Evil Remake and The Last Of Us Part 1, where the RTX 4060 Ti appears to be 23% ahead. The games featured in the chart with frame generation show a similar percentage difference.

These are rough estimates based on the charts that will need to be corroborated with our own testing eventually.

RTX features

The RTX 4060 Ti and RTX 4060 both have access to the same RTX features that have been included in other 40-series cards. Notably, the 4th-gen Tensor cores allow them to use DLSS 3 with frame generation. Frame generation is proving to provide the biggest uplift in the games where it’s been implemented by developers.

It’s hard to compare apples to apples with previous generations, though. The RTX 4060, for example, has less RT cores and Tensor cores than the RTX 3060, but according to Nvidia, the RTX 4060 still produces better ray tracing and DLSS performance. Nvidia claims the larger L2 cache improves RTX performance in particular as well.

Availability and price

The price difference between the RTX 4060 Ti and RTX 4060 is $100; $399 versus $299. This is already a bigger difference in price than there was between the RTX 3060 Ti and RTX 3060. This could be an indication of a bigger performance gap, or could just be Nvidia reversing course on some of its recent pricing philosophy.

Of course, the 16GB version of the RTX 4060 Ti adds another $100, making for a $200 difference between the cards. The only card that will get a first-party Founders Edition is the RTX 4060 Ti 8GB. The others will be made available exclusively through board partners.

Lastly, while the 8GB RTX 4060 Ti comes out on May 24, the 16GB model and the RTX4060 won’t be available until some time in July.

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