Skip to main content

Nvidia’s peace offering isn’t working

Nvidia’s RTX 4060 Ti 16GB is here, but you wouldn’t know it if you didn’t follow GPU news closely. It seems that the GPU might just be so far behind some of the best graphics cards that Nvidia isn’t advertising it too much. As a result, early benchmarks are scarce.

MSI has released some benchmarks of its own, comparing the 8GB and the 16GB versions of the RTX 4060 Ti. It turns out that the new GPU might actually be slower. Is this why Nvidia didn’t even make its own version of this card?

Two MSI RTX 4060 Ti 16GB GPUs over a black background.
MSI

The RTX 4060 Ti 16GB is a weird one. Typically, when a new GPU hits the market, reviewers are sent test units so that the reviews can go up ahead of the actual release. Nvidia also usually (but not always) makes its own Founders Edition GPUs to launch alongside those made by its board partners. This time, Nvidia hasn’t provided the media with any test units, and it didn’t prepare a Founders Edition GPU for this model.

Recommended Videos

It appears that its poor performance might be to blame for all of this, although everything is quite hush-hush. Fortunately, MSI released a few gaming comparisons in its weekly podcast. The episode has since been set to private, but TechPowerUp caught it before it disappeared, so we can see how the two cards stack up.

MSI’s testing hasn’t been very thorough, so it could be that the benchmarks will turn out a little better. However, what we know right now is that the 16GB RTX 4060 Ti hits slightly lower frames per second (fps) in Cyberpunk 2077, F1 2023, Rainbow 6: Siege, and Fortnite than the 8GB version. It provided around the same fps in Hogwarts Legacy, which is a bit of a letdown, since the game is rather constrained by the low amount of VRAM on the 8GB version. The 16GB RTX 4060 Ti scored one win, leading in CS:GO with 445 fps, whereas its predecessor maxed out at 419 fps.

MSI's benchmarks of the RTX 4060 Ti 16GB.
MSI / VideoCardz

Of course, the RTX 4060 Ti was never going to be a killer GPU. It sports the exact same specs as the 8GB version, with the added VRAM being the only difference. Unfortunately, 16GB over a 128-bit bus is still not the miracle cure that some may have hoped for with this version, and the fact that both cards share almost the exact same TGP really doesn’t help.

Even if it will perform well in certain titles, it’s still an extra $100 that’s hard to justify if the GPU is about the same (or worse) across the board. You might as well just buy the RTX 4070, which has 12GB memory but much better specs overall. It feels like Nvidia’s strange pricing strategy is still alive and well, and buying a GPU in this generation continues to be a guessing game, as more money really doesn’t translate to better performance anymore.

This GPU initially seemed like a bit of a peace offering from Nvidia. It defended its questionable choice to release the 4060 Ti with 8GB VRAM, but it also planned to launch this GPU shortly after for those who need the extra memory. Unfortunately, this GPU just might prove that simply stacking more VRAM doesn’t help — the rest of the card’s architecture needs to be adjusted to match for there to be any effect.

Monica J. White
Monica is a computing writer at Digital Trends, focusing on PC hardware. Since joining the team in 2021, Monica has written…
Nvidia RTX 50 series owners can unlock free GDDR7 memory speed boost
Screenshots of MSI Afterburner over a colorful background.

Popular graphics card monitoring and overclocking tool, MSI Afterburner, has received a beta update enabling owners of Nvidia’s RTX 50-series GPUs to boost their GDDR7 memory speeds by up to 10%. This enhancement allows data transfer rates to reach up to 36 gigatransfers per second (GT/s), surpassing Nvidia's standard specifications.

The RTX 50-series graphics cards are equipped with GDDR7 memory modules rated between 28GT/s and 32GT/s. However, Nvidia often sets default data transfer rates slightly lower, at 28GT/s for most models and 30GT/s for the RTX 5080, to ensure stability and longevity. The new update to MSI Afterburner unlocks the potential to exceed these factory settings, offering enthusiasts the opportunity to maximize their hardware's performance.

Read more
Nvidia’s RTX 5060 might bring the VRAM upgrade gamers need
Two RTX 4060 graphics cards stacked on top of each other.

Nvidia is soon set to expand the list of its best graphics cards, and the first price leaks are already here. Although the company is still yet to announce the RTX 5060 Ti and the RTX 5060, someone spotted those cards listed for sale at a Chinese retailer. Their prices are staggering, but there's one spec update that I really hope turns out to be true.

Before we dive in, obligatory disclaimer: All of the following is just a rumor right now. Someone sent an anonymous tip to VideoCardz with a screenshot from said retailer, but we haven't been able to verify this ourselves, so keep that in mind.

Read more
Nvidia’s RTX 5060 Ti might give AMD an unexpected edge
Logo on the RTX 4060 Ti graphics card.

Although still yet to be announced, Nvidia's RTX 5060 Ti is coming -- and according to leakers, it's coming soon. The card is said to be launching in two different models, much like the RTX 4060 Ti. However, the RTX 40-series equivalent really struggled to find its place among the best graphics cards.

I've been keeping tabs on various leaks related to the RTX 5060 Ti, and although there are some good news, it does seem that Nvidia is essentially creating an updated carbon copy of the RTX 4060 Ti. If there's one party that will benefit from such a decision, it's AMD with its competing graphics cards. For gamers, the RTX 5060 Ti might end up being a GPU that sounds great on paper but comes with its own challenges.
The RTX 5060 Ti will have a lot in common with its predecessor

Read more