Final Thoughts
Looking back only a few years, I think a card like the RTX 4060 Ti would meet expectations for a xx60 Ti card – which is to say that it effectively matches the performance of the previous-gen xx70 card, and adds current-gen features. But we live in the post-RTX 30 Series era now.
While many actual gamers were left empty-handed during the dark times (f*** Ethereum, anyway), the RTX 30 Series was a BIG upgrade over the RTX 20 Series, and list pricing was very good for the performance level.
My favorite card last generation was the RTX 3060 Ti, and for its elusive MSRP of $399 it was the card I would have bought with my own money. Think about this: it was faster than the $699 (and up) RTX 2080, cruising past heavyweights such as GeForce GTX 1080 Ti and Radeon RX 5700 XT. And this begs the question, was the RTX 3060 Ti too good? It certainly set expectations for the next generation of GeForce cards very high.
Seeing only modest raw performance gains over the previous generation xx60 Ti card here isn’t very exciting, but there are architectural improvements with the RTX 4060 Ti that stretch the lead to more impressive levels. I didn’t cover things like content creation, where this generation offers a better experience.
This card wants you to use DLSS 3 + FG, and if you get it, use this. Regardless of what you’ve watched (or possibly even read) about DLSS 3 and Frame Generation, the tech does greatly increase the framerates and perceived smoothness of games, and in games that support the DLSS 3 + FG combination the RTX 4060 Ti crosses into enthusiast 2560×1440 territory – at least based on the FPS numbers I was seeing.
Now, about that VRAM thing. 8GB is certainly a useful amount, but there have been multiple (and heavily-documented) examples of recent titles that want as much as they can get. I would love it if this card had 16GB, and while I could pontificate about public companies maintaining margins on products amidst rising component costs, the fact is that gamers don’t care about how well company X is doing. They all just want cheap GPUs with lots of VRAM, as far as I can tell.
The fact that a 16GB version of the RTX 4060 Ti will be made available is definitely a good move, but it isn’t coming until July. I would have loved to see it launch alongside this card, but the additional $100 for the 16GB RTX 4060 Ti does push it into a different market segment. We will have to wait and see if AMD answers with something compelling, and creates some pricing pressure. I think we’d all love to see a price break on components for this increasingly expensive hobby.
