The popular tech brand MSI Insider Weekly conducted a live benchmarking event testing the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 16 GB graphics card, revealing surprising results. Contrary to expectations, the 16 GB model showed slightly lower performance than the RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB variant, in multiple games tested. This may start to explain why NVIDIA and its board partners showed reluctance in providing samples of the RTX 4060 Ti 16 GB for reviews.
Detailed Performance Comparisons
The performance gap between the 16 GB and 8 GB models was found to be within a meager 0.5%, with the 16 GB model slightly lagging behind in several popular titles. The games included Cyberpunk 2077, F1 2023, and Rainbow 6: Siege, with all being tested at Ultra (or equivalent) settings.
| Game / Benchmark | RTX 4060 Ti 16GB Performance | RTX 4060 Ti 8GB Performance |
|---|---|---|
| Cyberpunk 2077 (Ultra Settings) | Slightly Lower Avg 91,4(76,7/107) | Higher Avg 90,56(77,1/105,29) |
| F1 2023 (Ultra Settings) | Slightly Lower Avg:103(86/126) | Higher Avg:101(80/120) |
| Rainbow 6: Siege (Ultra Settings) | Slightly Lower Avg: 387(296/517) | Higher Avg: 383(291/522) |
| Fortnite (Ultra Settings) | Same 100~110 | Same ~100 |
| Hogwarts Legacy (Ultra Settings) | Same 95~100 | Same 95~100 |
| CS:GO (Ultra Settings) | Higher 419 | Slightly Lower 445 |
This table represents the relative performance between the two models based on the live benchmarking event conducted by MSI Insider Weekly. The terms ‘higher’, ‘same’, and ‘lower’ indicate how each model performed relative to the other in specific game tests. Actual framerate or performance numbers may vary.
Performance between the two models was virtually identical in Fortnite and Hogwarts Legacy, with the 16 GB model managing to edge ahead only in CS: GO.
Possible Reasons Behind the Performance Gap
Despite the larger memory size, the RTX 4060 Ti 16 GB boasts identical specifications—core configuration, clock speeds, and power limits—to its 8 GB counterpart. The reason behind the slight underperformance of the 16 GB model could be that the denser memory might be causing slightly higher latency or a negligibly increased power draw. However, this is purely speculation at this point.
It’s notable that the RTX 4060 Ti still has 225 W power at its disposal. Based on the benchmarking results, NVIDIA seems to have demonstrated that the increased memory doesn’t contribute significantly to the performance of the RTX 4060 Ti.
Implications for Pricing and Upgrades
The revealing results now place the ball in the court of the board partners, who are set to sell these 16 GB cards at a considerably 25% higher price than the 8 GB models.
In light of these findings, it could have been a strategic move for NVIDIA to further optimize the 16 GB variant. One suggestion could have been enabling all 18 TPCs on the AD106 silicon, as opposed to the 17 that the RTX 4060 Ti currently utilizes. Additionally, if the AD106 chip supports GDDR6X memory, increasing the memory speed to 21 Gbps could have potentially provided a significant performance boost.
The revealing benchmarking event indicates that consumers will have to carefully evaluate the cost-to-performance ratio when considering the higher-priced 16 GB model. With no significant performance improvement offered by the additional memory, the justification for the increased price tag may be hard to find.
