Gameplay Performance 1440p
Our graphs and comparison methods have been updated. In the graphs below, note that we are showing both “rasterized” and “ray tracing” performance on the graphs, for each card. RT in the graphs stands for Ray Tracing. The bar above the RT bar is standard rasterized performance. All of this is without upscaling. We will show DLSS upscaling performance later, separately. We are comparing directly against an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB Founders Edition. Now it is time to really push the RTX 4060 Ti at 1440p and see if it’s playable.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora was released in December of 2023 and is based on an updated Snowdrop engine. This engine supports real-time ray tracing, and Avatar Frontiers of Pandora is unique in that it supports hardware ray tracing turned on by default, with no options to disable it. If a video card doesn’t support ray tracing, it falls back to a software ray tracing mode. With ray tracing baked in, all the results shown reflect the use of ray-traced global illumination, ray-traced reflections, and ray-traced shadows, these are always on. We utilize the graphics quality preset option of “Ultra.” We use the built-in benchmark.
In Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora we are pushing the game up at a higher resolution now, at 1440p with “Ultra” settings, and well the game isn’t really playable on the MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ti GAMING X SLIM WHITE 16G without DLSS upscaling. The 8GB RTX 4060 Ti is just a couple of FPS faster here, but again we do have different power targets and clock speeds that slightly affect framerate when VRAM isn’t the factor. Overclocking the MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ti GAMING X SLIM WHITE 16G improves performance by 10%, which is pretty big, but doesn’t make it playable still, we do need DLSS upscaling for this game at 1440p.
Alan Wake 2
Alan Wake 2 was launched on the PC in October of 2023 and is based on the Northlight Engine. The game supports detailed graphics and ray tracing with path tracing support. This game defaults to DLSS or FSR but does allow Native AA resolution settings with DLSS or FSR respectively. We utilize the graphics presets to set High quality, as well as the Ray Tracing presets to set Low or High quality. We use a manual run-through in the Initiation 5: Room 665 chapter.
Pushing Alan Wake 2 up to 1440p has definitely stressed the RTX 4060 Ti more, but what’s interesting here is that at 1440p the MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ti GAMING X SLIM WHITE 16G is 7% faster than the 8GB RTX 4060 Ti. Again, the only difference is VRAM, so we can directly see VRAM capacity greater than 8GB providing a smoother experience on the MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ti GAMING X SLIM WHITE 16G. The game is of course not playable with RT at this resolution, we need DLSS upscaling for that. Overclocking improves performance by 4%.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage
Assassin’s Creed Mirage was released in October of 2023 and is based on the Ubisoft Anvil game engine. We are using the “Ultra High” graphics quality preset, and all adaptive framerate measures are disabled. We use the built-in benchmark.
Assassins’s Creed Mirage is actually very playable on the MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ti GAMING X SLIM WHITE 16G at 1440p without needing DLSS upscaling. We are hitting 87FPS, and the game feels super smooth, it’s 1FPS higher than the 8GB RTX 4060 Ti. Overclocking the MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ti GAMING X SLIM WHITE 16G improves performance by 9%.
Starfield
Starfield was released on the PC in September of 2023 and is based on the Creation Engine 2. We are using the highest Ultra settings in the game for all testing, and upscaling is disabled for standard testing, with no dynamic resolution. We use a manual run-through in the New Atlantis area encompassing all areas.
In Starfield this game can be demanding, and at 49FPS the MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ti GAMING X SLIM WHITE 16G is really on the border of being playable smoothly. We can utilize DLSS upscaling, which will help make this game smooth at 1440p. The 8GB RTX 4060 Ti is on the same level of performance. Overclocking improves performance by 6%.
Returnal
Returnal was launched on the PC in February of 2023 and is based on Unreal Engine 4. The game supports real-time ray tracing effects, particle systems, and volumetric rendering. We utilize the graphics preset to set EPIC graphics settings with unlocked framerate, and everything is enabled except ray tracing, we have screen-space reflections on. We use the built-in benchmark.
In Returnal the MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ti GAMING X SLIM WHITE 16G is actually very playable in this game at 1440p at 75FPS. This is another game where the VRAM difference is making a difference, the MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ti GAMING X SLIM WHITE 16G is 4% faster than the 8GB RTX 4060 Ti. We also noticed that the game was using less system RAM with the MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ti GAMING X SLIM WHITE 16G than it was with the 8GB RTX 4060 Ti, meaning less of the game was overflowing to RAM.
Forspoken
Forspoken was released on January 24th, 2023, on the PC and uses the Luminous Engine. The game supports all upscaling methods and Ray Tracing. We are going to customize the settings and enable the highest graphics settings, including Ultra High Texture Memory. We use the built-in benchmark.
On the previous page, we found out that Forspoken really shows the advantages of more VRAM, and that is only exemplified at 1440p. At 1440p the MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ti GAMING X SLIM WHITE 16G is playable at the highest game settings, and gameplay is smooth, whereas the 8GB RTX 4060 Ti is not playable. This is a moment that 16GB of VRAM is actually making the game playable on one video card, but not the other, with the only difference being VRAM.
The MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ti GAMING X SLIM WHITE 16G is 35% faster than the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB video card. With RT, the MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ti GAMING X SLIM WHITE 16G is 32% faster than the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB video card. Overclocking improves performance by 8%.
Chernobylite Enhanced Edition
Chernobylite, based on Unreal Engine 4, was released on the PC in 2021, but the Enhanced Edition update for the game was released in April 2022. The Enhanced Edition provides a visual overhaul of the game with better textures, plus introduces tessellation and ray tracing features. It features raytraced reflections, raytraced translucency, raytraced caustics, and raytraced dynamic diffuse global illumination. It supports upscaling, and we use the highest quality. We use the built-in benchmark.
In Chernobylite Enhanced Edition the MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ti GAMING X SLIM WHITE 16G is very playable at 1440p at 100FPS, you don’t need DLSS upscaling to enjoy this game at 1440p here. However, once we enable RT, you will need DLSS upscaling. We see the 8GB RTX 4060 Ti on the same level of performance. Overclocking the MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ti GAMING X SLIM WHITE 16G improves performance by 6%.
Cyberpunk 2077
Cyberpunk 2077 was released in December 2020 and uses the REDengine 4. We have the game patched to version 2.0 and utilize the built-in benchmark. We test using the Graphics Preset option to set graphics settings to “Ultra”. We utilize the highest quality upscaling.
In Cyberpunk 2077, surprisingly the MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ti GAMING X SLIM WHITE 16G is actually playable at 1440p and “Ultra” quality settings at nearly 60FPS. It’s actually faster than the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB as well by 4% as well. Naturally, with RT it isn’t playable, and you’ll need high levels of DLSS upscaling to make it playable with RT. Overclocking improves performance by 3%.