Gameplay Performance 4K
Ok, we are NOT expecting the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti to be playable at 4K, that’s not the reason for this page of testing. This page of testing at 4K is just to see if there is any difference between the MSI RTX 4060 Ti 16GB and GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB when the resolution is at 4K. The one issue we think will occur is that we will become engine performance limited first, not allowing the VRAM capacity difference to manifest itself at all at 4K. In other words, we are expecting the RTX 4060 Ti to be so bottlenecked in performance, that we won’t see any difference with more VRAM at 4K anyway, this is more of an experimental test just because, rather than anything considering the VRAM difference.
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 at 4K, the game is not playable of course without high levels of DLSS upscaling, we do see the MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ti GAMING X SLIM WHITE 16G edge out the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB by a mere 1FPS or 5%.
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 4K we do not see a difference between the video cards, and performance is not playable without high levels of DLSS upscaling.
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, surprisingly somewhat playable on the MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ti GAMING X SLIM WHITE 16G at 4K and with maximum Ultra High settings, which is pretty neat to see. It’s not the best experience, but turn on DLSS upscaling at Quality mode and performance is above 60FPS at 4K and very smooth! The MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ti GAMING X SLIM WHITE 16G is 2% faster than the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB.
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 trying to play at 4K is not playable, at just 30FPS, but if you turn on DLSS upscaling aggressively, it can be. The performance is the same between the MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ti GAMING X SLIM WHITE 16G and the 8GB RTX 4060 Ti.
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 game isn’t playable at 40FPS, but with DLSS upscaling in Quality mode, it is. We see the same performance here between the video cards.
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.
Now this is what we are looking for, even though the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti is bottlenecked in this game graphically, this game uses so much VRAM that it even makes a difference at 4K. The MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ti GAMING X SLIM WHITE 16G is 46% faster than the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB. This game, above all others here, shows the advantage greater VRAM can make when a game demands more VRAM. The game is still unplayable at 4K, but if you enable a high-performance level of DLSS upscaling, the game is very playable on the MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ti GAMING X SLIM WHITE 16G at 4K where it is not on the 8GB RTX 4060 Ti.
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 performance isn’t actually that bad at 4K! The MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ti GAMING X SLIM WHITE 16G is somewhat playable, and with Quality DLSS it is very playable and smooth. The MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ti GAMING X SLIM WHITE 16G ends up being 4% faster than the 8GB RTX 4060 Ti here at 4K showing a slight improvement.
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, not surprisingly the game is not playable at 4K, though with aggressive DLSS upscaling, it can be. We see about the same performance between both video cards in this game at 4K.