NVIDIA’s RTX 4000 GPUs launched with a bang courtesy of the range topping GeForce RTX 4090 and in a perfect world, everyone would own this graphics card. Unfortunately, the graphics card launches that followed were underwhelming, right down to the entry level GeForce RTX 4060, which we have today.
At the core of the GeForce RTX 4060 is the AD107 GPU, the smallest member of the Ada Lovelace family. The RTX 4060 takes advantage of 3rd generation Ray Tracing cores, 4th generation tensor cores and other generational advancements we celebrate. NVIDIA, however, reduced the GPUs’ capabilities in some areas, resulting in lower performance than we expected.
That said, at the right price, the GeForce RTX 4060 makes an interesting case for itself, as shown by the benchmark results below. For 1080p, it provides playable frame rates that are often above 60FPS, provided you enable DLSS where available. CyberPunk 2077, for instance, can deliver above 60FPS at the RT Ultra settings (DLSS2 Quality). What impresses me more is that experimental path tracing is an option if you enable DLSS3 frame generation. It is this frame generation NVIDIA is relying on to sell the RTX 4000 series, and this applies to the RTX 4060 as well.
When DLSS3 frame generation works, it delivers high frame rates with no obvious compromise to image quality. DLSS3, however, isn’t always available and in such instances, falling back to DLSS2 is necessary, which won’t produce the same high frame rates. On the upside, DLSS2 has fewer visual artefacts and often reduced latency. These technologies are necessary for maximizing RTX 4060’s potential.
If DLSS or FSR aren’t available, you rely on the GPU’s raw performance, which, in some rare instances, is lower than what the RTX 3060 12GB provided. These are corner cases, but it can happen, so you will have to adjust your in-game settings to match.
If you have a 1440p or 2160p display, the 8GB graphics memory may limit performance, and I would consider a different graphics card with more memory. It is a situation even an RTX 4060 Ti 8GB cannot remedy, as it has the same amount of graphics memory. You’ll either need to upgrade to the RTX 4060 Ti 16GB or, if your budget allows, the GeForce RTX 4070.
These nuances apply to every RTX 4060 graphics card without exception, so I appreciate MSI keeping things simple. They’ve opted for a basic design and an aggressive price, by MSI standards. Retailing for just under R7,800, the MSI card is comparable to other RTX 4060 cards. That said, NVIDIA’s price for the GPU is higher than it should be. The RTX 4060 needs a price cut, like the rest of the lineup. A $50 discount from MSRP will make it easier to sell and be more on par with the performance that gamers get from this card.
If you want to extract the most performance from this graphics card, consider tuning it using MSI Afterburner. Using the performance sliders in Afterburner, I can increase the memory and core clock speeds by 250MHz and 150MHz, respectively. The average increase in synthetic test results is 5%, which translates to an additional three to four frames per second, depending on the scene. Although the performance boost isn’t huge, it’s still worth it because the power draw and temperature stay the same. They peak at 67C and 115W.
Where the design is concerned, MSI’s card has no frills. The card is basic and meant for machines with minimal or no RGB lighting, so it’s not a big deal that it doesn’t have any.
The Gaming X model is an option for those who want a bit more and have extra money to spend. It features a higher core clock and a board power rating of 121W versus 115W on the Ventus 2X. These are negligible differences for which MSI charges a small premium. Will they make a meaningful difference to the RTX 4060 performance? Probably not, but every bit of performance boost helps.
Personally, I would stick to the Ventus 2X and call it a day. For gaming at full HD with ray tracing and DLSS enabled, the RTX 4060 is more than capable.