It’s looking like the Nvidia RTX 4060 Ti 16GB launch is going to be an underwhelming one, as Nvidia isn’t providing review samples of its upcoming mid-range graphics card nor making a Founders Edition version of the card. What’s more add-in board partners such as Asus and MSI won’t be providing review samples either.
Ordinarily, before the launch of a new graphics card, Nvidia and its partners will work with reviewers like ourselves to provide samples of the cards for testing so that reviews can be posted on the day of release. However, the RTX 4060 Ti 16GB launch is shaping up rather differently.
For this launch, Nvidia isn’t making its own Founder Edition version of the card nor working with reviewers to provide cards made by its partners. Moreover, several board partners have said they’re not sure when their versions of the card will even be available.
As well as this so far being our own experience of the run up to the card’s launch, other reviewers have made the situation public knowledge too. In particular, youtube channel Hardware Unboxed has tweeted about the situation.
This is all in stark contrast to how we expected the launch of the followup to the RTX 4060 Ti 8GB to go. At the RTX 4060 and RTX 4060 Ti announcement, the messaging around a 16GB version of the card suggested it would neatly fill the performance gap between the RTX 4060 Ti 8GB and the RTX 4070, justifying its $100 premium over the 8GB card. However, it’s now looking like Nvidia is aware the card doesn’t offer up enough extra performance to make a fanfare.
It’s perhaps a sensible route for Nvidia, as the card always seemed like it was going to be a slightly awkward option that didn’t offer enough of a general improvement in performance over the 8GB card. However, our own testing showed that RTX 4060 Ti 8GB was meaningfully limited by its 8GB VRAM allocation. In our Doom Eternal ray tracing tests, the 8GB card’s VRAM was filled to the brim and performance was catastrophically affected. Meanwhile, cards with 12GB of VRAM or more ran smoothly.
You can find out more about the Nvidia RTX 4060 Ti 16GB release date, price, and specs here.
What do you make of this RTX 4060 Ti 16GB launch situation? Were you looking forward to a stylish Founders Edition model or hoping for more card options at launch? Let us know your thoughts on the Custom PC Facebook page, via Twitter, or join our Custom PC and Gaming Setup Facebook group and tap into the knowledge of our 390,000+ members.