— The RTX 4060-Ti is based on Nvidia’s Ada Lovelace architecture. It features 4,352 cores with base / boost clocks of 2.3 / 2.5 GHz, 8 GB or 16 GB of memory, a 128-bit memory bus, 34 3rd gen RT cores, 136 4th gen Tensor cores, DLSS 3 (with frame generation), a TDP of 160W and launch prices of $400 USD (8 GB) and $500 USD (16 GB). The 4060-Ti is around 12% faster than the 3060-Ti at the same MSRP and offers similar performance to the 3070 at a 20% lower MSRP. Since the 4060-Ti only has 128-bit memory (vs 256-bit in the 3060-Ti) it is only around (6%) faster than the 3060-Ti at 4K. This will not concern most gamers, who are best off playing at 1080p. The 8 GB variant is easily the better option as games rarely use more than 8 GB at 1080p. First time buyers tempted to consider the RX 7600/6800 by AMD’s army of Advanced Marketing scammers (youtube, reddit, twitter, forums etc.) should be aware that AMD have a history of releasing benchmark busting, heavily marketed, sub standard products. The 4060-Ti is more power efficient (quieter), has a broader feature set (RT/DLSS 3.0) and offers far better game compatibility (drivers). PC gamers looking to join AMD’s “2%” GPU club (Steam stats: 5000/6000/7000 series combined mkt share) need to work on their critical thinking skills: Influencers are paid handsomely to scam users into buying inferior products.
— The RTX 4070-Ti is based on Nvidia’s Ada Lovelace architecture. It features 7,680 cores with base / boost clocks of 2.3 / 2.6 GHz, 12 GB of memory, a 192-bit memory bus, 60 3rd gen RT cores, 240 4th gen Tensor cores, DLSS 3 (with frame generation), a TDP of 285W and an MSRP of $800 USD. The 4070-Ti is around 50% faster than the 3070-Ti and offers similar performance to the 3090-Ti at less than half the price. Since the 4070-Ti only has 12GB-192-bit memory (vs 24GB-384-bit in the 3090-Ti) it is relatively weaker (5-10%) at 4K. Users tempted to consider the 7900 XT/X by AMD’s army of sponsored Advanced Marketers (youtube, reddit, twitter, forums etc.) should be aware that AMD have a history of releasing benchmark busting, heavily marketed, sub standard products. Although the 7900 XTX does outperform the 4070-Ti on paper, the 4070-Ti is more power efficient (quieter), has a broader feature set (RT/DLSS 3.0) and offers far better game compatibility (drivers). PC gamers still looking to join AMD’s “2%” GPU club (Steam stats: 5000/6000 series combined mkt share) need to work on their critical thinking skills: Influencers are paid handsomely to promote inferior products. Most gamers, who are best off playing at 1080p, should wait for the upcoming, better value, 4060 series cards. Shoppers looking for more affordable options in the near term should consider the previous gen 3060-Ti, which offers excellent real-world performance for $400 USD.
— AMD’s new 7900 series GPUs received a lot of pre-launch hype. There were claims of 50-70% performance improvements over the previous flagship. Our benchmarks show that the 7900-XTX leads the 6950-XT by around 30%. AMD overhype their product launches because it is effective at getting first-time buyers to pay over MRSP. After an initial burst in sales, prices often drop rapidly, as with the 6900 XT and the recently launched Zen 4 7950X, which are now both 30% cheaper. AMD’s domination of social media platforms has historically resulted in millions of users purchasing sub standard products, those users will be very hard, if not impossible for AMD to win back. If this trend continues, semiconductors may become a secondary business line for AMD, who appear more focused on developing “Advanced Marketing” relationships with select youtubers and media outlets. Based on the volume of social media/press coverage, you would never guess that the combined market share for all of AMD’s Radeon 5000 and 6000 GPUs amongst PC gamers is just 2.12% (Steam stats). Be wary of sponsored reviews (golden samples+cherry picked games) that showcase the wins and gloss over the losses whilst conveniently ignoring frame drops. Despite steady price cuts, an increasing number of seasoned gamers simply have no interest in buying AMD products. They know from bitter experience that headline average fps are worthless when they are accompanied with stutters, random crashes, excessive noise and a limited feature set. Most gamers, who are better off playing at 1080p, will do well to wait for Nvidia’s upcoming 4060/4070 series cards (est. early 2023). Even brand fans that wish to be in AMD’s “2%” club, will find better deals after the launch hype settles. Shoppers should avoid AMD’s reference design as many users are reporting thermal issues.
— The RTX 4080 is based on Nvidia’s Ada Lovelace architecture. It features 9,728 cores with base / boost clocks of 2.2 / 2.5 GHz, 16 GB of memory, a 256-bit memory bus, 76 3rd gen RT cores, 304 4th gen Tensor cores, DLSS 3 and a TDP of 320W. Performance gains will vary depending on the specific game and resolution. With a 4080 tier card 1080p in-game fps will often get CPU bottlenecked which prevents the GPU from delivering higher fps. At higher (often sub-optimal) resolutions (1440p, 4K etc) the 4080 will show increasing improvements compared to lesser cards. When fps are not CPU bottlenecked at all, such as during GPU benchmarks, the 4080 is around 50% faster than the 3080 and 25% faster than the 3090-Ti, these figures are approximate upper bounds for in-game fps improvements. The 4080 has an MSRP of $1,200 USD. Since PC gamers rarely buy AMD GPUs, Nvidia only have themselves to compete with. AMD continue to burn their credibility with PC gamers. Following a series of over-hyped releases which were heavily promoted on youtube, forums, reddit and twitter, consumers have little interest in the Radeon brand. As time goes on, AMD’s “Advanced Marketing” has a decreasing impact on consumers. Meanwhile, Nvidia remains focused on novel goals such as better graphics (RT/DLSS), frame consistency, game compatibility and driver stability. Consumers looking for better value should wait a few more months for the 4060 / 4070 models by which time AMD's 7900 series will also probably be heavily discounted. Alternatively, shoppers looking to buy in the near term should consider the last gen. 3060-Ti, which offers excellent real-world (1080p) performance at a fraction of the price ($400 USD).
— The RTX 4090 is based on Nvidia’s Ada Lovelace architecture. It features 16,384 cores with base / boost clocks of 2.2 / 2.5 GHz, 24 GB of memory, a 384-bit memory bus, 128 3rd gen RT cores, 512 4th gen Tensor cores, DLSS 3 and a TDP of 450W. Performance gains will vary depending on the specific game and resolution. With a 4090 tier card 1080p in-game fps will often get CPU bottlenecked which prevents the GPU from delivering higher fps. At higher (often sub-optimal) resolutions (1440p, 4K etc) the 4090 will show increasing improvements compared to lesser cards. When fps are not CPU bottlenecked at all, such as during GPU benchmarks, the 4090 is around 75% faster than the 3090 and 60% faster than the 3090-Ti, these figures are approximate upper bounds for in-game fps improvements. The fact that the 4090 is currently the fastest performing graphics card available is reflected in its jaw-dropping MSRP of $1,600. Since PC gamers rarely buy AMD GPUs, Nvidia only have themselves to compete with. Surprisingly, $1,600 is actually reasonable value for money, when compared to previous gen. flagship cards. Prospective buyers will need a top of the line system to extract maximum performance from the 4090 and because of its monstrous dimensions, many will also need a new PC case. Consumers that demand value for money, should wait a few more months for the 4060 / 4070 models by which time AMD's 7900 series will also probably be heavily discounted. Alternatively, shoppers looking to buy in the near term should consider the last gen. 3060-Ti, which offers excellent real-world (1080p) performance at a fraction of the price ($400 USD).