The mid-range graphics card market is a hotly contested space, and two contenders frequently compared are the Nvidia RTX 4060 Ti and the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT. Both GPUs aim for that sweet spot of price and performance around the $400 mark, making them attractive options for gamers looking for an upgrade without breaking the bank. The RTX 4060 Ti, built on Nvidia’s Ada Lovelace architecture, was released in 2023 in both 8GB and 16GB variants. AMD’s RX 7700 XT, launched in late 2023, is AMD’s answer in this segment, featuring the RDNA 3 architecture and a 12GB memory configuration.
While neither the RTX 4060 Ti nor the RX 7700 XT are the flagship models from their respective manufacturers, they represent crucial offerings in the current GPU landscape. The RTX 4060 Ti, while carrying the name of its predecessor, notably reduced its memory bus width. On the other hand, the Radeon RX 7700 XT maintains the 192-bit memory interface seen in the popular RX 6700 XT. With both cards positioned in the critical $400 price range – now considered lower mid-range due to the shrinking budget GPU market – a detailed comparison is essential to determine the best choice.
This article delves into a comprehensive comparison, evaluating performance, price, features, technology, software, and power efficiency to determine which of these graphics cards emerges as the superior option in the mid-range category, particularly focusing on where the Radeon RX 7700 XT comparable to its Nvidia counterpart.
RTX 4060 Ti vs RX 7700 XT: Performance Benchmarks
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
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In terms of overall gaming performance, the RTX 4060 Ti and RX 7700 XT are closely matched. At 1080p resolution, both cards, including the 16GB variant of the 4060 Ti, exhibit virtually identical performance averages across a suite of 19 games. However, as the resolution increases to 1440p and especially 4K, a performance gap begins to widen in favor of the RX 7700 XT.
Specifically, at 1080p Ultra settings, the RX 7700 XT shows a marginal lead of about 2% over the RTX 4060 Ti. This lead expands significantly at 1440p, where the RX 7700 XT outperforms the 4060 Ti by approximately 7-9%. At demanding 4K Ultra settings, the RX 7700 XT extends its lead further, surpassing the RTX 4060 Ti Founders Edition by around 12.5%.
When focusing purely on rasterization performance, the RX 7700 XT demonstrates a more substantial advantage. In rasterization-heavy games, the RX 7700 XT is 10-12% faster at 1080p, increasing to a 19-20% lead at 1440p, and an impressive 21-25% faster at 4K compared to the RTX 4060 Ti.
Conversely, in games that heavily utilize ray tracing, the RTX 4060 Ti tends to outperform the RX 7700 XT, as is typical for Nvidia cards. However, the performance difference is less pronounced than in higher-end comparisons like the RTX 4070 versus RX 7900 GRE. At 1080p, the RTX 4060 Ti is about 10% faster in ray tracing scenarios. This advantage diminishes at higher resolutions, with the 4060 Ti being only marginally ahead at 4K.
Examining raw performance figures, both GPUs are capable of achieving over 60fps at 1440p in rasterization titles. However, ray tracing performance at 1440p drops to the low to mid 40s, and 4K ray tracing is generally unplayable without upscaling technologies like DLSS or FSR. Upscaling can alter the performance landscape, and DLSS generally offers superior image quality compared to FSR. The broader adoption of DLSS in games, with nearly 400 released games supporting DLSS 2 or later compared to around 177 for FSR 2 or later, gives Nvidia a notable edge in this area.
Interestingly, the performance difference between the 8GB and 16GB RTX 4060 Ti models is minimal in most scenarios. While the 16GB version shows slight gains in a few VRAM-intensive games at 4K, the overall performance uplift is not substantial enough to justify the price difference for most gamers.
Ray tracing performance on both cards is generally underwhelming, as expected for mid-range GPUs. Achieving playable frame rates with ray tracing often necessitates aggressive upscaling, which many users in this price bracket might find visually compromising for the often subtle visual enhancements ray tracing provides at this level.
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Beyond gaming, benchmarks in Blender, SPECviewperf, and Stable Diffusion reveal further performance differences. In Stable Diffusion, Nvidia cards exhibit a clear advantage, with the RTX 4060 Ti 8GB being significantly faster than the RX 7700 XT. Blender workloads also strongly favor Nvidia, with the RTX 4060 Ti outperforming the RX 7700 XT by a considerable margin. Conversely, SPECviewperf 2020 is a notable exception, where the RX 7700 XT substantially outperforms the RTX 4060 Ti, although the relevance of this benchmark for typical consumers is debatable.
Overall Performance Winner: AMD RX 7700 XT
Despite being closely matched, the RX 7700 XT emerges as the overall performance winner, primarily due to its superior gaming performance, especially in rasterized titles. While the RTX 4060 Ti offers competitive ray tracing performance and advantages in AI and 3D rendering, the RX 7700 XT’s rasterization lead and comparable ray tracing capabilities for most games make it the better choice for gamers focused on traditional gaming performance at this price point.
RTX 4060 Ti vs RX 7700 XT: Price Analysis
Price is a critical factor in the mid-range GPU market, and the RTX 4060 Ti and RX 7700 XT are very closely priced, especially when comparing the 8GB RTX 4060 Ti to the RX 7700 XT. At the time of this comparison, the most affordable RX 7700 XT models are slightly more expensive than the cheapest 8GB RTX 4060 Ti, but these prices fluctuate.
Looking at broader market averages, the RTX 4060 Ti 8GB typically averages around $404, while the RTX 4060 Ti 16GB is significantly pricier, averaging around $475. The AMD RX 7700 XT falls closer to the 8GB 4060 Ti in price, with an average of approximately $419.
It’s important to note that venturing into higher-priced models of either card approaches the price range of more powerful GPUs like the RTX 4070 or RX 7900 GRE, making those higher-end options more attractive for consumers willing to spend more.
Price Winner: Tie / AMD RX 7700 XT
Considering the minimal price difference between the 8GB RTX 4060 Ti and the RX 7700 XT, it’s essentially a tie in terms of pure price. However, when factoring in the performance advantage of the RX 7700 XT, particularly in rasterization, the RX 7700 XT offers better value for money. Compared to the considerably more expensive RTX 4060 Ti 16GB, the RX 7700 XT is the clear price-performance winner. Current market prices should always be checked, as these can change.
RTX 4060 Ti vs RX 7700 XT: Features, Technology, and Software Comparison
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| Graphics Card | RTX 4060 Ti 8GB | RTX 4060 Ti 16GB | RX 7700 XT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Architecture | AD106 | AD106 | Navi 32 |
| Process Technology | TSMC 4N | TSMC 4N | TSMC N5 + N6 |
| Transistors (Billion) | 22.9 | 22.9 | 28.1 + 3x 2.05 |
| Die size (mm^2) | 187.8 | 187.8 | 200 + 113 |
| SMs / CUs | 34 | 34 | 54 |
| GPU Cores (Shaders) | 4352 | 4352 | 3456 |
| Tensor Cores / AI Cores | 136 | 136 | 108 |
| Ray Tracing “Cores” | 34 | 34 | 54 |
| Boost Clock (MHz) | 2535 | 2535 | 2544 |
| VRAM Speed (Gbps) | 18 | 18 | 18 |
| VRAM (GB) | 8 | 16 | 12 |
| VRAM Bus Width | 128 | 128 | 192 |
| L2 / Infinity Cache | 32 | 32 | 48 |
| ROPs | 48 | 48 | 96 |
| TMUs | 136 | 136 | 216 |
| TFLOPS FP32 (Boost) | 22.1 | 22.1 | 35.2 |
| TFLOPS FP16 (FP8) | 177 (353) | 177 (353) | 70.4 |
| Bandwidth (GB/s) | 288 | 288 | 432 |
| TBP/TGP (watts) | 160 | 160 | 245 |
| Launch Date | May 2023 | Jul 2023 | Sep 2023 |
| Launch Price | $399 | $499 | $449 |
| Current Price | $384 | $449 | $389 |
A hardware specification comparison reveals distinct design philosophies between the RTX 4060 Ti and RX 7700 XT. The RX 7700 XT boasts a superior memory subsystem with a 192-bit interface and 12GB of VRAM, offering significantly higher bandwidth compared to the RTX 4060 Ti’s 128-bit interface. Nvidia’s decision to reduce the memory bus width on the 4060 Ti is a notable compromise, even though a larger L2 cache partially mitigates the bandwidth limitations. The 12GB VRAM and wider bus of the RX 7700 XT provide a more balanced memory configuration for modern gaming demands.
While Nvidia compensates with effective memory compression, the RX 7700 XT’s raw bandwidth and larger VRAM capacity generally prove advantageous, especially at higher resolutions and in VRAM-intensive games. The RX 7700 XT also holds a clear advantage in FP32 compute performance and features more than double the ROPs (Render Output Units) of the RTX 4060 Ti, contributing to its rasterization performance lead.
Nvidia counters with superior ray tracing and tensor core performance. Nvidia’s RTX architecture has consistently excelled in ray tracing efficiency, enabling more robust ray tracing implementations in games. While AMD has incorporated AI accelerators into their RDNA 3 architecture, Nvidia’s dedicated tensor cores with sparsity optimizations provide a significant lead in AI-related tasks and applications, including DLSS. Nvidia’s tensor core performance advantage translates to superior performance in AI-accelerated workloads.
Nvidia’s Optical Flow Accelerator further enhances features like DLSS 3 Frame Generation, although frame generation technologies in general introduce latency and visual artifacts. While AMD offers AFMF (AMD Fluid Motion Frames), Nvidia’s DLSS Frame Generation is often considered more refined.
Nvidia 500 RTX and DLSS games and applications showcasing their technology leadership
(Image credit: Nvidia)
Nvidia also leads in bringing new graphics technologies to market, including ray tracing and DLSS. Their tensor cores have expanded beyond gaming into a wide array of AI-powered applications, including tools like RTX Broadcast and ChatRTX. Nvidia’s advancements in AI in the server space have translated into a rich ecosystem of AI-accelerated features for gaming and content creation.
AMD provides competitive alternatives, such as FSR upscaling and FreeSync adaptive sync, and emphasizes open-source and cross-GPU compatibility. However, Nvidia’s technologies are generally more mature, widely adopted by game developers, and often deliver a more polished user experience.
While driver stability is often debated, both AMD and Nvidia provide generally reliable drivers. AMD’s Radeon control panel is often praised for its unified interface, while Nvidia is transitioning to a unified Nvidia App to replace its separate Control Panel and GeForce Experience applications.
Features, Technology, and Software Winner: Nvidia
Nvidia wins in this category due to its more advanced hardware features and a more mature and comprehensive software ecosystem. While AMD offers advantages in memory configuration and open-source initiatives, Nvidia’s leading technologies like ray tracing, DLSS, and AI acceleration, along with broader game developer support, give them the edge.
RTX 4060 Ti vs RX 7700 XT: Power Efficiency Evaluation
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(Image credit: Future)
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(Image credit: Future)
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(Image credit: Future)
Nvidia’s Ada Lovelace architecture demonstrates superior power efficiency compared to AMD’s RDNA 3 in this GPU generation. The RTX 4060 Ti consumes significantly less power than the RX 7700 XT. The RTX 4060 Ti 8GB averages around 140W, with the 16GB version slightly higher at 145-150W. In contrast, the RX 7700 XT averages around 230W.
The RTX 4060 Ti 16GB consumes marginally more power than the 8GB variant, especially at higher resolutions, potentially due to increased memory ICs and PCB complexity. Detailed power measurements show the RTX 4060 Ti Founders Edition consistently consuming less power than the RX 7700 XT across various resolutions and settings. In some scenarios, the RX 7700 XT consumes 50-70% more power than the RTX 4060 Ti.
Nvidia’s power efficiency advantage stems from both architectural efficiency improvements in their Ada Lovelace GPUs and the more advanced TSMC 4N process node used in their manufacturing. While AMD has made efficiency gains with RDNA architectures, Nvidia maintains a lead in power efficiency in this generation. AMD’s chiplet-based design, while potentially cost-effective, may slightly hinder power efficiency compared to Nvidia’s monolithic GPU design.
Power Efficiency Winner: Nvidia
Nvidia is the clear winner in power efficiency. While power consumption might not be the primary concern for all gamers, lower power consumption translates to less heat generation, potentially quieter operation, and reduced energy costs. The RTX 4060 Ti’s significant power efficiency advantage is a notable benefit.
RTX 4060 Ti vs. RX 7700 XT Final Verdict
Considering all categories, the comparison between the RTX 4060 Ti and RX 7700 XT is closely contested. While each GPU has its strengths, the overall recommendation leans towards the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT for most gamers.
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| Category | RTX 4060 Ti 8GB | RX 7700 XT | RTX 4060 Ti 16GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Performance | ✗✗ | ✗ | |
| Price | ✗ | ✗ | |
| Features, Technology, Software | ✗ | ✗ | |
| Power and Efficiency | ✗ | ✗ | |
| Total Score | 3 | 3 | 3 |
The RX 7700 XT’s superior rasterization performance and competitive ray tracing capabilities, combined with a similar price point to the RTX 4060 Ti 8GB, make it the preferred choice for gaming. The RTX 4060 Ti 16GB offers advantages in ray tracing, DLSS, and AI workloads, but its higher price and only marginally better performance compared to the RX 7700 XT make it less compelling for general gaming.
The RTX 4060 Ti excels in power efficiency and Nvidia’s feature set, but these are secondary to raw gaming performance for many users. The RX 7700 XT’s 12GB of VRAM and wider memory bus are also more future-proof, especially as games become increasingly demanding. While an 8GB card might suffice for current games at 1080p and 1440p, the 12GB of the RX 7700 XT offers more headroom for future titles and higher resolutions. The 16GB RTX 4060 Ti addresses the VRAM concern, but its price places it in a more competitive segment where the RX 7800 XT becomes a more attractive alternative.
Judges Decision: AMD RX 7700 XT
For a $400 mid-range graphics card in today’s market, the AMD RX 7700 XT is the recommended choice. Its stronger rasterization performance, adequate ray tracing, and 12GB VRAM offer a better overall gaming experience and should hold up better over time compared to the 8GB RTX 4060 Ti. While the RTX 4060 Ti is not a bad card, the RX 7700 XT provides a more compelling package for gamers prioritizing performance in this price bracket.
Do you agree with this verdict? Share your thoughts in the comments below. While the RTX 4060 Ti 16GB has improved its standing over time due to its larger memory capacity benefiting newer game releases, its price point and the availability of the RX 7800 XT at a similar or slightly higher price make the RX 7700 XT a more sensible mid-range purchase.
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