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Our new test PC uses an Nvidia PCAT v2 device, and we've switched from the Powenetics hardware and software we've previously used to PCAT, as it gives us far more data without the need to run separate tests. PCAT with FrameView allows us to capture power, temperature, and clocks from our full gaming suite. The charts are the geometric mean across all 15 games, though we'll also have full tables showing the individual results — some games are more taxing than others, as you'd expect.
If you're wondering: No, PCAT does not favor Nvidia GPUs in any measurable way. We checked power with our previous setup for the same workload and compared that with the PCAT, and any differences were well within the margin of error (less than 1%).
We have separate charts for 1080p ultra, 1080p medium, 1440p ultra, and 4K ultra. Besides the power testing, we also check noise levels using an SPL meter. This is done at a distance of 10cm in order to minimize noise pollution from other sources (like the CPU cooler).
Starting with power consumption, the RTX 4060 Ti 16GB and 8GB models both have a 160W TGP (Total Graphics Power) rating. However, on average, the 16GB card tends to consume about 10W more power — 9W at 1080p, 7W at 1440p, and 11W at 4K if you want to be specific. While it still fell under the 160W mark in aggregate, being closer to that limit likely restricts the amount of boost clock headroom and would explain the frequent 1–3 percent drop in performance we measured in our various tests.
Using slightly more power than the 8GB card is expected behavior, and the overall standings in terms of efficiency clearly favor Nvidia's RTX 40-series over the competition. The RX 6800 XT might have a similar retail price now, while delivering superior performance (outside of a few ray tracing games), but it also consumes 130W more power on average. That could potentially sway your purchasing decision, as the added power also means you need a bigger PSU.
The cost of the added power use in electrical bills can also add up. If you play games a lot, like 40 hours a week, that 130W difference equates to 270 kWh. Some people pay around $0.10 per kWh, so $27 per year. Other areas may pay as much as $0.30 per kWh, and in Europe, people could pay $0.50 per kWh. $135 extra in power per year could justify stepping up to an RTX 4070 instead of an RX 6800 XT, as an example. But at the lower end of the scale, and if you only average 20 hours per week, it's not critical: $13.50 per year at $0.10 per kWh.
As you can see in the tables further down the page, power use while gaming on the RTX 4060 Ti 16GB ranged from just under 120W (1080p in Spider-Man: Miles Morales) to a high of just under 170W (A Plague Tale: Requiem). The overclocking results are also interesting, in that we saw an average performance improvement of around 9%, while power use only increased by about 5%.
In terms of efficiency (FPS/W), the 4060 Ti 16GB looks pretty good, but the 8GB card does better as it was typically slightly faster while using less power. AMD's previous generation GPUs are, as expected, far behind in the efficiency metric.
GPU clock speed comparisons aren't a major concern, unless you're comparing the same architecture and even the same core GPU. Here, the Nvidia RTX 4060 Ti Founders Edition averaged about 65 MHz higher clocks than the Gigabyte RTX 4060 Ti 16GB Gaming OC across our testing suite. That's in spite of the fact that the official boost clock of the Gigabyte card is 2595 MHz, while the Founders Edition has a 2535 MHz official spec.
There's variation among the individual games, but nothing too significant. The lowest average clock we saw across any of the tested settings and games was 2644 MHz (4K in Cyberpunk 2077), while the highest clock was 2745 MHz (Forza Horizon 5 at 1080p Extreme settings). This does imply that Gigabyte has implemented a hard limit at stock settings that are lower than the limit of the Founders Edition card.
Overclocking, as you might expect, helps a lot. The Gigabyte card didn't ever break the 3.0 GHz barrier, but it came close, averaging 2,957 MHz at 1080p and 1440p ultra settings.
With triple fans and a 160W TGP, temperatures are also generally good. Of course, we still need to factor in noise levels, but at stock, we saw average temperatures of around 60C, with the highest result being 63.3C (Borderlands 3 at 1440p Badass settings). Our overclocking temperatures were lower, as we used a more aggressive fan speed curve.
While the Gigabyte card's temperatures are good, it's worth pointing out yet again that the Nvidia RTX 4060 Ti Founders Edition did slightly better. It's only a 1–2 degrees Celsius delta, but let's check the noise levels before drawing any final conclusions about the cooling performance...
Gigabyte's RTX 4060 Ti 16GB Gaming OC does decently well in our noise testing. It's not the quietest card around, and the 4060 Ti Founders Edition still beats it by 1.5 dB(A), but considering there are three fans all on the same side of the card, compared to two fans on opposite sides with the Founders Edition, the results are good.
Good, but not exceptional. The AMD RX 6800 XT reference card has lower noise levels thanks to its thicker cooler. Nvidia's 40-series Founders Edition cards, along with the Sapphire RX 6700 10GB, also have lower noise footprints. Considering the 6700 10GB also uses about 30W more power, that means Gigabyte's competitor is able to do better with two fans and more heat than Gigabyte can do with three fans. But it's still sufficient for most people.
For reference, we run Metro Exodus Enhanced for our noise testing, as it's one of the more power hungry games, and let it sit for at least 15 minutes before checking noise levels. We place the SPL (sound pressure level) meter 10cm from the card, with the mic aimed at the center of the middle fan (or the back fan if there are only two). This helps minimize the impact of other noise sources, like the fans on the CPU cooler. The noise floor of our test environment and equipment is around 31–32 dB(A).
We also test with a static fan speed of 75%, and the Gigabyte RTX 4060 Ti 16GB generated 54.4 dB(A) of noise. That means there's plenty of headroom for additional cooling, should you want to engage in some manual overclocking.
Here's the full rundown of all of our test results, including performance per watt and performance per dollar columns. The prices are based on the best retail price we could find for a new card — which can change rapidly on now-discontinued parts like the RTX 30-series. (This doesn't include used cards on eBay, incidentally.)
You'll be absolutely shocked to discover that, based on our testing and among the twelve candidate cards used for this review, the RTX 4060 Ti 16GB delivers the worst value of all the GPUs. Makes you wonder why Nvidia and its partners didn't want to seed reviewers and influencers with the part, right? The best value of these cards is the RTX 4060, with the discounted RTX 3060 Ti right behind it. Costlier GPUs normally deliver worse values, but in this case, even the RTX 4070 beats the 4060 Ti 16GB.
But talking about value while only looking at FPS/$ from the GPU doesn't really tell the whole picture. You have to factor in what resolution and settings you use, power requirements, the cost of the rest of your PC, the games you play, and any extra features as well. Still, even at 4K, doubling the VRAM for an extra $100 represents a questionable choice.
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