MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ti Gaming X Trio 8G, 8GB GDDR6, HDMI, 3x DP

Nachdem gestern der Startschuss für die ersten Tests der GeForce RTX 4060 Ti gefallen ist, können wir uns heute mit dem offiziellen Marktstart auch ein erstes Modell anschauen, welches preislich über der unverbindlichen Preisempfehlung von 439 Euro liegt. Welche Vorteile eine MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ti Gaming X Trio 8G zu bieten hat, ist dabei sicherlich die Frage, denn für einen Aufpreis muss auch etwas geboten werden.

MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ti Gaming X Trio is the company's most premium custom-design graphics card based on NVIDIA's latest mid-range addition to its RTX 40-series product stack. The card offers, above all, a premium design that looks like it's from a segment above. A well-designed cooler shroud holds a trio of the company's latest-generation TorX fans, which ventilate a TriFrozr 3 cooling solution. The cooler has a neatly-executed RGB LED element. The card also features the company's highest factory-overclock with the RTX 4060 Ti. The GeForce RTX 4060 Ti Ada is designed to solidify NVIDIA's footing in the hotly contested mid-range, with a starting price of $400 (unchanged from that of the RTX 3060 Ti). It is based on the company's latest Ada Lovelace graphics architecture, which means you get the performance/Watt benefits of the 5 nm foundry node, and exclusive new features such as DLSS 3, a feature by NVIDIA that leverages the Optical Flow Accelerator and Tensor cores, to generate whole frames in gameplay entirely using AI, without involving the graphics rendering machinery. DLSS 3 gains importance in this segment to enable usage of ray tracing, consistent high FPS, or both.

The Gaming X TRIO edition delivers a modest performance increase of 2-3% over NVIDIA's Founders Edition. Although it may not surpass the Founders Edition in performance by a lot, it shines in its silent operation and aesthetic appeal. The RTX 4060 Ti 8GB demonstrates a performance that meets Full HD and often QHD resolution needs. Its shader engine performance is okay, with the addition of DLSS3 and frame generation features enhancing its overall functionality. NVIDIA continues to dominate in raw Raytracing performance. The 32MB L3 cache of this graphics card proves to be efficient at the specified resolutions. Although cache misses could lead to the usage of a narrower 128-bit wide bus with a restricted 8GB of graphics memory, the card handles such instances effectively. Offering a robust build quality and attractive aesthetics, the RTX 4060 Ti 8GB graphics card delivers a commendable performance. However, its price point of $399 raises concerns as it exceeds the expected cost for mainstream products. With the declining trend in mining, a lower price, ideally below $300, or even $250, would be more appealing. The less expensive 4060 variants are anticipated to fulfil this price range. Nevertheless, the RTX 4060 Ti series continues to serve as a choice for PC gamers, offering adequate performance, particularly for FHD, while taking advantage of DLSS3 and frame generation features. The 8GB is on the shy side, especially if you'd use DLSS frame generation. 12GB on a wider memory bus would have been preferred. This MSI series also allows for moderate overclocking. The Gaming X TRIO excels in its cooling efficiency and superior acoustics, establishing it as a well-designed graphics card. Despite its default performance improvement of 3%, it is still recommended, especially for those prioritising silent operation and an appealing look inside their PC chassis. The card also is very tweakable adding an extra 10% performance seen from reference performance. Considering its price tag, the Founders Edition is the more cost-effective option, as the Trio is expected to bear a price premium of at least $75, which accumulated doesn't make much sense in the mainstream domain. In conclusion, the product's quality isn't disputed. Instead, the issue lies in the overall price range, not justifying a mainstream product's additional $75 premium. But solely looming at this this product as to what it is, it is premium.