The RTX 4060 aims to be the modern workhorse GPU, delivering smooth 1080p gaming at an affordable price. Historically, this category has been a cornerstone of PC building, promising 60fps without breaking the bank. Does the RTX 4060 live up to this legacy? While offering generational improvements and leveraging DLSS 3 and ray tracing, its competitive performance is middling, making it a difficult recommendation amidst a strong field of last-gen and current competitors.
Image: 8-pin power connector on the RTX 4060. (Jacob Roach / MaagX)
Spec Showdown: RTX 4060 vs. RTX 3060
The RTX 4060 represents a significant shift from its predecessor. Built on Nvidia’s Ada Lovelace architecture, it features fewer cores, reduced memory, and a smaller memory bus compared to the RTX 3060. Here’s a detailed comparison:
| Feature | RTX 4060 | RTX 3060 |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Ada Lovelace | Ampere |
| Process Node | TSMC N4 | Samsung 8nm |
| CUDA Cores | 3,072 | 3,584 |
| Ray Tracing Cores | 24 | 28 |
| Tensor Cores | 96 | 112 |
| Boost Clock | 2,460MHz | 1,777MHz |
| VRAM | 8GB GDDR6 | 12GB GDDR6 |
| L2 Cache | 24MB | 3MB |
| Memory Bandwidth | 272 GB/s (453 GB/s effective) | 360 GB/s |
| Bus Width | 128-bit | 192-bit |
| TGP | 115 watts | 170 watts |
| MSRP | $300 | $330 |
Nvidia emphasizes the RTX 4060’s significantly larger L2 cache, boosting effective memory bandwidth similar to AMD’s Infinity Cache. However, the 8GB VRAM and narrow memory bus can be limiting in modern games. While the reduced power consumption highlights Ada Lovelace’s efficiency and the lower price is welcome, the overall spec sheet raises concerns about potential performance bottlenecks.
Image: Two RTX 4060 GPUs. (Jacob Roach / MaagX)
1080p Gaming Performance: A Mixed Bag
At its $300 price point, the RTX 4060 targets 1080p gaming. While it delivers a roughly 19% performance uplift over the RTX 3060, aligning with Nvidia’s claims, it falls short of the RTX 3060 Ti. This average includes ray tracing benchmarks, which skew the results in the RTX 4060’s favor. Competitors like the RX 6700 XT offer significantly better rasterized performance for a slight price premium.
Image: 1080p gaming performance benchmark results for the RTX 4060. (Jacob Roach / MaagX)
In titles like Cyberpunk 2077, the RTX 4060 lags behind even the RX 7600 and barely edges out the more affordable Arc A750. DLSS 3 with Frame Generation can boost performance, but the gains at 1080p are less substantial than at higher resolutions. Conversely, in Forza Horizon 5, the RTX 4060 demonstrates strong performance, exceeding the RTX 3060 Ti but trailing the RX 6700 XT. DLSS 3 improvements in this title are less pronounced compared to super resolution techniques.
Image: Cyberpunk 2077 benchmark results for the RTX 4060. (Jacob Roach / MaagX)
Image: Forza Horizon 5 benchmark results for the RTX 4060. (Jacob Roach / MaagX)
In many games, such as Returnal, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, the RTX 4060 performs near the RTX 3060 Ti. This positioning creates a dilemma. The RTX 3060 Ti and RX 6700 XT offer superior performance for a marginally higher cost, while the RX 7600 trails closely behind for considerably less.
Image: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla benchmark results for the RTX 4060 at 1080p.
Image: Horizon Zero Dawn benchmark results for the RTX 4060 at 1080p.
Image: Returnal benchmark results for the RTX 4060 at 1080p.
Performance in Resident Evil 4 and Red Dead Redemption 2 is notably weaker, trailing even less expensive options like the Arc A750 and RX 7600. While ray tracing and DLSS 3 can improve performance, the question remains whether these features alone justify the RTX 4060’s position in the market, especially given the competitive landscape.
Image: Red Dead Redemption 2 benchmark results for the RTX 4060 at 1080p.
Image: Resident Evil 4 benchmark results for the RTX 4060 at 1080p.
Image: The Last of Us Part I benchmark results for the RTX 4060 at 1080p.
The remaining content of the article related to 1440p gaming, ray tracing, DLSS 3, and the conclusion will be added in a following response due to character limits.
