RTX 4060 laptop vs desktop equivalent – 2023

We discuss the desktop equivalent to a RTX 4060 laptop in terms of performance, and compare RTX 4060 laptop vs RTX 4060 desktop specs and benchmarking

Aaron Ritchie

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So when comparing RTX 4060 laptop vs desktop GPUs – what is the desktop equivalent to the RTX 4060 laptop? Laptop graphics cards are almost always underpowered relative to their desktop counterparts with the same names, and the general rule of thumb is that you either need to go one SKU higher or one generation later to achieve the same level of performance. This being the case, you’d expect an RTX 3060 or an RTX 4050 desktop GPU (which hasn’t actually released yet) to be comparable.

This turns out to be not too far off the mark, though a laptop RTX 4060 will actually perform better than a desktop RTX 3060 in most cases – landing somewhere between it and an RTX 3060 Ti desktop computer in terms of FPS output in games. Read below for more details, or hop straight to our best RTX 4060 laptop and best RTX 3060 & RTX 3060 Ti gaming PC guides if you’re itching to buy. Additionally read our Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 review for a look at in-game benchmarking on an RTX 4060 laptop.

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RTX 4060 laptop vs RTX 3060 desktop vs RTX 3060 Ti desktop

Looking at the specifications of both graphics cards, the RTX 3060 desktop show that the latter still has the edge when it comes to VRAM, memory bus and CUDA Cores, however the RTX 4060 mobile has substantially faster clock speeds, often a major determinant of performance.

As you can see though, this is not the only factor, as the RTX 3060 Ti desktop graphics card has slower clock speeds than the standard RTX 3060, plus less VRAM, but thanks to its substantially larger number of CUDA cores and larger memory bus, it manages to outperform the latter by 15-35%.

These benchmarks courtesy of Chinese YouTuber 中正评测, shows that the RTX 4060 laptop variant outperforms the RTX 3060 desktop variant (labelled as 3060-12G in the slides below), although bear in mind that the RTX 3060 desktop was tested with an inferior CPU in many cases, which will itself bottleneck performance. Regardless, the performance summary is as follows.

• Red Ded Redemption 2 (QHD): The RTX 4060 mobile performs faster than the RTX 3060 desktop GPU by 12.5%.
• Cyberpunk 2077 (QHD): The RTX 4060 laptop is also faster than the RX 3060 desktop GPU by 10%.  
• Forza Horizon 5 (QHD): The RTX 4060 laptop outshines the GPU of the RTX 3060 desktop by 5%.
• CS:GO (FHD): The GPU of the RTX 4060 laptop is faster than the GPU of the RTX 3060 desktop by 20%.
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider (FHD): The RTX 4060 laptop beats the RTX 3060 desktop by 14%. 
• Assassins Creed Valhalla (FHD): The GPU of the RTX 4060 mobile is faster than the GPU of the RTX 3060 desktop by 20%.

So, we can determine from all of this that an RTX 4060 laptop is actually the superior performer in most titles compared to a desktop equipped with an RTX 3060, by between 5-20%, though the extent of this depends on the game in question and what CPU both come equipped with.

This basically puts the RTX 4060 laptop at somewhere between the RTX 3060 desktop and RTX 3060 Ti desktop graphics cards, without a direct desktop equivalent.

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RTX 4060 laptop vs RTX 4060 desktop

As mentioned above, desktop equivalent GPUs always beat their laptop counterparts by a substantial margin. Without comparing benchmarks directly, we can see from the below specifications that the desktop variant has considerably higher CUDA core count (33% more), plus a higher TGP. Note that the lower-numbered GPU codenames are actually the more powerful, so the AD106 desktop GPU is bigger and has more kick than the AD107 in the laptop variant.

As you’d expect, the RTX 4060 desktop specs put it more on par with an RTX 4070 laptop or higher, but time will tell.

Final Word

We hope this RTX 4060 laptop vs desktop equivalent page has helped you understand where this fabulous laptop GPU ranks, and convinced you to pull the trigger on this fine device. Do have a read of our other gaming laptop guides whilst you’re here.

RTX 4060 laptop vs desktop FAQs