RTX 4060 laptop vs 3060 laptop performance, price & specs

We compare the specs, price, and performance of RTX 4060 laptop vs 3060 laptop graphics cards

Aaron Ritchie

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In an RTX 4060 laptop vs 3060 laptop comparison, what exactly are the differences and which should you buy? We line them up next to each other in a battle of new gen vs old, and discuss their relative specs, performance, and price.

Now the RTX 4060 laptop has been out for a while there is a wealth of independent benchmark data to gauge its performance from, including our own Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 review that we’d encourage you to read; and the verdict is that it’s a great laptop GPU all-round, but the uplift isn’t too impressive over the previous gen if you’re only looking at the raw performance and not including frame generation/DLSS performance. Although it varies by game you can expect a difference of around 15% with DLSS/FSR disabled, though this will increase when it is enabled. That being said, this is still decent because RTX 3060 laptops were generally pretty good mid-range performers already, and ultimately it depends on what price you can pick up an RTX 4060 laptop for.

Below we’ve listed the top 3 picks from our best RTX 4060 laptop guide for your to have a look at.

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RTX 4060 laptop vs RTX 3060 laptop specifications

The RTX 4060 laptop specs vs RTX 3060 laptop specs can be seen below. Read further down for an explanation of what these features mean.

Architecture

The new Nvidia 40-series GPU chips are based on the 4nm process of TSMC (known as Ada Lovelace), whereas the 30-series are built upon the 8nm Samsung process (known as Ampere). The smaller process size of the newer chips mean that more transistors can be put onto the same amount of space, or the same amount on a smaller sized chip. It also means for greater power efficiency, which we will discuss more below.

GPU & CUDA Cores

Nvidia’s GPU-naming convention means larger GPUs have a smaller number, so the AD107 GPU of the RTX 4060 laptop graphics card is smaller than that of the AD106 in the RTX 4070 laptop graphics card. The prefix AD is the shortened version of Ada Lovelace.

Consequently the GA103-300 in the RTX 3060 laptop is higher up in the hierarchy, even though it is based on an older technology. As a consequence it has more CUDA Cores on the GPU chip than the newer RTX 4060 laptop does, but this doesn’t necessarily mean it will perform better (indeed it doesn’t in this case).

Clock speed & TGP

Clock speed is one of the key determinants when looking at performance. As you can see, both the base clock (the lower number in the range) and the boost clock (the higher number) are greater on the newer card than that of the RTX 3060 laptop GPU.

TGP (Total Graphics Power) is the usual determinant of how hard laptop one graphics card is compared to another with the same name i.e. not all laptop graphics cards are created equal, and the amount of power (measured in Watts) a particular RTX 4060 laptop GPU can suck up might be different from that of another RTX 4060 laptop GPU in a different machine – meaning more performance at the potential expense of worse battery life.

However, across different cards based on different architecture, like the two compared here, it doesn’t mean that the 170W RTX 3060 laptop outcompetes the 115W RTX 4060 laptop, it does however mean it will be more energy efficient, hopefully leading to longer battery life for RTX 4060 machines.

VRAM, Memory Bus & Memory Bandwidth

VRAM aka video random access memory is essentially the short term memory of the graphics card that acts as a frame buffer and as pixel storage. The memory bus and bandwidth enables the transfer of this information. More VRAM and a larger memory bus/bandwidth enables a smoother experience with better framerate and latency. It’s especially useful for larger resolutions as they have higher pixel counts to fill up many gigabytes. Although the memory bus on the newer RTX 4060 has decreased, the VRAM has increased.

RTX 4060 laptop vs RTX 3060 laptop performance

Below we can see comparative performance graphs from a Chinese leaker, which have since proven accurate by independent testing of these devices from trusted reviewers (ourselves included). Although the list is written in Mandarin, we’ve ordered them starting with QHD Red Dead Redemption 2, then QHD Cyberpunk 2077(DLSS/FSR switched on), QHD Forza Horizon 5, FHD CS: GO, FHD Shadow Of The Tomb Raider, FHD Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and finally 3DMark Time Spy Scores.  

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The comparison clearly shows that the RTX 4060 laptop is better than both the laptop and desktop versions of the RTX 3060, which is especially impressive because the desktop version of the RTX 3060 (which can be identified by the 12G) is a killer device performance-wise.   

Let’s take a look at some specific performance takeaways from the comparison graph.

• Red Ded Redemption 2 (QHD): Performs faster than the RTX 3060 desktop GPU by 12.5 percent. Note: The laptop variant is yet to be tested.
• Cyberpunk 2077 (QHD): The GPU of RTX 4060 transcends the RTX 3060 laptop GPU performance by 25 percent..  
• Forza Horizon 5 (QHD): The GPU of the RTX 4060 laptop outshines the GPU of the RTX 3060 laptop by a whopping 65 percent..
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider (FHD): The GPU of the RTX 4060 laptop outshines the GPU of the RTX 3060 laptop by 36 percent.. 
• Assassins Creed Valhalla (FHD): The GPU of the RTX 4060 laptop outshines the GPU of the RTX 3060 laptop by 60 percent.
• CS:GO (FHD): The GPU of the RTX 4060 laptop outshines the GPU of the RTX 3060 laptop by 75 percent.
• 3Dmark (artificial benchmark): The GPU of the RTX 4060 laptop outshines the GPU of the RTX 3060 laptop by 23 percent.

RTX 4060 laptop price vs 3060 laptop price

We’ve seen RTX 4060 laptop prices listed so far anywhere between $1,099 all the way up to $2,699.

You’re unlikely to find an RTX 3060 laptop for much cheaper than $1,000, so at the cheaper end of the spectrum the RTX 4060 models seem to offer very good value, given their substantial outperformance of the older card.

Of course these cheaper RTX 4060s aren’t likely to be the most high-TGP/powered of the bunch, but besides the models at the highest end of the price range, we’d say the RTX 4060 laptop GPU offers good value overall – with good performance for a fair price.

Final Word

We hope that this RTX 4060 laptop vs RTX 3060 laptop page has given you all the info you need to know. Do take a look at our various other gaming laptop guides whilst you’re here.

RTX 4060 laptop vs RTX 3060 laptop FAQs