Comparing the 40-series and 30-series XX60 GPU!
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The RTX 4060 has made its way to the market. What does that mean for RTX 4060 vs RTX 3060 though? Well, there is a lot to be said when comparing these two mid-range options. Sitting just below their Ti counterparts, these are both designed with 1080p gaming in mind without dealing a big blow to your bank account.
The RTX 3060 is one of the most popular GPUs out there – the third most used, as Steam’s May 2023 hardware & software survey reveals. With that in mind, it may be a big ask for the RTX 4060 to take over as the better choice for many. We can talk all about it, from the specs to the price and more.
High quality and well designed
Overclocked model provides better performance over factory models
Value of the 4060 worse than previous generations
High model cost over other AIBs not too great for value
Cooling overdesigned and large for the graphics power of the card
Premium new-age design
Very efficient cooling
Axial-tech fan design
Excellent build quality
On the expensive side
Starting with the difference in architecture between these two. As you may have already realized, they are from separate generations of Nvidia RTX graphics cards. They occupy the same mid-range slot but are split between the 30-series and 40-series GPUs. The RTX 4060 has the Ada Lovelace architecture on board, while the RTX 3060 instead uses Ampere.
In terms of the difference between these architectures, we can see some improvements between the jump from 30 to 40 series. Moving up to the RTX 4060, you’ll see better performance with support for DLSS 3 and frame generation included as part of the AI acceleration upgrades from Nvidia’s Tensor Cores. The newer architecture also performs better with ray tracing and is overall more efficient.
| RTX 4060 | RTX 3060 | |
|---|---|---|
| GPU | AD107 | GA106 |
| Architecture | Ada Lovelace | Ampere |
| GPU process | TSMC 5nm | Samsung 8nm |
| CUDA cores | 3072 | 3584 |
| Base clock speed | 1830 MHz | 1320 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | 2460 MHz | 1777 MHz |
| VRAM | 8GB GDDR6 | 12GB / 8GB GDDR6X |
| Memory bandwidth | 272 GB/s | 360 GB/s |
| Memory bus | 128-bit | 192-bit |
| Memory clock | 2125 MHz / 17 Gbps effective | 1875 MHz / 15 Gbps effective |
| TDP | 115W | 170W |
As we can see from the specs, the RTX 4060 offers a boost in performance when looking at the clock speeds at play. However, there is actually a scale back in bandwidth for the 4060. The RTX 3060 launched with 12GB of VRAM, though an 8GB version is also now available too. You’ll notice a smaller memory bus and less bandwidth for the 4060, which definitely will limit its usefulness at higher resolutions.
The 4060 has fewer CUDA cores, but this doesn’t strictly mean it will perform worse. One of the key details here is the power consumption. The RTX 4060 will be better for budget 1080p builds which want to consume less power and generate as little heat as possible with its low 115W TDP.
The RTX 3060 has been out since back in early 2021, so we know all about its performance. It’s proven to be a fantastic choice for gamers on a budget. As for the RTX 4060, benchmarks are now live – though Nvidia did already showcase some of its own internal benchmarks officially. Even though the RTX 4060 has more modest specs in some regards, the GPU (importantly) has DLSS 3 on board as part of the improved Ada Lovelace architecture.
When it comes to the raw performance though, the GPUs perform pretty similarly, much like we saw with the RTX 4060 Ti vs 3060 Ti. Based on a 15 game average from TechSpot, the RTX 4060 averages 91 FPS at 1080p vs the 3060’s 79 FPS – with 61 FPS and 56 FPS respectively at 1440p. We can see that the lower amount of bandwidth on 40-series GPU shrinks the gap at a higher resolution. However, remember that the 4060 is much more power-efficient with its lower TDP.
With DLSS enabled, Nvidia show that we can enjoy more than 2x the performance in titles such as Microsoft Flight Simulator and Portal with RTX (with ray tracing enabled for the latter). These kinds of performance gaps are no doubt thanks to the jump to DLSS 3 and more capable ray tracing on the new 40-series architecture. Even though the RTX 4060 only has 2 more RT cores to bring it to 30. For reference, we can see the RTX 3060 achieving around 80 FPS in Portal with RTX with DLSS Ultra Performance according to this benchmark.
Prices for graphics cards can fluctuate quite a bit. We definitely saw this with the 30-series, but the market has had some time to settle now. Before, and even after the release of 40 series cards, we could see the prices sky-high with a lot left to be desired. Now that more choice is hitting the market, prices are getting more sensible. We’re going to look at the MSRP first.
As you can see, the RTX 4060 arrives with a much-needed price reduction. However, as we saw with the recent RTX 4060 Ti release, the previous-generation counterpart was reduced in price in some cases to give us more to think about. The RTX 3060 also benefits from the second-hand market if you’re really looking to save cash.
Deciding on a winner may be tough for some, especially depending on where you’re upgrading from. Overall though, we’ll have to say that the RTX 4060 comes out on top – as it should. We can’t recommend anyone already with a 30-series card to move up to the RTX 4060, but it could be a great option if you’re finally looking to move away from much older hardware.
Despite the performance being pretty similar at the base level, the RTX 4060 will overtake the 3060, largely thanks to its architectural upgrades. The cards are designed for 1080p first and foremost, so we’re primarily basing our verdict on this. They can work out at 1440p if needs must though, depending on the game and DLSS support, and the additional VRAM on the RTX 3060 can actually help it out here.
Always remember that you can also check out the similar competition from AMD, such as the recent RX 7600 or RX 6600 XT / RX 6650 XT.
Core clock speed
1,830MHz base,
CUDA cores
3,072
Memory size
8GB GDDR6
Dimensions
163.0 x 117.6 x 39.5 mm / 6.4 x 4.6 x 1.6 inches
PSU required
500W
TBP
115W
Boost clock
1807 MHz
Memory size
12GB GDDR6
Output
DisplayPort x 3 (v1.4a), HDMI x 1
We’ll see better performance from the RTX 4060 over the RTX 3060. As you would expect. Many of these improvements are going to be from the upgraded architecture to support DLSS 3 and more.
However, the RTX 4060 is dropping down to 8GB from its predecessor’s 12GB VRAM.
Both of these GPUs are aimed at the 1080p resolution. They can also be used at 1440p, albeit with less performance.
When it comes to 4K though, these GPUs aren’t ideal. Improving upscaling and DLSS 3 with frame generation on the RTX 4060 may help out, but its lower memory will hinder its 4K performance.
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