Can the RTX 4060 take on the RTX 3070?
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The 40-series mid range is here, so let’s check out the RTX 4060 vs RTX 3070 before you figure out where to buy the RTX 4060. We’re comparing two different generations of Nvidia GeForce RTX cards here, so we want to see if the jump up to the 40-series makes enough difference to warrant the 4060 over the 3070.
For reference, the RTX 3070 has been a massively popular GPU ever since its release, even more so as time has gone by and the graphics card has become more affordable. On the other hand, the RTX 4060 is much newer, and offers a great mid-range option with all the benefits that the upgrade to the 40-series involves.
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
Excellent aesthetic design
Great cooling solution
High boost clock speed
On the higher end of the price spectrum
We’re going to start off with the differences in architecture between the RTX 4060 and RTX 3070. As both of these are Nvidia GPUs, you may not expect a massive difference here. However, since moving from the 30-series to the 40-series, that means a shift in architecture that brings meaningful upgrades. The RTX 4060 is based on the newer Ada Lovelace architecture, while the RTX 3070 is on Ampere.
When moving up to Ada Lovelace, we can see some sizeable improvements to the DLSS technology, now that it’s moved up to DLSS 3. This means the RTX 4060 enjoys better frame generation technology to boost frames more than ever before. It now also uses 4th generation Tensor Cores, this has both an effect on DLSS improvements and boosts raytracing performance beside the third-gen RT cores. Nvidia are pushing these key changes by making use of advancements in AI computing.
| RTX 4060 | RTX 3070 | |
|---|---|---|
| GPU | AD107 | GA104 |
| Architecture | Ada Lovelace | Ampere |
| GPU process | TSMC 5nm | Samsung 8nm |
| CUDA cores | 3072 | 5888 |
| Base clock speed | 1830 MHz | 1550 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | 2460 MHz | 1725 MHz |
| Memory (VRAM) | 8GB GDDR6 | 8GB GDDR6 |
| Memory bandwidth | 272 GB/s | 448 GB/s |
| Memory bus | 128-bit | 256-bit |
| Memory clock | 2125 MHz / 17 Gbps effective | 1750 MHz / 14 Gps effective |
| TDP | 115W | 220W |
Taking a look at the specs, there are some interesting comparisons to be made. Although the newer RTX 4060 boasts better clock speeds, the RTX 3070 does actually include many more CUDA cores and superior memory stats. The large difference in both bus width and bandwidth means that the 3070 is more suited for gaming at higher resolutions than the RTX 4060. Though they both have 8GB of memory, so the difference may not be the biggest.
There’s no secret that the RTX 4060 is making use of newer hardware, such as the TSMC 5nm GPU process, but we can see that some important specs are scaled back. However, this scaling back is reflected in the lower TDP of the card, with almost half of the RTX 3070 to make it much more power efficient. Overall, the RTX 3070 should hold out as the more powerful card overall.
Next up is our performance comparison, perhaps the main factor you want to know about when deciding on a GPU. When Nvidia announced the RTX 4060, they dropped a ton of performance benchmarks, mostly focusing on the performance increases thanks to the improved DLSS and RT on board. However, this was pitting it against the previous XX60 cards from the RTX line up. It shows the that 4060 massively benefits from this new tech, even without much improvement in the hardware itself for higher performance.
The RTX 3070 is close the better Ti version of the 4060, often with similar or slightly higher (5-10) average FPS in games such as Cyberpunk 2077, Hogwarts Legacy, and Forza Horizon at both 1080p and 1440p. This is without making use of the DLSS frame generation. Since the RTX 4060 sees around 20% less performance than the Ti variant, as explained by Dexerto, it will obviously perform worse than the RTX 3070. Other available benchmarks (like TechSpot) show that the RTX 4060 averages around 20 FPS less than the 3070 in both 1080p and 1440p.
With those benchmarks in mind, you can see that the RTX 3070 will definitely outperform the RTX 4060 at native resolutions. However, the RTX 4060 can catch back up once you make use of its DLSS 3 advancements, though this can reduce the quality of the graphics and incur input lag. The newer 40-series card will have better ray tracing performance though, all with much lower power consumption.
Price is an important factor to consider between RTX 4060 vs RTX 3070. The 4060 is a newer GPU, while the RTX 3070 has much more time to fluctuate in price since its release back in October 2020. Let’s see the MSRP for both of them first.
Although you see a stark difference there, you can actually find the RTX 3070 for under $340 in some cases these days. Likewise, the card may be prone to going on sale if the RTX 4060 takes more attention away from it. With that and the second-hand market also an option, the RTX 3070 price can actually be more appealing under certain circumstances and better value for money. GPU prices can vary massively between manufacturers, but we’ve seen the RTX 4060 be similarly priced to the RTX 3070 in some cases, meaning the 30-series card will provide better price to performance value.
Overall, it’s actually a tough choice between these two. We’d have to say that it depends on what you’re currently working with. If you already have a 30-series GPU, then we see no reason to upgrade to the RTX 4060, as we saw in our RTX 4060 vs RTX 3060 comparison – it’s just not worth it based on the performance.
If you’re still on something like the 10 or 16-series or AMD equivalent, we would recommend the RTX 4060 if you’re looking for a great mid-range GPU which can play at 1080p sufficiently while consuming much less power than the rest of the current competition. This makes it a fantastic card for a budget build which doesn’t have the means to keep something like the RTX 3070 as cool as you’d like.
Overall, the RTX 3070 is a winner on performance, but the RTX 4060 claws it back with better architecture and much better efficiency to make it a close call for PC gamers. If at the same price, we we recommended the RTX 3070 for better performance in 1440p and the RTX 4060 if you want as little power consumption as possible.
Core clock speed
1,830MHz base, 2535MHz boost
CUDA cores
3,072
Memory size
8GB GDDR6
Dimensions
227.2 x 123.24 x 49.6mm (2.5-slot)
PSU required
550W
TBP
115W
Clock Speed
1815MHz Boost Clock (OC)
VRAM
8GB GDDR6
Thermal Design
EVGA iCX3 Cooling
Power Input
2 x 8-pin
Size
300mm x 136mm x 60mm
The RTX 3070 will have better performance than the RTX 4060, especially at native resolutions and without DLSS or RT enabled.
However, the low power consumption of the RTX 4060 and DLSS 3 frame generation will help it catch back up and be a suitable choice, especially at 1080p.
In all honesty, it’s not worth upgrading from your 30-series card to the RTX 4060, as the performance increases just aren’t worth it. It will be better to hold on to your RTX 3070 right now if this is the case.
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