ASUS ROG Strix RTX 4060 OC review – Is the RTX 4060 worth it?
Another addition to the Ada lineup, it struggles for the same reasons the Ti model does, the price
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As the new addition to the Ada Lovelace releases there is another graphics card to consider for your build. However, the recent 4060 Ti launch hasn’t exactly been a success, with many questioning value and generational performance. So can we expect anything different from the lower-tier RTX 4060? Is the RTX 4060 worth it when older models continue to get prices slashed? We benchmark Nvidia’s latest card focusing on performance and value to see if it’s a worthy buy.
The RTX 4060 GPU follows the 4060 Ti 8GB model and arrived much sooner than expected (was penciled in for July along with the Ti 16GB model). Similar to the Ti models, the 4060 hasn’t had the best reception so far but does that mean gamers on older hardware shouldn’t even consider it?
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RTX 4060 specs
One of the biggest surprises of the new card is the specifications and how it cuts back on the last generation. The RTX 4060 surprisingly uses an AD107 class die, which doesn’t even match the AD106 found in the Ti model, which is the same issue that causes the unlaunch of the 4080 12GB model, although not as severe without the same exact name. Which would make it more on par with a 50-model class, not 60.
That is also supported by the die size itself which is that much smaller and cuts back on the cores found in the 3060 even. Even with the new generation features, it’s not as significant of a boost to consider an upgrade for those on 30-series cards. You would expect the 4060 to match the 3060 Ti more likely, but as raw performance shows, it’s not quite there.
VRAM is also a factor on everyone’s minds. As games and textures keep improving, the lower capacities and bandwidths can significantly bottleneck games’ performance when it comes to higher resolutions or more intensive games. And the 40 series cards cut back still on the 30 series cards to match and make them less of a go-to in terms of being able to even scale up or make them as future proof. At least you can save some money on your electricity bill with a lower power rating for the same level of performance, along with a lower price tag, although the 30 series is likely available for cheaper two years on since release.
| RTX 4060 | RTX 4060 Ti | RTX 3060 12GB | RTX 3060 Ti | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GPU | AD107-400 | AD106-350 | GA106-300 | GA104-200 |
| Die process | TSMC 5nm | TSMC 5nm | Samsung 8nm | Samsung 8nm |
| Die size | 146mm² | 190mm² | 276mm² | 392mm² |
| CUDA cores | 3,072 | 4,352 | 3,584 | 4,864 |
| Tensor cores | 96 | 136 | 112 | 152 |
| RT cores | 24 | 34 | 28 | 38 |
| VRAM | 8GB GDDR6 | 8GB GDDR6 | 12GB GDDR6 | 8GB GDDR6 |
| Memory bus & bandwidth | 128-bit 272GB/s | 128-bit 288GB/s | 192-bit 360GB/s | 256-bit 448GB/s |
| TGP | 115W | 160W | 170W | 200W |
| MSRP | $299 | $399 | $329 | $399 |
RTX 4060 performance
Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to test out other cards to compare and possible variance, however, you will be able to find other benchmarks and we’ll use them too. Otherwise, we can also see what the base rasterization performance is like so you can see if it’s a good choice to go for.
We tested these games at the top preset, without any upscaling tech enabled. There is also ray tracing that was tested to see how well it deals with that along with different resolutions. It is aimed at 1080p, but we did see if it can do a bit more than that. As well as 3DMark performance, although with the pre-release 536.20 driver, Port Royal wasn’t accessible and some results might not be accurate to the end, but it’s still a good look into it.
Overall, the card performs well, It is definitely a good 1080p GPU. capable of achieving over 100FPS in most titles in our lineup. These are from the benchmark modes and aren’t going to be a direct performance level but it is good for comparison.
As expected Cyberpunk 2077 is a tougher game, with higher textures and a big world, so at that top level, it falls down to around 77 FPS. That still is a playable framerate, although if you’re after ray tracing, you might have to turn it down from the ultra level unless you end up using DLSS, as that drops it down to just 36 FPS. If we look at other reviewers, like Gamers Nexus, we see that it still falls behind the RX 7600, and most surprisingly the RTX 3060 Ti, where we would honestly expect the generational gap to jump to.
This is the case for most performance cases, trading blows with the AMD alternative and its own predecessor. So from that perspective, it might not make it the best value option. This is especially the case with higher resolutions, even 1440p which is becoming more common. The lower VRAM capabilities even drop its capabilities compared to some of the 30 series options.
ASUS ROG Strix RTX 4060 OC model design
Although the GPU itself might not be what we wished for, the ROG Strix model we tested is still a great model. ASUS brings great quality and performance to this series. Offering up an overclock to give you more performance over the standard factory clock. It is well made and certainly looks the part, with even some RGB sprinkled onto the end.
It offers a metal backplate and a flow-through cut-out for improved cooling of the graphics card. This ensures that the card’s performance stays up there and no throttling will hold back your experience. With a triple fan setup and a large heatsink with four large heat pipes spanning the whole length, cooling will be no issue.
However, it seems rather overkill for what it is. The card only has 115W total graphics power, and the cooling system on the card is over the top for that little rating. Especially as it makes the card nearly three slots thick and wider than necessary. Let alone increasing the price much higher than MSRP, which is set to $299 this card is likely to jump higher than that and likely more to reach 4060 Ti levels, and might make it harder to justify its cost.
Is the RTX 4060 worth it?
Quite simply, not really. You can easily now find the RTX 3060 Ti on Amazon and Newegg for less than $350 and that makes it a much more worthy card to go for instead. The RTX 4060 is only really worth it for the technology it has behind it, with the addition of frame generation to allow for DLSS 3 it does allow for better performance in those limited terms, but raw rasterization is better off with something else. Once again the price is the big drawback of the card, making it too low value compared to its predecessors or even an AMD GPU.
ASUS ROG Strix RTX 4060 OC
