AMD Radeon 840M vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Max-Q Comparison

FAQ

Q: What are the architectural generations of the AMD Radeon 840M and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Max-Q?

A: The AMD Radeon 840M uses the RDNA 3.5 architecture and is part of the Navi III IGP generation for Strix Point Mobile. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Max-Q uses the Ada Lovelace architecture and belongs to the GeForce 40 Mobile generation.

Q: How do the two GPUs differ in process node and transistor count?

A: The AMD Radeon 840M is built on a 4 nm process at TSMC, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Max-Q uses a 5 nm process, also at TSMC. The NVIDIA chip contains 18,900 million transistors on a 159 mm² die, while the AMD Radeon 840M has an unknown transistor count and die size.

Q: What are the thermal design power (TDP) ratings for each GPU?

A: The AMD Radeon 840M has a TDP of 15 W. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Max-Q has a TDP of 35 W.

Q: How do the memory configurations compare?

A: The AMD Radeon 840M uses system shared memory, with system-dependent bandwidth. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Max-Q has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

Q: What are the peak clock speeds for each GPU?

A: The AMD Radeon 840M has a base clock of 400 MHz and a boost clock of 2900 MHz. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Max-Q has a base clock of 1140 MHz and a boost clock of 1470 MHz.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units and ray tracing cores?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Max-Q has 3072 shading units and 24 ray tracing cores. The AMD Radeon 840M has 256 shading units and 4 ray tracing cores.

Architecture Differences

The AMD Radeon 840M and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Max-Q represent two fundamentally different design philosophies within the mobile GPU space. The AMD part is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) built on the RDNA 3.5 architecture, manufactured on a 4 nm process at TSMC. It belongs to the Navi III IGP generation for Strix Point Mobile, succeeding the Navi II IGP. The NVIDIA part is a discrete-class mobile GPU using the Ada Lovelace architecture, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC, and is part of the GeForce 40 Mobile generation with the AD107 chip.

The compute resource disparity is substantial. The AMD Radeon 840M contains 256 shading units, 16 texture mapping units, and 8 raster operation pipelines. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Max-Q contains 3072 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 raster operation pipelines. This represents a 12x difference in shading units, a 6x difference in texture units, and a 6x difference in ROPs.

Ray tracing and tensor capabilities also differ sharply. The AMD Radeon 840M has 4 ray tracing cores and no tensor cores listed. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Max-Q has 24 ray tracing cores and 96 tensor cores, reflecting NVIDIA's dedicated hardware for both ray tracing and AI-accelerated workloads.

The NVIDIA GPU carries a much larger transistor budget: 18,900 million transistors on a 159 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 118.9M per mm². The AMD Radeon 840M's transistor count and die size are listed as unknown, though its 4 nm process node suggests a denser manufacturing technology.

Both GPUs share the same API support: DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. Both also use a PCIe 4.0 x8 bus interface and have no power connectors, with display outputs described as portable device dependent.

The clock behavior differs notably. The AMD Radeon 840M has a base clock of 400 MHz and a boost clock of 2900 MHz, giving it a very wide boost range. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Max-Q has a base clock of 1140 MHz and a boost clock of 1470 MHz, a much narrower range and lower peak frequency.

Memory architecture is fundamentally different. The AMD Radeon 840M relies on system shared memory with system-dependent bandwidth, meaning performance scales with the host platform's memory configuration. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Max-Q has dedicated 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth at 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective).

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows that the two GPUs occupy the same percentile position among all GPUs: both sit at the 50th percentile. However, the absolute compute metrics reveal a massive performance gap in favor of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Max-Q.

In raw floating-point throughput, the NVIDIA GPU delivers 9.032 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, while the AMD Radeon 840M delivers 1,484.8 GFLOPS. Converting the AMD figure to TFLOPS yields approximately 1.48 TFLOPS. The NVIDIA part is roughly 6.1 times faster in FP32 compute. The FP16 figures are identical to FP32 for both parts, with a 1:1 ratio listed for each.

Texture and pixel throughput follow the same pattern. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Max-Q achieves 141.1 GTexel/s of texture fill rate, compared to 46.40 GTexel/s for the AMD Radeon 840M. This is a 3.0x advantage. Pixel rate is 70.56 GPixel/s for NVIDIA versus 23.20 GPixel/s for AMD, a 3.0x advantage.

The clock speed comparison is interesting: the AMD Radeon 840M has a significantly higher boost clock of 2900 MHz versus 1470 MHz for the NVIDIA part. Despite this 1.97x clock advantage, the AMD GPU cannot overcome the NVIDIA part's much larger execution resource pool. The NVIDIA GPU has 12x more shading units, which more than compensates for its lower boost clock.

Memory bandwidth is another decisive factor. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Max-Q provides 256.0 GB/s of dedicated bandwidth. The AMD Radeon 840M's bandwidth is system dependent, meaning it shares memory with the CPU and is subject to platform constraints. In typical configurations, shared memory bandwidth is substantially lower than dedicated GDDR6 bandwidth.

The ray tracing hardware comparison shows the NVIDIA GPU with 24 RT cores versus 4 for the AMD part. Tensor cores exist only on the NVIDIA side, with 96 available. These dedicated units give NVIDIA a clear advantage in ray-traced workloads and AI-accelerated features.

The bus interface is identical for both GPUs: PCIe 4.0 x8. This means external data transfer rates to the host are comparable, though the NVIDIA part's dedicated memory reduces reliance on system memory traffic.

The production status for both GPUs is listed as Active, and both are currently available in the market. The release dates differ, with NVIDIA releasing on 2023-01-02 and AMD releasing on 2025-02-28.

Specification Differences

The following table highlights only the fields where the two GPUs differ:

| Specification | AMD Radeon 840M | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Max-Q |

|---|---|---|

| Series | null | GeForce 40-series |

| Chip | Krackan Point | AD107 |

| Architecture | RDNA 3.5 | Ada Lovelace |

| Generation | Navi III IGP (Strix Point Mobile) | GeForce 40 Mobile |

| Process Node | 4 nm | 5 nm |

| Transistors | unknown | 18,900 million |

| Die Size | unknown | 159 mm² |

| Transistor Density | null | 118.9M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 400 MHz | 1140 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 2900 MHz | 1470 MHz |

| Memory Clock | System Shared | 2000 MHz, 16 Gbps effective |

| Memory Size | System Shared | 8 GB |

| Memory Type | System Shared | GDDR6 |

| Memory Bus Width | System Shared | 128 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | System Dependent | 256.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 256 | 3072 |

| TMUs | 16 | 96 |

| ROPs | 8 | 48 |

| RT Cores | 4 | 24 |

| Tensor Cores | null | 96 |

| Pixel Rate | 23.20 GPixel/s | 70.56 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 46.40 GTexel/s | 141.1 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 1,484.8 GFLOPS | 9.032 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 1,484.8 GFLOPS (1:1) | 9.032 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 15 W | 35 W |

| Release Date | 2025-02-28 | 2023-01-02 |

| Predecessor | Navi II IGP | GeForce 30 Mobile |

| Successor | null | GeForce 50 Mobile |

Fields that are identical include the foundry (TSMC), slot width (IGP), power connectors (None), bus interface (PCIe 4.0 x8), display outputs (Portable Device Dependent), DirectX version (12 Ultimate 12_2), OpenGL version (4.6), Vulkan version (1.4), production status (Active), and launch MSRP (not listed for either part).

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Max-Q wins decisively in every measured compute metric. The data shows it delivers 9.032 TFLOPS of FP32 performance versus 1,484.8 GFLOPS for the AMD Radeon 840M, a 6.1x advantage. Texture fill rate is 141.1 GTexel/s versus 46.40 GTexel/s, a 3.0x advantage. Pixel throughput is 70.56 GPixel/s versus 23.20 GPixel/s, also a 3.0x advantage.

The NVIDIA part's dedicated memory subsystem is a major differentiator. With 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus delivering 256.0 GB/s, it provides predictable, high-bandwidth access that does not depend on the host system's memory configuration. The AMD Radeon 840M's system shared memory and system-dependent bandwidth make its performance contingent on the laptop's overall memory architecture.

Ray tracing performance strongly favors NVIDIA. The 24 RT cores versus 4 RT cores, combined with 96 tensor cores that the AMD part lacks entirely, gives the GeForce RTX 4060 Max-Q a substantial edge in ray-traced games and AI-enhanced rendering features. The AMD Radeon 840M supports DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4, so it can run ray-traced titles, but with far less dedicated hardware to accelerate them.

The power envelope is the one area where the AMD Radeon 840M holds a clear advantage. Its 15 W TDP versus 35 W for the NVIDIA part means it consumes less than half the thermal budget. This makes the AMD part suitable for thinner, lighter notebooks with smaller cooling solutions, where battery life and thermal management take priority over peak performance.

The AMD Radeon 840M also has a much higher boost clock at 2900 MHz versus 1470 MHz for NVIDIA. While this does not compensate for the NVIDIA part's larger execution resource pool, it indicates the AMD architecture can scale clock speeds aggressively under favorable thermal conditions.

The AMD Radeon 840M uses a 4 nm process node versus 5 nm for NVIDIA, which reflects a newer manufacturing technology. This contributes to its lower power consumption and potentially higher transistor density, though the transistor count for the AMD part is not recorded.

For use cases prioritizing raw frame rates, high-resolution rendering, ray tracing, or AI-accelerated features, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Max-Q is the clearly superior choice based on the recorded metrics. For ultra-portable devices where the 15 W TDP is a hard constraint and the 50th percentile ranking is acceptable, the AMD Radeon 840M offers a functional integrated solution with modern API support and a 2025 release date.