AMD Radeon RX 460 vs AMD Radeon RX 9060 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data contains two direct benchmark comparisons between the AMD Radeon RX 460 and the AMD Radeon RX 9060, and in both cases the newer card dominates decisively. The most lopsided result comes from Geekbench OpenCL, where the RX 9060 scores 88,183 against the RX 460’s 17,855. That represents a 79.8% advantage for the RX 9060, meaning the older card manages only about one-fifth of the compute throughput in this workload. OpenCL is a general-purpose compute API, so this gap reflects raw shader and memory throughput differences rather than any game-specific optimization.

The second head-to-head test, Geekbench Vulkan, narrows the gap somewhat but still shows a commanding win. The RX 9060 posts 39,476 points versus 20,198 for the RX 460, a 48.8% lead. Vulkan is a lower-overhead graphics API, and the result indicates that while the RX 9060’s architectural efficiency helps, the RX 460’s older GCN design still holds up reasonably well in pure draw-call throughput. Still, a near-doubling of the score is not a close contest by any reasonable interpretation.

Looking beyond the direct matchups, the database’s average benchmark scores tell a broader story. The RX 460’s average across all recorded tests is 18,373, placing it in the 62nd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Arc A770M at 18,383 (0.1% faster), the AMD FirePro D500 at 18,533 (0.9% faster), the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 at 18,189 (1% slower), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile at 18,159 (1.2% slower). These are all close calls, suggesting the RX 460 sits in a tightly contested mid-range bracket where small margins separate cards.

The RX 9060’s average benchmark score is 16,014, which sits in the 59th percentile. That is actually lower than the RX 460’s percentile, despite the RX 9060 winning both head-to-head tests. The explanation lies in the test mix: the RX 9060’s average includes a Passmark DirectX 12 score of just 44 and a Passmark DirectX 10 score of 104, which drag down the mean. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti at 16,129 (0.7% faster), the AMD Radeon R9 370X at 15,862 (1% slower), the AMD Radeon RX 7700 at 15,852 (1% slower), and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 at 15,679 (2.1% slower). The RX 9060’s individual high scores, such as 88,183 in OpenCL and 17,631 in Passmark G3D, show that its average is dragged down by specific legacy API tests rather than a lack of raw capability.

FAQ

Q: Which card wins the Geekbench OpenCL benchmark?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 9060 wins with a score of 88,183 versus 17,855 for the RX 460, a 79.8% margin.

Q: How does the RX 460 compare to its nearest rival, the Intel Arc A770M?

A: The RX 460’s average benchmark score is 18,373, while the Arc A770M scores 18,383. That puts the Arc A770M 0.1% ahead, a negligible difference.

Q: What is the RX 9060’s percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The RX 9060 sits in the 59th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 16,014 across all recorded tests.

Q: Does the RX 9060 win every head-to-head test against the RX 460?

A: Yes, the RX 9060 wins both recorded head-to-head tests: Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan. It has 2 wins, while the RX 460 has 0 wins.

Q: What is the RX 460’s average benchmark score and nearest rival?

A: The RX 460’s average is 18,373. Its closest rival is the AMD FirePro D500 at 18,533, which is 0.9% faster, while the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 is 1% slower at 18,189.

Q: Why does the RX 9060 have a lower average score than the RX 460 despite winning head-to-head?

A: The RX 9060’s average includes several low Passmark scores, such as 44 in DirectX 12 and 104 in DirectX 10, which pull its mean down. Its high scores in OpenCL and other tests do not offset those weak legacy API results.

Architecture Differences

The two cards represent completely different eras of AMD GPU design. The RX 460 uses the Baffin chip built on GCN 4.0 architecture, fabricated on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. It packs 3,000 million transistors into a 123 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 24.4 million per square millimeter. The RX 9060, by contrast, uses the Navi 44 chip with RDNA 4.0 architecture, built on a 4 nm process at TSMC. It contains 29,700 million transistors on a 199 mm² die, achieving a density of 149.2 million per square millimeter. That is more than six times the transistor density, reflecting the massive process node advantage.

The compute resources differ by a factor of two in shading units: the RX 460 has 896 shading units, while the RX 9060 has 1,792. Texture mapping units double from 56 to 112, and raster output units quadruple from 16 to 64. The RX 9060 also adds 28 ray tracing cores, a feature entirely absent from the RX 460. Clock speeds tell a similar story: the RX 460 runs at 1090 MHz base and 1200 MHz boost, while the RX 9060 runs at 1700 MHz base, 2400 MHz game clock, and 2990 MHz boost. The nearly 2.5x boost clock difference compounds with the doubled shading units to produce a massive throughput gap.

Memory architecture also diverges sharply. The RX 460 has 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 112.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The RX 9060 has 8 GB of GDDR6 on the same 128-bit bus, but with 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth, a 2.57x increase. Effective memory speed jumps from 7 Gbps to 18 Gbps. The RX 9060’s pixel rate is 191.4 GPixel/s versus 19.20 GPixel/s for the RX 460, a 10x difference. Texture rate goes from 67.20 GTexel/s to 334.9 GTexel/s, a 5x jump. FP32 compute rises from 2.150 TFLOPS to 21.43 TFLOPS, an even 10x improvement. FP16 performance scales identically, with both cards offering 1:1 FP16 to FP32 ratios.

The RX 9060 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the RX 460 only reaches DirectX 12 (12_0). Vulkan support advances from 1.3 to 1.4, while OpenGL stays at 4.6 for both. The RX 9060 uses a PCIe 5.0 x16 interface, whereas the RX 460 uses PCIe 3.0 x8. Display outputs differ as well: the RX 460 offers 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, and 1x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the RX 9060 provides 1x HDMI 2.1b and 2x DisplayPort 2.1a.

The Verdict

The data points to an unambiguous choice for anyone comparing these two cards directly. The RX 9060 wins both recorded head-to-head benchmarks, with a 79.8% margin in OpenCL and a 48.8% margin in Vulkan. Its raw compute specifications are an order of magnitude higher in several categories: FP32 throughput is 10x greater, pixel rate is 10x greater, and memory bandwidth is 2.57x higher. The RX 9060 also brings ray tracing support, 8 GB of VRAM versus 2 GB, and a newer API feature set with DirectX 12 Ultimate.

However, context matters. The RX 460’s average benchmark score of 18,373 places it in the 62nd percentile, higher than the RX 9060’s 59th percentile. The RX 460’s nearest rivals are all within a 2% band, indicating that it remains competitive in its own generation’s context. The RX 9060’s average score is dragged down by weak Passmark legacy API results, but its modern workload performance is clearly superior.

For a user with a modern workload, such as gaming with DirectX 12 or Vulkan, or compute-heavy tasks using OpenCL, the RX 9060 is the clear choice. The 79.8% OpenCL advantage and 48.8% Vulkan advantage leave little room for debate. The RX 460’s best case is in older DirectX 9 or DirectX 10 workloads, where its Passmark scores of 280 and 104, respectively, are not directly comparable to the RX 9060’s scores of 280 and 104 in those same tests, showing parity in legacy scenarios.

For a user constrained to older systems with PCIe 3.0 and limited power delivery, the RX 460’s 75 W TDP and no external power connector requirement make it a drop-in solution. The RX 9060 needs a 1x 8-pin connector and a 300 W suggested PSU, versus 250 W for the RX 460. But the performance gap is so wide that any modern use case favors the RX 9060 overwhelmingly.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon RX 460 | AMD Radeon RX 9060 |

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

| Chip | Baffin | Navi 44 |

| Architecture | GCN 4.0 | RDNA 4.0 |

| Process Node | 14 nm | 4 nm |

| Foundry | GlobalFoundries | TSMC |

| Transistors | 3,000 million | 29,700 million |

| Die Size | 123 mm² | 199 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 24.4M / mm² | 149.2M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1090 MHz | 1700 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1200 MHz | 2990 MHz |

| Game Clock | N/A | 2400 MHz |

| Memory Size | 2 GB | 8 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR5 | GDDR6 |

| Memory Bus Width | 128 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 112.0 GB/s | 288.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 896 | 1792 |

| TMUs | 56 | 112 |

| ROPs | 16 | 64 |

| RT Cores | N/A | 28 |

| Pixel Rate | 19.20 GPixel/s | 191.4 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 67.20 GTexel/s | 334.9 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 2.150 TFLOPS | 21.43 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 2.150 TFLOPS (1:1) | 21.43 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 75 W | 132 W |

| Power Connectors | None | 1x 8-pin |

| Suggested PSU | 250 W | 300 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x8 | PCIe 5.0 x16 |

| DirectX Support | 12 (12_0) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |

| Vulkan Support | 1.3 | 1.4 |

| Display Outputs | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, 1x DisplayPort 1.4a | 1x HDMI 2.1b, 2x DisplayPort 2.1a |

| Release Date | 2016-08-07 | 2025-08-04 |

| Production Status | End-of-life | Active |