AMD Radeon RX 460 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile Comparison

AMD Radeon RX 460 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile sit at opposite ends of the GPU timeline, yet their average benchmark scores land within 1.2% of each other. The RX 460 averages 18,373 across its three Geekbench tests, while the RTX 3060 Mobile averages 18,159 across a broader suite. Both cards occupy the 62nd percentile of all GPUs, meaning they outperform the majority of installed hardware despite their generational gap. However, the similarity ends at the aggregate score — the individual workloads tell a very different story about what each card is built to do.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct comparisons available are Geekbench compute tests, and the RTX 3060 Mobile dominates both. In Geekbench OpenCL, the NVIDIA card scores 79,483 against the RX 460’s 17,855 — a 77.5% advantage. That is not a close contest; it is a generational gap made visible in raw compute throughput. The RTX 3060 Mobile delivers over 4.4 times the OpenCL score of the RX 460. The Vulkan test shows a similar pattern: 80,344 for the RTX 3060 Mobile versus 20,198 for the RX 460, a 74.9% margin. Again, the NVIDIA part more than quadruples the AMD card’s output.

These two head-to-head results are the only benchmarks where both cards appear in the same test. The RX 460 has zero wins across the shared suite; the RTX 3060 Mobile takes both. But the aggregate averages complicate the picture. The RX 460’s 18,373 average comes from Geekbench Metal (17,065), OpenCL (17,855), and Vulkan (20,198). The RTX 3060 Mobile’s 18,159 average includes those two Geekbench tests plus a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1,821, and five Passmark tests ranging from 58 (DX12) to 13,230 (G3D). The RX 460’s average is actually 1.2% higher than the RTX 3060 Mobile’s, and each card lists the other as a nearest rival with a delta of -1.2% from the other’s perspective.

What this means practically: if you only run Geekbench compute, the RTX 3060 Mobile is in another class. If you look at the broader average, the two cards are statistically tied. The RX 460’s Vulkan score of 20,198 is its strongest result, beating its own OpenCL number by 13.1%. The RTX 3060 Mobile’s Vulkan score of 80,344 is nearly identical to its OpenCL score of 79,483, showing consistent performance across compute APIs.

Architecture Differences

The RX 460 uses AMD’s GCN 4.0 architecture on a 14 nm process from GlobalFoundries, built on the Baffin chip. It packs 3,000 million transistors into a 123 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 24.4 million per square millimeter. The RTX 3060 Mobile uses NVIDIA’s Ampere architecture on Samsung’s 8 nm process, with the GA106 chip containing 12,000 million transistors across a 276 mm² die — a density of 43.5 million per square millimeter. That is 4 times the transistor count and nearly double the density, which explains why the RTX 3060 Mobile can offer so much more compute hardware.

The shading unit counts reflect this gap. The RX 460 has 896 shading units, 56 texture mapping units, and 16 ROPs. The RTX 3060 Mobile has 3,840 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 48 ROPs — 4.3 times the shaders, 2.1 times the TMUs, and 3 times the ROPs. The RTX 3060 Mobile also brings dedicated hardware the RX 460 lacks entirely: 30 ray tracing cores and 120 tensor cores. These enable features like DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) support, while the RX 460 is limited to DirectX 12 (12_0). Both cards support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan, but the RTX 3060 Mobile runs Vulkan 1.4 versus the RX 460’s Vulkan 1.3.

Memory configurations diverge sharply. The RX 460 ships with 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 112.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 3060 Mobile has 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, providing 336.0 GB/s — exactly three times the bandwidth. Memory clocks are 1750 MHz on both cards, but the effective data rate doubles from 7 Gbps to 14 Gbps. The RX 460 connects via PCIe 3.0 x8, while the RTX 3060 Mobile uses PCIe 4.0 x16, doubling the available interface bandwidth.

Compute throughput numbers reinforce the architectural chasm. The RX 460 produces 2.150 TFLOPS of FP32 and FP16 performance, with a pixel rate of 19.20 GPixel/s and texture rate of 67.20 GTexel/s. The RTX 3060 Mobile produces 10.94 TFLOPS of FP32 and FP16 — over 5 times the FP32 throughput — with a pixel rate of 68.40 GPixel/s and texture rate of 171.0 GTexel/s. The RTX 3060 Mobile’s texture rate is 2.5 times higher, and its pixel rate is 3.6 times higher.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 3060 Mobile wins decisively in every measurable compute workload. Its OpenCL score is 77.5% higher, and its Vulkan score is 74.9% higher than the RX 460. In terms of raw specifications, it offers more than 5 times the FP32 throughput, 3 times the memory bandwidth, and 3 times the ROP count. This makes it the clear choice for any application that leverages general-purpose GPU compute, modern DirectX 12 Ultimate features, or ray tracing. The 6 GB VRAM capacity is triple the RX 460’s 2 GB, which matters for larger textures and datasets. The RTX 3060 Mobile’s Passmark G3D score of 13,230 indicates strong rasterization performance, while its Passmark GPU compute score of 5,718 shows it handles compute tasks well outside of Geekbench.

The RX 460’s wins are narrower and more situational. Its average benchmark score of 18,373 edges out the RTX 3060 Mobile’s 18,159 by 1.2%, driven largely by its strong Geekbench Metal result of 17,065 — a test the RTX 3060 Mobile does not appear in. The RX 460 also has a higher Vulkan score relative to its own OpenCL result, suggesting it scales better with Vulkan’s lower-overhead API. Its 75 W TDP is lower than the RTX 3060 Mobile’s 80 W, and it requires no power connectors, drawing entirely from the PCIe slot. The RX 460 is also smaller at 170 mm in length versus the RTX 3060 Mobile’s unspecified board dimensions, and it offers fixed display outputs (DVI, HDMI 2.0b, DisplayPort 1.4a) rather than the portable-device-dependent outputs of the mobile NVIDIA part.

The RX 460’s 2.150 TFLOPS FP32 and 67.20 GTexel/s texture rate are sufficient for older titles or light workloads, but they are a fraction of what the RTX 3060 Mobile provides. The RX 460’s 112.0 GB/s bandwidth is a third of the RTX 3060 Mobile’s, which will bottleneck texture-heavy scenes. The RX 460 was released in 2016, while the RTX 3060 Mobile launched in 2021 — five years of architectural progress separate the two, and that shows in every raw performance metric.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous for compute performance: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile is the superior GPU. It wins both head-to-head benchmarks by margins of 74.9% to 77.5%, offers 5.1 times the FP32 throughput, 3 times the memory bandwidth, and 3 times the VRAM. The RTX 3060 Mobile’s 30 ray tracing cores and 120 tensor cores enable features the RX 460 cannot match, and its DirectX 12 Ultimate support is a full generation ahead. Anyone choosing between these two for gaming, rendering, or GPU compute should pick the RTX 3060 Mobile without hesitation.

The RX 460’s only statistical advantage is its 1.2% higher average benchmark score, which comes from a different test mix and includes a Metal result the NVIDIA card does not have. If you are locked into Apple’s Metal API, the RX 460’s 17,065 score is relevant. The RX 460 also consumes 5 W less power and requires no auxiliary power connector, which may matter in ultra-low-power builds. But these are niche advantages. The RX 460’s 2 GB VRAM is inadequate for modern games, and its 2.150 TFLOPS FP32 is a fraction of what the RTX 3060 Mobile delivers.

Choose the RTX 3060 Mobile for any task that benefits from compute throughput, modern API features, or memory capacity. Choose the RX 460 only if you need a low-power, slot-powered card with Metal support and do not require the RTX 3060 Mobile’s performance class.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 460 averages 18,373 across its three Geekbench tests, which is 1.2% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile’s 18,159 average across its ten tests. Both sit at the 62nd percentile of all GPUs.

Q: How much faster is the RTX 3060 Mobile in OpenCL?

A: The RTX 3060 Mobile scores 79,483 in Geekbench OpenCL versus the RX 460’s 17,855, giving the NVIDIA card a 77.5% advantage. This is the largest head-to-head margin between the two.

Q: Does the RX 460 support ray tracing?

A: No. The RX 460 has no ray tracing cores and supports DirectX 12 (12_0). The RTX 3060 Mobile has 30 ray tracing cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2).

Q: What is the memory difference between the two cards?

A: The RX 460 has 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus with 112.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 3060 Mobile has 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus with 336.0 GB/s bandwidth — three times the capacity and bandwidth.

Q: Which card consumes less power?

A: The RX 460 has a 75 W TDP versus the RTX 3060 Mobile’s 80 W TDP. The RX 460 also requires no power connectors, while the RTX 3060 Mobile’s power connector is listed as none as well.

Q: In which benchmark test does the RX 460 outperform its own average?

A: The RX 460’s Geekbench Vulkan score of 20,198 is its highest individual result, exceeding its 18,373 average by 9.9%. Its Metal score of 17,065 and OpenCL score of 17,855 are both below the average.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon RX 460 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile |

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

| Architecture | GCN 4.0 | Ampere |

| Process Node | 14 nm | 8 nm |

| Foundry | GlobalFoundries | Samsung |

| Transistors | 3,000 million | 12,000 million |

| Die Size | 123 mm² | 276 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 24.4M / mm² | 43.5M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1090 MHz | 900 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1200 MHz | 1425 MHz |

| Memory Size | 2 GB | 6 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR5 | GDDR6 |

| Memory Bus | 128 bit | 192 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 112.0 GB/s | 336.0 GB/s |

| Effective Memory Rate | 7 Gbps | 14 Gbps |

| Shading Units | 896 | 3840 |

| TMUs | 56 | 120 |

| ROPs | 16 | 48 |

| RT Cores | None | 30 |

| Tensor Cores | None | 120 |

| Pixel Rate | 19.20 GPixel/s | 68.40 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 67.20 GTexel/s | 171.0 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 2.150 TFLOPS | 10.94 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 2.150 TFLOPS | 10.94 TFLOPS |

| TDP | 75 W | 80 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x8 | PCIe 4.0 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 | Portable Device Dependent |

| Release Date | 2016-08-07 | 2021-01-11 |

| Successor | Polaris | None listed |