AMD Radeon RX 460 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Comparison

The AMD Radeon RX 460 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 occupy opposite ends of the GPU spectrum, separated by seven years of architectural evolution and a massive gulf in compute capability. The data shows that the RTX 4060 outperforms the RX 460 in every shared benchmark, often by staggering margins, but the older card remains relevant in legacy systems and low-power builds. This analysis compares the two strictly from benchmark results and specification data, highlighting where each card wins and for whom each is appropriate.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two cards share only two direct benchmark comparisons in the data: Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan. In both, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is the clear winner, with the RX 460 trailing by significant percentages.

In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the RTX 4060 scores 95057 versus the RX 460's 17855. That is a delta of -81.2% for the AMD card, meaning the RTX 4060 delivers roughly five times the raw compute throughput in this workload. This is not a marginal generational improvement; it is a complete class separation. The OpenCL result reflects the RTX 4060's 15.11 TFLOPS FP32 throughput against the RX 460's 2.150 TFLOPS, a sevenfold increase in theoretical compute that shows up directly in the benchmark.

The Geekbench Vulkan test tells a similar story, though the gap narrows slightly. The RTX 4060 scores 48643, while the RX 460 scores 20198, a delta of -58.5%. Vulkan is a lower-level API that can sometimes favor older architectures, but even here the RTX 4060 maintains a commanding lead of more than 2.4x. The RX 460's Vulkan score of 20198 is actually its best benchmark result, suggesting that GCN 4.0 handles Vulkan reasonably well for its era, but it cannot overcome the fundamental hardware advantages of Ada Lovelace.

Looking at the broader benchmark picture, the RTX 4060's average benchmark score is 17639, which places it at the 61st percentile of all GPUs. The RX 460's average is 18373, at the 62nd percentile. This is a curious inversion: the older card has a slightly higher average and percentile despite losing both head-to-head tests. The explanation lies in the benchmark suites themselves. The RX 460's averages come from Geekbench Metal, OpenCL, and Vulkan tests, which are compute-oriented and may favor its architecture. The RTX 4060's average includes PassMark tests (DirectX 9 through 12, G2D, G3D, and GPU compute) plus a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, which are more representative of gaming workloads. The RTX 4060's PassMark G3D score of 19545 and 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 2302 are not compared directly to the RX 460, but they indicate strong modern API performance where the RX 460 has no data.

For context, the RX 460's nearest rival is the Intel Arc A770M with an average score of 18383, a delta of just -0.1%. The RTX 4060's nearest rival is the AMD Radeon HD 7790 at 17666, a delta of -0.2%. This puts both cards in similar performance tiers relative to their contemporaries, but the absolute scores are not directly comparable due to different test mixes.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is vast, reflecting seven years of semiconductor progress. The RX 460 uses the Baffin chip based on GCN 4.0 architecture, manufactured on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. The RTX 4060 uses the AD107 chip based on Ada Lovelace, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC. The process node difference alone explains much of the efficiency and density gap: the RX 460 packs 3,000 million transistors into 123 mm² (density of 24.4M / mm²), while the RTX 4060 fits 18,900 million transistors into 159 mm² (density of 118.9M / mm²). The RTX 4060 has over six times the transistor count in only 29% more die area.

Core counts follow the same trend. The RX 460 has 896 shading units, 56 texture mapping units, and 16 ROPs. The RTX 4060 has 3072 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. That is 3.4x the shaders, 1.7x the TMUs, and 3x the ROPs. The RTX 4060 also introduces dedicated hardware that the RX 460 lacks entirely: 24 ray tracing cores and 96 tensor cores. The RX 460 has no RT or tensor core support, meaning it cannot accelerate ray-traced workloads or DLSS-style AI upscaling.

Memory architecture differs as well. The RX 460 ships with 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, yielding 112.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 4060 has 8 GB of GDDR6 on the same 128-bit bus, but with much faster memory clocks (2125 MHz versus 1750 MHz) for 272.0 GB/s bandwidth. That is 2.4x the memory bandwidth and 4x the capacity, which matters greatly for modern game textures and compute workloads.

Clock speeds also favor the RTX 4060. The RX 460 runs at a base of 1090 MHz and boost of 1200 MHz. The RTX 4060 runs at 1830 MHz base and 2460 MHz boost. Combined with the higher core count, this drives the FP32 output from 2.150 TFLOPS to 15.11 TFLOPS — a sevenfold increase. Pixel rate jumps from 19.20 GPixel/s to 118.1 GPixel/s, and texture rate from 67.20 GTexel/s to 236.2 GTexel/s.

API support also reflects the generation gap. The RX 460 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The RTX 4060 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The DirectX 12_2 feature level enables mesh shaders, variable rate shading, and other modern features that the RX 460 cannot run.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the RTX 4060 is the superior GPU by every measurable metric. In the shared Geekbench tests, it wins by 81.2% in OpenCL and 58.5% in Vulkan. It has more cores, more memory, faster clocks, higher bandwidth, and newer architecture. The RTX 4060 also carries a launch MSRP of 299 USD (stated once here), while the RX 460 has no launch MSRP in the data.

Who should choose the RX 460? Only those with a specific need for a 75 W card that requires no power connectors, fits in a 170 mm length, and uses only a 250 W suggested PSU. The RX 460 is end-of-life and was released in 2016, so it is a legacy part. Its 62nd percentile standing among all GPUs is respectable for a card of its age, but it is not competitive for modern gaming or compute.

Who should choose the RTX 4060? Anyone who needs modern DirectX 12 Ultimate support, ray tracing acceleration, tensor cores for AI workloads, or 8 GB of VRAM. The RTX 4060's 61st percentile ranking is slightly lower than the RX 460's, but that is misleading due to different benchmark mixes. The RTX 4060's PassMark G3D score of 19545 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2302 demonstrate far stronger real-world gaming performance. It requires a 115 W TDP with a 1x 12-pin power connector and a 300 W suggested PSU, and it is physically larger at 240 mm length.

The verdict is straightforward: if you need modern features and performance, the RTX 4060 is the only choice. If you need a minimal-power legacy card for basic display output or very old games, the RX 460 can suffice, but it is not a serious contender.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher raw compute performance?

A: The RTX 4060 has 15.11 TFLOPS FP32 versus the RX 460's 2.150 TFLOPS, a sevenfold difference that shows in the 81.2% OpenCL benchmark margin.

Q: Does the RX 460 support ray tracing?

A: No. The RX 460 has no ray tracing cores, while the RTX 4060 includes 24 RT cores.

Q: How much VRAM does each card have?

A: The RX 460 has 2 GB of GDDR5, while the RTX 4060 has 8 GB of GDDR6.

Q: What are the power requirements?

A: The RX 460 has a 75 W TDP with no power connectors and a 250 W suggested PSU. The RTX 4060 has a 115 W TDP with a 1x 12-pin connector and a 300 W suggested PSU.

Q: Which card is better for Vulkan workloads?

A: The RTX 4060 wins the Geekbench Vulkan test with a score of 48643 versus 20198 for the RX 460, a 58.5% advantage.

Q: Are these cards still in production?

A: Both are listed as end-of-life in the data.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 4060 wins everywhere that matters for modern use. It dominates in compute (OpenCL and Vulkan), has dedicated ray tracing hardware, tensor cores for AI acceleration, and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate. Its 272.0 GB/s bandwidth and 8 GB VRAM make it suitable for high-resolution textures and modern game engines. The RTX 4060 also has a higher pixel rate (118.1 GPixel/s) and texture rate (236.2 GTexel/s), which directly benefits gaming at any resolution. Its 5 nm process gives it far better transistor density, and its 1830 MHz base and 2460 MHz boost clocks are nearly double the RX 460's.

The RX 460 wins only in specific niche scenarios. It has a lower TDP (75 W) and requires no power connectors, making it drop-in compatible with older or low-power systems. Its 170 mm length is significantly shorter than the RTX 4060's 240 mm, which matters for small form factor cases. The RX 460 also supports 1x DVI, which is absent on the RTX 4060's output set of 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a — useful for users with legacy DVI monitors. Its PCIe 3.0 x8 interface is older than the RTX 4060's PCIe 4.0 x8, but that is irrelevant for its intended use. The RX 460's 2.150 TFLOPS FP16 performance matches its FP32 exactly (1:1 ratio), which is unusual, but this does not translate into a practical advantage.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon RX 460 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 |

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

| Chip | Baffin | AD107 |

| Architecture | GCN 4.0 | Ada Lovelace |

| Process Node | 14 nm | 5 nm |

| Foundry | GlobalFoundries | TSMC |

| Transistors | 3,000 million | 18,900 million |

| Die Size | 123 mm² | 159 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 24.4M / mm² | 118.9M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1090 MHz | 1830 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1200 MHz | 2460 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective) | 2125 MHz (17 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 2 GB | 8 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR5 | GDDR6 |

| Memory Bus | 128 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 112.0 GB/s | 272.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 896 | 3072 |

| TMUs | 56 | 96 |

| ROPs | 16 | 48 |

| RT Cores | None | 24 |

| Tensor Cores | None | 96 |

| Pixel Rate | 19.20 GPixel/s | 118.1 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 67.20 GTexel/s | 236.2 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 2.150 TFLOPS | 15.11 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 2.150 TFLOPS (1:1) | 15.11 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 75 W | 115 W |

| Power Connectors | None | 1x 12-pin |

| Suggested PSU | 250 W | 300 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x8 | PCIe 4.0 x8 |

| Display Outputs | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, 1x DisplayPort 1.4a | 1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a |

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

| OpenGL | 4.6 | 4.6 |

| Vulkan | 1.3 | 1.4 |

| Length | 170 mm (6.7 inches) | 240 mm (9.4 inches) |

| Height | Not specified | 111 mm (4.4 inches) |

| Width | Not specified | 40 mm (1.6 inches) |

| Release Date | 2016-08-07 | 2023-05-17 |