AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Comparison

The GeForce RTX 4060 and Radeon RX 5700 XT represent two distinct generations of GPU design, and the benchmark data shows a clear overall winner while revealing specific strengths for the older card. The RTX 4060 wins 9 out of 10 head-to-head benchmarks, with an average benchmark score of 17,639 compared to the RX 5700 XT's 16,361. The RTX 4060 also holds a higher percentile rank among all GPUs at 61st, versus 59th for the AMD card. The data suggests the RTX 4060 is the more capable overall card for modern tasks, but the RX 5700 XT retains a specific advantage in Vulkan workloads that may matter to certain users.

The Verdict

The benchmark results are unequivocal: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is the superior card for the vast majority of use cases. Its average benchmark score of 17,639 is 7.8% higher than the RX 5700 XT's 16,361, and it wins 9 of 10 direct comparisons. The most significant victories come in compute and DirectX 11 workloads, where the RTX 4060 leads by 20.4% and 50.9%, respectively. For users prioritizing modern DirectX 12 gaming, the RTX 4060 also delivers an 18.8% advantage. The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT is the pick only for those whose workloads are heavily dependent on Vulkan, where it leads by 28.8%. Given the RTX 4060's additional architectural features like dedicated ray tracing cores and tensor cores, the data strongly favors choosing the NVIDIA card for a balanced, future-proof build.

Architecture Differences

The two cards are built on fundamentally different architectures and process nodes. The RTX 4060 uses the AD107 chip based on NVIDIA's Ada Lovelace architecture, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. This chip contains 18,900 million transistors on a 159 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 118.9M per mm². In contrast, the RX 5700 XT uses the Navi 10 chip based on AMD's RDNA 1.0 architecture, built on a 7 nm process at the same foundry. The Navi 10 chip has 10,300 million transistors on a much larger 251 mm² die, giving a lower density of 41.0M per mm². This difference in density reflects the newer manufacturing technology used for the NVIDIA card.

The memory subsystems also differ significantly. Both cards have 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, but the RX 5700 XT uses a 256-bit bus with a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s, while the RTX 4060 is limited to a 128-bit bus with 272.0 GB/s bandwidth. Despite lower bandwidth, the RTX 4060 compensates with higher effective memory speed (17 Gbps vs 14 Gbps). The compute resources are organized differently: the RTX 4060 has 3,072 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 48 ROPs, while the RX 5700 XT has 2,560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. Notably, the RTX 4060 includes 24 ray tracing cores and 96 tensor cores, features entirely absent from the RX 5700 XT. This is a critical architectural difference, as the AMD card has no dedicated hardware for either ray tracing or AI acceleration.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 4060 dominates across nearly every benchmark category, with wins in 9 of 10 tests. Its largest margin is in Geekbench OpenCL, where it scores 95,057 versus the RX 5700 XT's 9,524, a staggering 898.1% advantage. This massive lead suggests the RTX 4060 is far better optimized for general-purpose compute tasks. The NVIDIA card also wins in PassMark G3D (19,545 vs 16,277, a 20.1% lead) and PassMark GPU Compute (9,213 vs 7,650, a 20.4% lead). In DirectX 11, the RTX 4060's 175 score versus 116 represents a 50.9% advantage, and in DirectX 12 it leads 76 to 64 (18.8%). Even in legacy DirectX 9 (236 vs 226, 4.4%) and 2D workloads (1,037 vs 922, 12.5%), the NVIDIA card prevails.

The RX 5700 XT has exactly one victory: Geekbench Vulkan. It scores 68,310 compared to the RTX 4060's 48,643, a 28.8% advantage. This is a substantial win and indicates that AMD's RDNA 1.0 architecture has a specific strength in Vulkan API performance. For users running Vulkan-based games or applications, this could translate to real-world benefits. However, this single win is insufficient to offset the NVIDIA card's dominance elsewhere. The data shows the RTX 4060 is the better all-around performer, while the RX 5700 XT is a niche choice for Vulkan-specific workloads.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 has an average benchmark score of 17,639, which is 7.8% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT's 16,361.

Q: Does the RX 5700 XT win any benchmark against the RTX 4060?

A: Yes, the RX 5700 XT wins the Geekbench Vulkan benchmark, scoring 68,310 compared to the RTX 4060's 48,643, a 28.8% advantage.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 perform in DirectX 12 compared to the RX 5700 XT?

A: The RTX 4060 leads in PassMark DirectX 12 with a score of 76 versus 64 for the RX 5700 XT, representing an 18.8% advantage.

Q: What is the difference in process node between the two cards?

A: The RTX 4060 is built on a 5 nm process, while the RX 5700 XT uses a 7 nm process, both at TSMC.

Q: Does the RX 5700 XT have ray tracing cores?

A: No, the RX 5700 XT has no dedicated ray tracing cores or tensor cores, while the RTX 4060 includes 24 ray tracing cores and 96 tensor cores.

Q: Which card has higher memory bandwidth?

A: The RX 5700 XT has higher memory bandwidth at 448.0 GB/s, compared to the RTX 4060's 272.0 GB/s, due to its wider 256-bit bus.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most decisive benchmark victory belongs to the RTX 4060 in Geekbench OpenCL. The NVIDIA card scores 95,057, dwarfing the RX 5700 XT's 9,524. This 898.1% margin is an outlier and suggests a fundamental difference in how the two cards handle OpenCL compute workloads. The RTX 4060's 3,072 shading units, combined with its tensor cores, likely contribute to this massive lead. In practical terms, this means the RTX 4060 is overwhelmingly faster for OpenCL-based applications such as certain physics simulations, video encoding, or scientific computing tasks.

Another significant win for the RTX 4060 is in PassMark DirectX 11, where it scores 175 versus 116 for the AMD card, a 50.9% advantage. This is particularly relevant for older games and applications that still use DirectX 11, as the RTX 4060 demonstrates much stronger performance in this API. The RTX 4060 also wins in PassMark G3D with a 20.1% lead (19,545 vs 16,277), which is a general indicator of 3D graphics performance. Its PassMark GPU Compute score of 9,213 is 20.4% higher than the RX 5700 XT's 7,650, reinforcing the compute advantage.

In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the RTX 4060 scores 2,302 versus 2,134, a 7.9% win. This is a more modest margin, indicating that in modern, heavily optimized DX12 titles, the gap narrows. The RTX 4060 also wins in PassMark DirectX 12 (76 vs 64, 18.8%), DirectX 10 (103 vs 97, 6.2%), DirectX 9 (236 vs 226, 4.4%), and G2D (1,037 vs 922, 12.5%). The RX 5700 XT's Vulkan win (68,310 vs 48,643, -28.8% for NVIDIA) is the only bright spot, showing that AMD's architecture retains a strong lead in this specific API.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ substantially in their core specifications, reflecting their different generations and design philosophies. The RTX 4060 has a base clock of 1830 MHz and a boost clock of 2460 MHz, while the RX 5700 XT has a lower base clock of 1605 MHz and boost of 1905 MHz, though it does have a defined game clock of 1755 MHz. The RTX 4060's memory runs at 2125 MHz (17 Gbps effective), while the RX 5700 XT's runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). However, the RX 5700 XT compensates with a wider 256-bit bus versus the RTX 4060's 128-bit bus.

The power requirements are notably different. The RTX 4060 has a TDP of 115 W with a suggested PSU of 300 W, while the RX 5700 XT has a much higher TDP of 225 W and requires a 550 W PSU. The RTX 4060 uses a single 12-pin power connector, whereas the RX 5700 XT requires a 6-pin and an 8-pin connector. The RTX 4060 is also physically shorter at 240 mm (9.4 inches) versus 272 mm (10.7 inches), though both are dual-slot cards with similar heights (111 mm). The RTX 4060 is thicker at 40 mm versus 36 mm for the AMD card.

The bus interfaces differ, with the RTX 4060 using PCIe 4.0 x8 and the RX 5700 XT using PCIe 4.0 x16. Regarding display outputs, the RTX 4060 offers 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the RX 5700 XT offers 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. The API support also differs: the RTX 4060 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the RX 5700 XT is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1). The RTX 4060's FP32 compute is rated at 15.11 TFLOPS, significantly higher than the RX 5700 XT's 9.754 TFLOPS. The RTX 4060 also has a smaller die size (159 mm² vs 251 mm²) despite having more transistors, and it was released in 2023 versus 2019 for the AMD card.