AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile Comparison

The Verdict

The data presents a clear split: the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is the outright performance champion in the vast majority of recorded tests, winning 7 of 9 head-to-head benchmarks. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile wins only 2, but those wins are significant in their own right. The verdict depends entirely on the use case. For desktop-class raw rasterization, DirectX workloads, and compute tasks, the RX 7900 XTX is the definitive choice. For OpenCL compute and Vulkan gaming, the RTX 4060 Mobile shows unexpected strength, despite being a mobile part with a fraction of the memory and power budget. The RX 7900 XTX is an end-of-life desktop flagship, while the RTX 4060 Mobile is an active mobile solution. The data suggests that users prioritizing maximum frame rates in DirectX titles should choose the AMD card, while those needing portable compute acceleration or Vulkan performance should consider the NVIDIA mobile offering.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 7900 XTX dominates the DirectX suite. In PassMark DirectX 11, it scores 356 versus 157, a 55.9% advantage. In DirectX 12, it leads 131 to 73, a 44.3% gap. The AMD card also wins PassMark DirectX 10 (166 vs 107) and DirectX 9 (330 vs 216). Beyond API-specific tests, the RX 7900 XTX wins the PassMark G3D test decisively with 31238 points compared to 17469, a 44.1% lead. It also takes the PassMark G2D test (1267 vs 730) and the PassMark GPU Compute test (17689 vs 6816, a 61.5% margin).

The RTX 4060 Mobile wins the Geekbench OpenCL test with 89420 points versus 50465, a 77.2% advantage. It also wins Geekbench Vulkan, scoring 89569 against 85612, a 4.6% margin. These wins indicate that NVIDIA's mobile chip has a strong compute architecture for OpenCL and a well-optimized Vulkan driver stack, even when facing a much larger desktop GPU. The RX 7900 XTX counters with a wider memory bus and more shaders, which translate to superior legacy API and rasterization performance.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from completely different design philosophies. The RTX 4060 Mobile uses the AD107 chip, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture, fabricated by TSMC on a 5 nm process. It packs 18,900 million transistors on a 159 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 118.9M per mm². The RX 7900 XTX uses the Navi 31 chip (codename Plum Bonito), built on RDNA 3.0, also on TSMC 5 nm. It holds 57,700 million transistors across a 529 mm² die, with a lower density of 109.1M per mm².

The RX 7900 XTX has 6144 shading units, 384 texture mapping units, and 192 ROPs. It also features 96 ray tracing cores. The RTX 4060 Mobile has 3072 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 48 ROPs, with 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores. The AMD card has a 384-bit memory bus with 24 GB of GDDR6, delivering 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The NVIDIA card uses a 128-bit bus with 8 GB GDDR6, giving 256.0 GB/s. The RX 7900 XTX boosts to 2498 MHz with a game clock of 2365 MHz, while the RTX 4060 Mobile boosts to 1890 MHz.

The RX 7900 XTX is a dual-slot card measuring 287 mm in length, 110 mm in height, and 51 mm in width. It requires two 8-pin power connectors and a 750 W suggested PSU. Its TDP is 355 W. The RTX 4060 Mobile is an IGP with no power connectors and a 115 W TDP. The AMD card outputs via 1x HDMI 2.1a, 2x DisplayPort 2.1, and 1x USB Type-C. The NVIDIA card's outputs are portable device dependent.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The RTX 4060 Mobile has an average benchmark score of 22729, while the RX 7900 XTX averages 19410. The NVIDIA mobile part ranks in the 67th percentile of all GPUs, while the AMD desktop card ranks in the 64th percentile.

Q: How does the RX 7900 XTX compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RX 7900 XTX's closest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB, with a delta of 0.4%. It is 1% behind the NVIDIA Quadro K5200 and 1.2% behind the AMD FirePro D300. It is 1.2% ahead of the NVIDIA TITAN Xp.

Q: What is the memory configuration difference?

A: The RTX 4060 Mobile has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 256.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 7900 XTX has 24 GB of GDDR6 on a 384-bit bus with 960.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card wins in OpenCL and by how much?

A: The RTX 4060 Mobile wins Geekbench OpenCL with a score of 89420 versus 50465, a 77.2% advantage over the RX 7900 XTX.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The RTX 4060 Mobile has a TDP of 115 W and uses no power connectors. The RX 7900 XTX has a TDP of 355 W, requires two 8-pin connectors, and has a suggested PSU of 750 W.

Q: Which card is still in production?

A: The RTX 4060 Mobile has an active production status. The RX 7900 XTX is end-of-life.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The largest victory in either direction belongs to the RTX 4060 Mobile in Geekbench OpenCL. It scores 89420 against the RX 7900 XTX's 50465, a 77.2% delta. This is a massive swing, showing that NVIDIA's mobile chip has a significant compute advantage in this specific OpenCL workload. The second win for the RTX 4060 Mobile comes in Geekbench Vulkan, where it scores 89569 versus 85612, a 4.6% margin. This is a closer contest, but still a clear victory.

The RX 7900 XTX takes the remaining seven tests. The biggest win is in PassMark GPU Compute, where it scores 17689 versus 6816, a 61.5% advantage. This shows the AMD card's raw compute throughput in the PassMark suite is far superior. In PassMark DirectX 11, the RX 7900 XTX scores 356 versus 157, a 55.9% lead. In DirectX 12, it wins 131 to 73, a 44.3% margin. In PassMark G3D, it scores 31238 versus 17469, a 44.1% lead. In PassMark G2D, it wins 1267 to 730, a 42.4% margin. In DirectX 10, it leads 166 to 107, a 35.5% gap. In DirectX 9, it wins 330 to 216, a 34.5% margin.

The data shows a pattern: the RTX 4060 Mobile excels in Geekbench's cross-platform compute tests, while the RX 7900 XTX dominates every PassMark test. The PassMark G3D score difference of 44.1% is particularly telling for gaming performance, as it represents a comprehensive 3D graphics workload. The RX 7900 XTX's wins are broad and consistent across all DirectX versions, from legacy 9 to modern 12.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every measurable specification. The RTX 4060 Mobile uses the AD107 chip with Ada Lovelace architecture, while the RX 7900 XTX uses Navi 31 with RDNA 3.0. The NVIDIA card has 18,900 million transistors on a 159 mm² die, while the AMD card has 57,700 million on a 529 mm² die. Transistor density favors NVIDIA at 118.9M per mm² versus 109.1M per mm².

Clock speeds differ significantly. The RTX 4060 Mobile has a base clock of 1545 MHz and a boost of 1890 MHz. The RX 7900 XTX has a base of 1929 MHz, a boost of 2498 MHz, and a game clock of 2365 MHz. Memory clocks also differ: 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) for NVIDIA versus 2500 MHz (20 Gbps effective) for AMD.

The memory subsystem is starkly different. The RTX 4060 Mobile has 8 GB GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 256.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 7900 XTX has 24 GB GDDR6 on a 384-bit bus with 960.0 GB/s bandwidth. The compute units also differ: 3072 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 48 ROPs for NVIDIA; 6144 shading units, 384 TMUs, and 192 ROPs for AMD. The RTX 4060 Mobile has 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores, while the RX 7900 XTX has 96 RT cores and no tensor cores.

Pixel and texture rates favor AMD heavily. The RX 7900 XTX delivers 479.6 GPixel/s and 959.2 GTexel/s, while the RTX 4060 Mobile delivers 90.72 GPixel/s and 181.4 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 61.39 TFLOPS for AMD versus 11.61 TFLOPS for NVIDIA. FP16 performance is 122.8 TFLOPS (2:1) for AMD versus 11.61 TFLOPS (1:1) for NVIDIA.

The bus interface differs: PCIe 4.0 x8 for NVIDIA, PCIe 4.0 x16 for AMD. The TDP is 115 W for the mobile card and 355 W for the desktop card. The RTX 4060 Mobile is an IGP with no power connectors, while the RX 7900 XTX is dual-slot, requires two 8-pin connectors, and suggests a 750 W PSU. Physical dimensions are only listed for the AMD card: 287 mm long, 110 mm high, and 51 mm wide. The production status shows the RTX 4060 Mobile as Active, while the RX 7900 XTX is End-of-life. The RX 7900 XTX has a launch MSRP of 999 USD. The RTX 4060 Mobile has no listed launch MSRP.