NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score in the database?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile records an average benchmark score of 22,729, which is significantly ahead of the RTX 3050 A Mobile's 8,746 average.

Q: How do the two GPUs rank against all other GPUs in the database?

A: The RTX 4060 Mobile sits at the 67th percentile among all GPUs, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile sits at the 44th percentile.

Q: What is the difference in memory capacity between the two GPUs?

A: The RTX 4060 Mobile has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile has 4 GB of GDDR6 memory.

Q: Which GPU has a higher pixel fill rate?

A: The RTX 4060 Mobile delivers a pixel rate of 90.72 GPixel/s, compared to 42.98 GPixel/s for the RTX 3050 A Mobile.

Q: What is the production status of each GPU?

A: The RTX 3050 A Mobile is listed as end-of-life, while the RTX 4060 Mobile is listed as active.

Q: In the head-to-head benchmarks, how many tests does each GPU win?

A: The RTX 4060 Mobile wins all 8 recorded head-to-head benchmark tests. The RTX 3050 A Mobile wins none.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs represent different NVIDIA architectures. The RTX 3050 A Mobile uses the Ampere architecture with the GA106 chip, manufactured on Samsung's 8 nm process. The RTX 4060 Mobile uses the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD107 chip, manufactured on TSMC's 5 nm process. The process node difference is substantial: the RTX 4060 Mobile achieves a transistor density of 118.9M per mm², while the RTX 3050 A Mobile achieves 43.5M per mm². This is despite the RTX 4060 Mobile having a smaller die size of 159 mm² compared to 276 mm² for the RTX 3050 A Mobile. The RTX 4060 Mobile packs 18,900 million transistors versus 12,000 million for the RTX 3050 A Mobile.

Core configurations differ sharply. The RTX 4060 Mobile has 3,072 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, 48 ROPs, 24 RT cores, and 96 tensor cores. The RTX 3050 A Mobile has 1,792 shading units, 56 TMUs, 32 ROPs, 14 RT cores, and 56 tensor cores. Across every category, the RTX 4060 Mobile provides roughly 70% to 80% more compute resources.

Clock speeds also favor the RTX 4060 Mobile. The base clock is 1,545 MHz versus 1,065 MHz, and the boost clock is 1,890 MHz versus 1,343 MHz. Memory clocks differ as well: the RTX 4060 Mobile runs at 2000 MHz with 16 Gbps effective, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile runs at 1500 MHz with 12 Gbps effective.

Both GPUs share the same API support: DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. Both use a PCIe 4.0 x8 bus interface and have no dedicated power connectors. Display outputs are portable device dependent for both. The TDP differs notably: 115 W for the RTX 4060 Mobile versus 45 W for the RTX 3050 A Mobile.

Where Each One Wins

The recorded data shows no benchmark wins for the RTX 3050 A Mobile. Across all 8 head-to-head tests, the RTX 4060 Mobile takes every victory. The RTX 3050 A Mobile's strongest relative showing comes in the DirectX 12 test, where it trails by 24.7%. Its weakest relative performance is in the DirectX 10 test, where it trails by 43%.

The RTX 4060 Mobile's dominance spans all workload types. In compute-oriented tests like Geekbench OpenCL and Passmark GPU Compute, it delivers large margins. In graphics API tests spanning DirectX 9 through DirectX 12, it consistently outperforms. Even in the 2D graphics test, which often favors less complex hardware, the RTX 4060 Mobile leads by 27.9%.

The RTX 3050 A Mobile does hold a position in the database's percentile ranking, sitting above 44% of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 v2 with an average score of 8,743 (0% delta), the NVIDIA Quadro P2200 at 8,686 (0.7% delta), the AMD Radeon R9 M265X at 8,851 (-1.2% delta), and the AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 at 8,863 (-1.3% delta). This places it in a compact performance cluster, but well below the RTX 4060 Mobile's tier.

The RTX 4060 Mobile, by contrast, sits at the 67th percentile and its nearest rivals are much stronger: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 at 22,895 (-0.7% delta), the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT at 22,549 (0.8% delta), the Intel Arc B580 at 23,021 (-1.3% delta), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile at 22,435 (1.3% delta). This shows the RTX 4060 Mobile competing in a class that includes desktop-class discrete GPUs.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in nearly every recorded specification. Memory size is 8 GB for the RTX 4060 Mobile versus 4 GB for the RTX 3050 A Mobile. Both use GDDR6 memory with a 128-bit bus, but memory bandwidth differs: 256.0 GB/s for the RTX 4060 Mobile versus 192.0 GB/s for the RTX 3050 A Mobile.

The compute throughput figures show a clear gap. The RTX 4060 Mobile delivers 11.61 TFLOPS FP32 and FP16 (1:1), while the RTX 3050 A Mobile delivers 4.813 TFLOPS in both. Texture rate is 181.4 GTexel/s for the RTX 4060 Mobile versus 75.21 GTexel/s for the RTX 3050 A Mobile. Pixel rate is 90.72 GPixel/s versus 42.98 GPixel/s.

The chip and process details differ as described above. The RTX 4060 Mobile uses the AD107 chip on a 5 nm TSMC process, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile uses the GA106 chip on an 8 nm Samsung process. Transistor counts are 18,900 million versus 12,000 million, and die sizes are 159 mm² versus 276 mm².

The TDP is 115 W for the RTX 4060 Mobile and 45 W for the RTX 3050 A Mobile. Both have a slot width of IGP and no power connectors. The bus interface is PCIe 4.0 x8 for both.

Production status differs: the RTX 3050 A Mobile is end-of-life, while the RTX 4060 Mobile is active. The release dates also differ. The RTX 4060 Mobile was released on 2023-01-02, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile was released on 2023-12-31. The RTX 3050 A Mobile's predecessor is the GeForce 20 Mobile, while the RTX 4060 Mobile's predecessor is the GeForce 30 Mobile. The RTX 4060 Mobile has a listed successor, the GeForce 50 Mobile.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The largest margin in the head-to-head results is in the Geekbench OpenCL test. The RTX 4060 Mobile scores 89,420 against 52,998 for the RTX 3050 A Mobile, a delta of -40.7% from the perspective of the older GPU. This test is compute-heavy and reflects the substantial difference in shading units and tensor cores.

The Passmark DirectX 10 test shows the second-largest gap. The RTX 4060 Mobile scores 107 versus 61, a 43% difference. The DirectX 11 test follows closely: 157 versus 94, a 40.1% difference. These legacy API tests indicate that the RTX 4060 Mobile's advantage is not limited to modern workloads.

The Passmark GPU Compute test shows the RTX 4060 Mobile at 6,816 versus 4,419, a 35.2% difference. The Passmark G3D test, which aggregates overall 3D performance, shows 17,469 versus 11,664, a 33.2% difference.

The smallest margins appear in the DirectX 12 test and the G2D test. In DirectX 12, the RTX 4060 Mobile scores 73 versus 55, a 24.7% difference. In G2D, it scores 730 versus 526, a 27.9% difference. The DirectX 9 test shows 216 versus 152, a 29.6% difference.

All 8 tests follow the same pattern: the RTX 4060 Mobile wins every time, with margins ranging from 24.7% to 43%. The average benchmark score difference reinforces this, with the RTX 4060 Mobile at 22,729 versus 8,746 for the RTX 3050 A Mobile. This represents roughly a 2.6x gap in average score.

The Verdict

The data presents a decisive result. The RTX 4060 Mobile wins all 8 recorded head-to-head benchmarks, holds a 67th percentile ranking versus 44th for the RTX 3050 A Mobile, and delivers an average benchmark score of 22,729 versus 8,746. Every specification category that affects performance favors the RTX 4060 Mobile: more shading units, more RT cores, more tensor cores, higher clocks, more memory, and higher bandwidth.

For scenarios requiring maximum compute throughput, the RTX 4060 Mobile is the clear choice. Its FP32 throughput of 11.61 TFLOPS more than doubles the 4.813 TFLOPS of the RTX 3050 A Mobile. The 8 GB memory capacity also provides more headroom for large textures and datasets, while the 256.0 GB/s bandwidth moves data 33% faster than the 192.0 GB/s of the older GPU.

The RTX 3050 A Mobile's only advantages are indirect. Its 45 W TDP is substantially lower than the 115 W of the RTX 4060 Mobile, which may matter in thermally constrained laptops. Its end-of-life status means it may appear in lower-cost systems, though pricing is not part of the recorded data.

For users prioritizing raw performance, benchmark results from the database point exclusively to the RTX 4060 Mobile. For users prioritizing power efficiency, the RTX 3050 A Mobile's lower TDP is the differentiating factor, though the performance trade-off is severe: a 40% or larger deficit in most head-to-head tests. The RTX 4060 Mobile also has the advantage of being an active product with a known successor, whereas the RTX 3050 A Mobile is end-of-life.