NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Comparison

The GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile and GeForce RTX 4060 represent two distinct generations of NVIDIA laptop and desktop graphics, separated by a clear architectural shift. The benchmark data shows a decisive overall victory for the RTX 4060, which secures 9 out of 10 head-to-head wins, but the single win for the RTX 3060 Mobile in Vulkan compute is a dramatic outlier that complicates the narrative. Across an average benchmark score, the RTX 3060 Mobile sits at 18,159, while the RTX 4060 posts 17,639, a reversal that underscores how differently these two GPUs perform depending on the workload.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The RTX 4060 dominates the vast majority of the head-to-head tests, often by substantial margins. In the Passmark G3D test, which is a strong proxy for overall gaming performance, the RTX 4060 scores 19,545 against the RTX 3060 Mobile’s 13,230, a delta of -32.3% meaning the 4060 is roughly 47.7% faster. The gap is even more pronounced in legacy DirectX 9, where the RTX 4060 hits 236 versus 146 for the older chip, a 61.6% advantage. This pattern holds across API generations, with the RTX 4060 leading by 37.1% in DirectX 11 (175 vs. 110) and 23.7% in DirectX 12 (76 vs. 58).

Compute workloads also favor the newer architecture heavily. The Passmark GPU Compute score for the RTX 4060 is 9,213, nearly double the RTX 3060 Mobile’s 5,718, a 37.9% delta. In OpenCL, the RTX 4060’s 95,057 Geekbench score outpaces the RTX 3060 Mobile’s 79,483 by 16.4%. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, a modern ray-tracing-adjacent workload, shows the RTX 4060 at 2,302 versus 1,821, a 20.9% lead. Even in 2D performance, the RTX 4060’s Passmark G2D score of 1,037 dwarfs the RTX 3060 Mobile’s 588, a 43.3% delta, indicating faster memory and pixel processing.

The single exception is Geekbench Vulkan, where the RTX 3060 Mobile scores 80,344 against the RTX 4060’s 48,643. This 65.2% delta in favor of the older card is striking, suggesting that the Vulkan driver path on the Ada Lovelace architecture may be less optimized in this specific benchmark, or that the mobile chip’s memory configuration (a 192-bit bus) provides an advantage in certain compute-heavy Vulkan tasks. It is worth remembering this one win does not offset the overall trend; the RTX 4060’s average benchmark score of 17,639 is only 2.9% lower than the RTX 3060 Mobile’s 18,159, but that average is dragged down by the Vulkan outlier.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on fundamentally different nodes and designs. The RTX 3060 Mobile uses the GA106 chip on Samsung’s 8 nm process, containing 12,000 million transistors on a 276 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 43.5M per mm². In contrast, the RTX 4060 employs the AD107 chip on TSMC’s 5 nm node, packing 18,900 million transistors into a much smaller 159 mm² die, achieving a density of 118.9M per mm². This is a massive efficiency jump—the RTX 4060 has 57.5% more transistors in 42.4% less die area.

Core counts tell a different story. The RTX 3060 Mobile has 3,840 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 48 ROPs, while the RTX 4060 has fewer shading units (3,072) and TMUs (96), but the same 48 ROPs. The RTX 3060 Mobile also carries more ray-tracing cores (30 vs. 24) and tensor cores (120 vs. 96). However, the RTX 4060 compensates with much higher clocks: a base of 1,830 MHz and boost of 2,460 MHz versus 900 MHz and 1,425 MHz for the mobile part. This clock advantage drives the RTX 4060 to higher fill rates (118.1 GPixel/s vs. 68.40 GPixel/s) and texture rates (236.2 GTexel/s vs. 171.0 GTexel/s), despite having fewer execution units.

Memory architecture also diverges. The RTX 3060 Mobile uses 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, delivering 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth at 14 Gbps effective. The RTX 4060 steps up to 8 GB of GDDR6 but narrows the bus to 128-bit, resulting in lower bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s at 17 Gbps effective. The RTX 4060 compensates with a smaller, faster cache hierarchy, but the raw bandwidth deficit of 19% is notable. Power consumption is also higher on the RTX 4060 at 115 W TDP versus 80 W for the mobile chip, though the 4060’s process advantage makes it more efficient per transistor.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 4060 is the clear winner for almost all modern gaming and compute scenarios. Its dominance in DirectX 11 and DirectX 12, along with the 3DMark Steel Nomad test, makes it the better choice for current and future titles that rely on these APIs. The 47.7% lead in Passmark G3D and the 37.1% advantage in DirectX 11 translate directly to higher frame rates in most games. The RTX 4060 also excels in compute-heavy applications like CUDA-accelerated rendering or physics, where its Passmark GPU Compute score of 9,213 is 61.1% higher than the RTX 3060 Mobile’s 5,718. For users prioritizing raw 2D performance or legacy DirectX 9 titles, the RTX 4060’s 43.3% and 61.6% leads, respectively, make it the obvious pick.

The RTX 3060 Mobile’s only winning domain is Vulkan compute, as evidenced by its 65.2% lead in Geekbench Vulkan. This could matter for specific workloads like Vulkan-based ray tracing or certain scientific applications that heavily use this API. The mobile card’s wider 192-bit memory bus may also provide an edge in memory-bandwidth-sensitive Vulkan tasks, even if its overall bandwidth is lower than the 4060’s. However, this is a narrow niche—most users will never see a benefit from this single benchmark win.

Specification Differences

The key specification gaps are stark. The RTX 4060 leads on process node (5 nm vs. 8 nm), transistor count (18,900 million vs. 12,000 million), die size efficiency (159 mm² vs. 276 mm²), base clock (1,830 MHz vs. 900 MHz), boost clock (2,460 MHz vs. 1,425 MHz), memory size (8 GB vs. 6 GB), memory speed (17 Gbps vs. 14 Gbps), FP32 performance (15.11 TFLOPS vs. 10.94 TFLOPS), FP16 performance (15.11 TFLOPS vs. 10.94 TFLOPS), pixel rate (118.1 GPixel/s vs. 68.40 GPixel/s), texture rate (236.2 GTexel/s vs. 171.0 GTexel/s), and TDP (115 W vs. 80 W).

The RTX 3060 Mobile counters with a higher shading unit count (3,840 vs. 3,072), more TMUs (120 vs. 96), more RT cores (30 vs. 24), more tensor cores (120 vs. 96), a wider memory bus (192-bit vs. 128-bit), and higher memory bandwidth (336.0 GB/s vs. 272.0 GB/s). The RTX 3060 Mobile also uses a PCIe 4.0 x16 interface, while the RTX 4060 is limited to PCIe 4.0 x8. The RTX 4060 is a dual-slot card with a 1x 12-pin power connector and a suggested PSU of 300 W, whereas the RTX 3060 Mobile has no power connectors (being a laptop part) and its display outputs are portable-device dependent, while the RTX 4060 offers 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. The RTX 4060 has a launch MSRP of 299 USD. Both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher overall benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile has a higher average benchmark score of 18,159 compared to the RTX 4060’s 17,639, a difference of 2.9%. This is driven by the RTX 3060 Mobile’s massive 65.2% lead in Geekbench Vulkan, which inflates its average.

Q: Is the RTX 4060 faster in DirectX 12 gaming?

A: Yes. In the Passmark DirectX 12 test, the RTX 4060 scores 76 versus the RTX 3060 Mobile’s 58, a 23.7% advantage. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the RTX 4060 leads with 2,302 against 1,821, a 20.9% delta.

Q: How does memory bandwidth compare between the two?

A: The RTX 3060 Mobile has higher memory bandwidth at 336.0 GB/s thanks to a 192-bit bus, while the RTX 4060 provides 272.0 GB/s over a 128-bit bus. However, the RTX 4060’s memory runs faster at 17 Gbps effective versus 14 Gbps on the RTX 3060 Mobile.

Q: Which card has more ray-tracing cores?

A: The RTX 3060 Mobile has 30 RT cores, while the RTX 4060 has 24. Despite having fewer RT cores, the RTX 4060’s higher clock speeds and newer architecture allow it to win the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, which is a ray-tracing-heavy workload.

Q: What is the transistor density difference?

A: The RTX 4060 on TSMC’s 5 nm process achieves a transistor density of 118.9M per mm², which is 2.7 times higher than the RTX 3060 Mobile’s 43.5M per mm² on Samsung’s 8 nm node. This allows the RTX 4060 to pack 18,900 million transistors into a 159 mm² die versus 12,000 million in a 276 mm² die.

Q: Which GPU has a higher power draw?

A: The RTX 4060 has a TDP of 115 W, compared to the RTX 3060 Mobile’s 80 W. The RTX 4060 also requires a 300 W suggested PSU and uses a 1x 12-pin power connector, while the mobile part uses no power connectors.