NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile vs NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data splits this mobile GPU comparison into two distinct profiles. The NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile wins seven of the nine recorded head-to-head tests, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile wins two. The margin of victory matters more than the raw count. The RTX A4000 Mobile dominates in compute-oriented workloads, legacy DirectX paths, and general 3D rendering. The RTX 3060 Mobile takes narrow wins in Vulkan and 2D rasterization, but those gains are small enough that they do not overturn the overall performance hierarchy.

Starting with the clearest case, the RTX A4000 Mobile leads by 22.3% in Geekbench OpenCL, posting 97178 against 79483. That is the largest delta in the entire comparison. OpenCL stress tests often reflect raw shader throughput and memory bandwidth, and the A4000 Mobile’s larger silicon and wider memory bus align with that result. Compute workloads, whether they are GPU-accelerated physics, rendering tasks, or data-parallel processing, favor the A4000 Mobile by a substantial margin.

The RTX 3060 Mobile’s win in Geekbench Vulkan is notable: 80344 versus 73002, a 9.1% advantage for the GeForce part. Vulkan is a low-level API that can expose driver optimization differences and scheduling behavior. Here the GeForce 30-series mobile part pulls ahead, which suggests that for Vulkan-based games or Vulkan compute applications, the RTX 3060 Mobile is the stronger choice despite losing elsewhere.

In DirectX 10, 11, and 12 tests, the A4000 Mobile wins by 16.7%, 15.5%, and 13.8% respectively. These are legacy and modern rasterization paths, and the A4000 Mobile’s higher pixel rate and texture rate translate directly into those scores. DirectX 9 shows a smaller 7.5% lead for the A4000 Mobile, reflecting that very old API workloads are less sensitive to the architectural differences between the two chips. The PassMark G3D score, a general 3D performance metric, also goes to the A4000 Mobile at 14796 versus 13230, an 11.8% margin. That result captures overall rendering capability across a mix of workloads.

Compute performance, as measured by PassMark GPU Compute, again favors the A4000 Mobile by 11.8%: 6394 versus 5718. The consistency between OpenCL and PassMark compute reinforces that the A4000 Mobile is the compute-oriented part. The RTX 3060 Mobile’s only other win is in PassMark G2D, where it scores 588 versus 585, a negligible 0.5% difference. That is effectively a tie in 2D rasterization.

Architecture Differences

Both GPUs share the Ampere architecture and an 8 nm Samsung process node, but the silicon underneath differs significantly. The RTX A4000 Mobile uses the GA104 chip with 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die. The RTX 3060 Mobile uses the GA106 chip with 12,000 million transistors on a 276 mm² die. Transistor density is nearly identical (44.4M per mm² versus 43.5M per mm²), but the A4000 Mobile has roughly 45% more transistors and 42% more die area. That larger die is where the extra compute resources come from.

Shader resources scale accordingly. The A4000 Mobile carries 5120 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 80 raster operation units. The RTX 3060 Mobile has 3840 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. The A4000 Mobile also has 40 ray tracing cores versus 30, and 160 tensor cores versus 120. These are not minor increments; they represent a 33% increase in shading units and TMUs, and a 66% increase in ROPs. The A4000 Mobile’s pixel rate is 134.4 GPixel/s versus 68.4 GPixel/s for the RTX 3060 Mobile, a direct consequence of the ROP count. Texture rate is 268.8 GTexel/s versus 171.0 GTexel/s.

Clock speeds tell a different story. The RTX 3060 Mobile has a lower base clock (900 MHz versus 1140 MHz) and a lower boost clock (1425 MHz versus 1680 MHz). Despite the lower clocks, the RTX 3060 Mobile’s memory runs faster: 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) versus 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective). The A4000 Mobile compensates with a wider memory bus: 256 bit versus 192 bit. Final memory bandwidth is 384.0 GB/s for the A4000 Mobile versus 336.0 GB/s for the RTX 3060 Mobile. The A4000 Mobile also has more memory capacity at 8 GB versus 6 GB, both GDDR6.

FP32 and FP16 performance are identical within each GPU (1:1 ratio), but the A4000 Mobile reaches 17.20 TFLOPS in both, while the RTX 3060 Mobile reaches 10.94 TFLOPS. That is a 57% advantage for the A4000 Mobile in raw floating-point throughput. The TDP figures differ too: the A4000 Mobile is rated at 115 W, the RTX 3060 Mobile at 80 W. Both use PCIe 4.0 x16 and have no dedicated power connectors, indicating laptop implementations where the motherboard supplies power. Display outputs are portable device dependent for both.

Both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The release dates are close: the RTX 3060 Mobile launched on 2021-01-11, the A4000 Mobile on 2021-04-11. The A4000 Mobile is end-of-life with a predecessor of Quadro Turing-M and a successor of Ada-MW. The RTX 3060 Mobile is also end-of-life with a predecessor of GeForce 20 Mobile and no listed successor.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear split based on workload priority. For users who prioritize compute performance, legacy DirectX compatibility, and maximum 3D rendering throughput, the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile is the stronger choice. It wins OpenCL by 22.3%, DirectX 10 by 16.7%, DirectX 11 by 15.5%, DirectX 12 by 13.8%, DirectX 9 by 7.5%, PassMark G3D by 11.8%, and PassMark GPU Compute by 11.8%. Its 17.20 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 384.0 GB/s memory bandwidth support those wins. The 8 GB frame buffer also provides more headroom for large datasets or high-resolution textures.

For users who target Vulkan-based applications, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile is the better pick. Its 80344 Geekbench Vulkan score beats the A4000 Mobile’s 73002 by 9.1%. That is not a trivial margin in a low-level API where driver efficiency matters. The RTX 3060 Mobile also matches the A4000 Mobile in 2D performance, with a 588 versus 585 G2D score. The lower 80 W TDP means it can fit into thinner laptops or systems with tighter thermal budgets, though the database does not provide direct thermal or efficiency measurements beyond the TDP figure.

The average benchmark score reinforces the hierarchy: the A4000 Mobile averages 21379 across all recorded tests, landing in the 66th percentile of all GPUs. The RTX 3060 Mobile averages 18159, in the 62nd percentile. The nearest rivals for the A4000 Mobile include the AMD Radeon HD 8970M (0.7% lower), AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL (1.1% lower), NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 (1.2% higher), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 (1.6% lower). The RTX 3060 Mobile’s nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (0.2% higher), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER (0.4% lower), AMD Radeon RX 460 (1.2% higher), and Intel Arc A770M (1.2% higher). Neither GPU is dramatically ahead of its closest competitors; the A4000 Mobile sits just above a cluster of similar performers, and the RTX 3060 Mobile sits just below its nearest rivals.

Pick the A4000 Mobile for compute-heavy professional workloads, legacy API support, and maximum shader throughput. Pick the RTX 3060 Mobile for Vulkan-centric applications and a lower power envelope, accepting lower overall compute and rasterization scores.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher raw compute throughput?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile has 17.20 TFLOPS FP32 and FP16 performance, versus 10.94 TFLOPS for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile. The A4000 Mobile wins the Geekbench OpenCL test by 22.3% and the PassMark GPU Compute test by 11.8%.

Q: Is the RTX 3060 Mobile ever faster than the A4000 Mobile?

A: Yes, in two tests. The RTX 3060 Mobile wins Geekbench Vulkan with 80344 versus 73002 (9.1% faster) and PassMark G2D with 588 versus 585 (0.5% faster). The Vulkan win is the only substantial one.

Q: How do the memory subsystems compare?

A: The A4000 Mobile has 8 GB GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 384.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 3060 Mobile has 6 GB GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus with 336.0 GB/s bandwidth. The A4000 Mobile’s memory runs at 12 Gbps effective, while the RTX 3060 Mobile runs at 14 Gbps effective, but the wider bus gives the A4000 Mobile more total bandwidth.

Q: What is the difference in shader resources?

A: The A4000 Mobile has 5120 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 80 ROPs. The RTX 3060 Mobile has 3840 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. The A4000 Mobile also has 40 RT cores and 160 tensor cores versus 30 RT cores and 120 tensor cores.

Q: Which GPU is better for DirectX 12 games?

A: The A4000 Mobile wins the PassMark DirectX 12 test by 13.8% (66 versus 58). It also wins DirectX 11 by 15.5% and DirectX 10 by 16.7%. The RTX 3060 Mobile does not win any DirectX test in the recorded data.

Q: How do their overall benchmark averages compare?

A: The A4000 Mobile has an average benchmark score of 21379, placing it in the 66th percentile of all GPUs. The RTX 3060 Mobile averages 18159, placing it in the 62nd percentile. The A4000 Mobile’s nearest rival, the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000, is 1.2% higher, while the RTX 3060 Mobile’s nearest rival, the Intel Arc A770M, is 1.2% higher.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The largest single win belongs to the A4000 Mobile in Geekbench OpenCL. At 97178 versus 79483, the delta is 22.3%. This is the most decisive result in the comparison and points to a fundamental throughput advantage. The A4000 Mobile’s 5120 shading units and 384.0 GB/s bandwidth give it a clear edge in OpenCL workloads that scale with shader count and memory bandwidth. The RTX 3060 Mobile’s 3840 shading units and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth cannot close that gap.

The second biggest win for the A4000 Mobile is in PassMark DirectX 10, where it scores 105 versus 90, a 16.7% lead. DirectX 10 is an older API, but the A4000 Mobile’s higher pixel rate (134.4 GPixel/s versus 68.4 GPixel/s) and texture rate (268.8 GTexel/s versus 171.0 GTexel/s) dominate even in legacy paths. DirectX 11 shows a similar pattern: 127 versus 110, a 15.5% win. DirectX 12 narrows slightly to 13.8% (66 versus 58), but the A4000 Mobile still holds a comfortable margin.

The PassMark G3D and GPU Compute tests both show 11.8% wins for the A4000 Mobile. G3D scores are 14796 versus 13230, and GPU Compute scores are 6394 versus 5718. These two tests together confirm that the A4000 Mobile is not just faster in one specific API but across general 3D rendering and compute workloads. The consistency of the 11.8% margin in both tests suggests a stable performance advantage tied to the underlying hardware resources.

DirectX 9 shows the smallest A4000 Mobile win: 157 versus 146, a 7.5% lead. This is still a win, but the margin is less than half of the OpenCL delta. Older APIs may be more bound by driver paths or fill rate limits that are less sensitive to the A4000 Mobile’s additional shader units. Still, the A4000 Mobile wins every DirectX generation tested.

The RTX 3060 Mobile’s Vulkan win is its strongest result. At 80344 versus 73002, the 9.1% advantage is significant. Vulkan’s low-level nature can reward different scheduling and memory access patterns. The RTX 3060 Mobile’s faster memory clock (14 Gbps effective versus 12 Gbps) may contribute here, even though the bus is narrower. This is the only test where the RTX 3060 Mobile beats the A4000 Mobile by more than 1%.

The G2D test is effectively a tie. The RTX 3060 Mobile scores 588, the A4000 Mobile 585, a 0.5% difference. Neither GPU has a meaningful advantage in 2D rasterization, which is expected since 2D workloads are rarely bottlenecked by shader count or memory bandwidth. This result does not change the overall picture.

Summing the head-to-head record, the A4000 Mobile wins 7 tests, the RTX 3060 Mobile wins 2. The A4000 Mobile’s wins include all DirectX variants, OpenCL, G3D, and GPU Compute. The RTX 3060 Mobile’s wins are Vulkan and G2D. The magnitude of the A4000 Mobile’s wins, particularly the 22.3% OpenCL margin, outweighs the RTX 3060 Mobile’s 9.1% Vulkan margin. For users tracking benchmark scores, the A4000 Mobile is the higher-performing GPU overall, with the RTX 3060 Mobile offering a specific Vulkan advantage that may matter in certain applications.