NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Max-Q vs NVIDIA N1X 40SM Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The recorded data presents an unusual comparison. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Max-Q is a dedicated mobile GPU from the GeForce 40-series, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture. The NVIDIA N1X 40SM is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) from the Blackwell 2.0 generation. The database shows no head-to-head benchmark results between these two parts, and neither has any recorded individual benchmark scores. The win count for each is zero.

Without direct benchmark data, the use-case split must be inferred from their hardware configurations and target platforms. The RTX 4060 Max-Q uses the AD107 chip on a 5 nm TSMC process, with 18,900 million transistors on a 159 mm² die. It is designed for discrete mobile graphics, drawing a 35 W TDP. The N1X 40SM uses the GB20B chip, also on a 5 nm TSMC process, with a larger 382 mm² die, though its transistor count is listed as unknown. It is an IGP, meaning it is integrated into a processor package, with its power draw also listed as unknown.

The RTX 4060 Max-Q holds the advantage in software compatibility. Its API support includes DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The N1X 40SM lists its API support as N/A for DirectX, OpenGL, and Vulkan. This makes the RTX 4060 Max-Q the appropriate choice for gaming and general GPU-accelerated applications that rely on these standard graphics APIs. The N1X 40SM, with a 128 GB memory pool and a 256-bit bus, appears oriented toward large-memory workloads that do not depend on conventional graphics APIs, possibly compute or AI inference tasks.

The RTX 4060 Max-Q also wins on power efficiency for mobile usage. Its 35 W TDP is a specified figure, whereas the N1X 40SM has no TDP listed. For thin-and-light laptops, the RTX 4060 Max-Q provides a known power envelope. The N1X 40SM, with no power figure, offers no comparable data for thermal design planning.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural generations. The RTX 4060 Max-Q is Ada Lovelace, the GeForce 40 Mobile generation. The N1X 40SM is Blackwell 2.0, part of the Blackwell IGP (N1x) generation. This generational gap explains several structural differences.

The chip implementations differ substantially. The RTX 4060 Max-Q uses AD107, a small chip at 159 mm², with 18,900 million transistors. The N1X 40SM uses GB20B, a much larger chip at 382 mm², more than double the die area. The transistor density for the RTX 4060 Max-Q is 118.9M per mm², while the N1X 40SM has no density figure recorded.

Compute resources are heavily skewed toward the N1X 40SM. The RTX 4060 Max-Q has 3,072 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 ROPs. The N1X 40SM has 5,120 shading units, 320 TMUs, and 40 ROPs. The N1X 40SM has more shaders and far more texture units, but fewer ROPs. For ray tracing, the RTX 4060 Max-Q has 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores. The N1X 40SM has 40 RT cores and 160 tensor cores, a clear increase in both.

Clock speeds tell a different story. The RTX 4060 Max-Q has a base clock of 1140 MHz and a boost clock of 1470 MHz. The N1X 40SM has a lower base clock of 741 MHz but a much higher boost clock of 2346 MHz. This suggests the N1X 40SM is designed to ramp aggressively under load, while the RTX 4060 Max-Q operates in a more conservative range for its 35 W envelope.

Memory architecture is a major divergence. The RTX 4060 Max-Q has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, with memory at 2000 MHz and 16 Gbps effective, delivering 256.0 GB/s bandwidth. The N1X 40SM has 128 GB of LPDDR5X on a 256-bit bus, with memory at 1067 MHz and 8.5 Gbps effective, delivering 273.2 GB/s bandwidth. The N1X 40SM has 16 times the memory capacity and a wider bus, though its bandwidth advantage is modest at roughly 6.7% higher.

The bus interface also differs. The RTX 4060 Max-Q uses PCIe 4.0 x8, while the N1X 40SM uses PCIe 5.0 x16. The N1X 40SM has a newer and wider interface, which matters for data transfer to the host processor.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains no head-to-head benchmark results for these two GPUs. The headToHeadBenchmarks field is empty, and both items have zero wins. Consequently, there are no exact scores to compare directly. The analysis must rely on the recorded specification data and the calculated rates derived from those specifications.

The raw compute rates favor the N1X 40SM substantially. The RTX 4060 Max-Q delivers 9.032 TFLOPS FP32 and 9.032 TFLOPS FP16, with a 1:1 ratio. The N1X 40SM delivers 24.02 TFLOPS FP32 and 24.02 TFLOPS FP16, also at 1:1. The N1X 40SM is roughly 2.66 times higher in raw FP32 throughput. This is a large gap, driven by the higher shading unit count and the higher boost clock.

Texture and pixel rates follow the same pattern. The RTX 4060 Max-Q has a texture rate of 141.1 GTexel/s and a pixel rate of 70.56 GPixel/s. The N1X 40SM has a texture rate of 750.7 GTexel/s, about 5.3 times higher, and a pixel rate of 93.84 GPixel/s, about 33% higher. The texture rate advantage is particularly pronounced, reflecting the 320 TMUs versus 96.

The memory bandwidth comparison is close. The RTX 4060 Max-Q has 256.0 GB/s, while the N1X 40SM has 273.2 GB/s. The N1X 40SM leads by 17.2 GB/s, or roughly 6.7%. The RTX 4060 Max-Q uses faster memory chips (16 Gbps effective) but on a narrower 128-bit bus. The N1X 40SM uses slower chips (8.5 Gbps effective) but on a 256-bit bus, which compensates.

The clock behavior is worth noting. The N1X 40SM's boost clock of 2346 MHz is about 59.6% higher than the RTX 4060 Max-Q's 1470 MHz. The RTX 4060 Max-Q's base clock of 1140 MHz is about 53.8% higher than the N1X 40SM's 741 MHz. The N1X 40SM relies on a much larger boost range to reach its performance, suggesting it has more thermal headroom or a different power management strategy, though its TDP is unknown.

The Verdict

The data indicates a clear split by use case. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Max-Q is the only one of the two with standard graphics API support, including DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. Any workload that depends on these APIs, such as gaming, 3D rendering, or video encoding with standard frameworks, must use the RTX 4060 Max-Q. The N1X 40SM has no API support listed, so it cannot be considered for those tasks.

The NVIDIA N1X 40SM is the compute-oriented part. Its 128 GB memory capacity, 5,120 shading units, 160 tensor cores, and 24.02 TFLOPS FP32 make it a candidate for large-memory compute workloads, especially those that can use raw FP32 or FP16 throughput without relying on DirectX or Vulkan. The 273.2 GB/s bandwidth, while not dramatically higher than the RTX 4060 Max-Q's 256.0 GB/s, supports its large memory pool.

For a mobile gaming laptop, the RTX 4060 Max-Q is the appropriate choice. Its 35 W TDP is a known quantity, and its 8 GB GDDR6 with 256.0 GB/s bandwidth is adequate for conventional graphics workloads. For a compute platform with massive memory requirements, the N1X 40SM is the one to select, provided the software stack does not require the standard graphics APIs that it lacks.

The RTX 4060 Max-Q is the safer option for compatibility. The N1X 40SM is the higher-throughput option for raw compute, at 24.02 TFLOPS versus 9.032 TFLOPS, but its software ecosystem is undefined in the database. The choice hinges on whether the workload requires standard APIs or can use the raw compute capabilities.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher raw FP32 compute performance?

A: The NVIDIA N1X 40SM has 24.02 TFLOPS FP32, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Max-Q has 9.032 TFLOPS FP32. The N1X 40SM is about 2.66 times higher.

Q: Do both GPUs support DirectX 12 Ultimate?

A: No. The RTX 4060 Max-Q supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The N1X 40SM lists its API support as N/A for all three.

Q: What is the memory capacity difference?

A: The RTX 4060 Max-Q has 8 GB of GDDR6, while the N1X 40SM has 128 GB of LPDDR5X. The N1X 40SM has 16 times the capacity.

Q: How do their boost clocks compare?

A: The RTX 4060 Max-Q has a boost clock of 1470 MHz. The N1X 40SM has a boost clock of 2346 MHz, which is about 59.6% higher.

Q: Which GPU has higher memory bandwidth?

A: The N1X 40SM has 273.2 GB/s, while the RTX 4060 Max-Q has 256.0 GB/s. The N1X 40SM leads by 17.2 GB/s, or roughly 6.7%.

Q: What are the power connector requirements?

A: Both GPUs are listed as IGP slot width with no power connectors. The RTX 4060 Max-Q has a 35 W TDP, while the N1X 40SM has an unknown TDP.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Max-Q | NVIDIA N1X 40SM |

|---|---|---|

| Architecture | Ada Lovelace | Blackwell 2.0 |

| Generation | GeForce 40 Mobile | Blackwell IGP (N1x) |

| Chip | AD107 | GB20B |

| Process Node | 5 nm (TSMC) | 5 nm (TSMC) |

| Die Size | 159 mm² | 382 mm² |

| Transistors | 18,900 million | unknown |

| Base Clock | 1140 MHz | 741 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1470 MHz | 2346 MHz |

| Memory Size | 8 GB GDDR6 | 128 GB LPDDR5X |

| Memory Bus Width | 128 bit | 256 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 256.0 GB/s | 273.2 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 3072 | 5120 |

| TMUs | 96 | 320 |

| ROPs | 48 | 40 |

| RT Cores | 24 | 40 |

| Tensor Cores | 96 | 160 |

| Pixel Rate | 70.56 GPixel/s | 93.84 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 141.1 GTexel/s | 750.7 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 9.032 TFLOPS | 24.02 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 9.032 TFLOPS (1:1) | 24.02 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 35 W | unknown |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 4.0 x8 | PCIe 5.0 x16 |

| DirectX | 12 Ultimate (12_2) | N/A |

| OpenGL | 4.6 | N/A |

| Vulkan | 1.4 | N/A |

| Release Date | 2023-01-02 | 2026-05-31 |

| Production Status | Active | Active |