NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile and RTX 5060 Mobile represent two adjacent generations of laptop graphics, and the benchmark data reveals a clear, but not universal, shift in performance. The RTX 5060 Mobile wins eight of the nine head-to-head comparisons, establishing itself as the faster overall GPU, while the RTX 4060 Mobile retains a single, narrow victory in one legacy DirectX 9 workload. Both cards sit at the 67th percentile of all GPUs, and their average benchmark scores are separated by just 1.3%, indicating that the generational leap is real but not transformative in aggregate terms.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 5060 Mobile is the dominant choice for modern workloads, winning every DirectX 10, 11, and 12 test in the comparison. Its lead is most pronounced in the DirectX 12 benchmark, where it scores 87 against the RTX 4060 Mobile’s 73, a 16.1% advantage. This suggests the newer architecture is better optimized for contemporary game engines and API features. The same trend holds for compute-heavy tasks; the RTX 5060 Mobile’s Passmark GPU compute score of 7607 is 10.4% higher than the 6816 posted by the older card, making it the stronger pick for applications that leverage general-purpose GPU processing.

The RTX 5060 Mobile also wins all three of the broader synthetic tests. In Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 96969 versus 89420, a 7.8% margin. Its Geekbench Vulkan result of 96451 is 7.1% ahead of the RTX 4060 Mobile’s 89569. The Passmark G3D score of 18852 versus 17469 gives the younger card a 7.3% win in a test that approximates overall 3D gaming performance. The only area where the RTX 4060 Mobile wins is the Passmark DirectX 9 test, where it scores 216 compared to the RTX 5060 Mobile’s 203, a 6.4% margin. This is a legacy API, so the practical impact is limited to older titles, but it does show the Ada Lovelace architecture retains an edge in that specific scenario.

The RTX 5060 Mobile also excels in the 2D performance test, scoring 876 in Passmark G2D against the RTX 4060 Mobile’s 730, a 16.7% lead. This suggests improvements in desktop composition and display output handling, which can translate to snappier UI responsiveness in everyday use, even if it does not directly affect gaming frame rates.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on fundamentally different architectures. The RTX 4060 Mobile uses the AD107 chip based on Ada Lovelace, while the RTX 5060 Mobile uses the GB206 chip based on Blackwell 2.0. Both are manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC, but the newer chip is physically larger and more complex. The GB206 die measures 181 mm² and contains 21,900 million transistors, compared to the AD107’s 159 mm² and 18,900 million transistors. This results in a slightly higher transistor density for the newer chip, at 121.0M / mm² versus 118.9M / mm².

Core counts favor the RTX 5060 Mobile across the board. It has 3328 shading units, 104 texture mapping units, 26 ray tracing cores, and 104 tensor cores, while the RTX 4060 Mobile has 3072 shading units, 96 TMUs, 24 RT cores, and 96 tensor cores. Both cards have 48 ROPs, so pixel output capability is a wash in terms of hardware units. However, clock speeds tell a different story. The RTX 4060 Mobile has a much higher base clock of 1545 MHz and a boost clock of 1890 MHz, whereas the RTX 5060 Mobile runs at a base of 952 MHz and a boost of 1455 MHz. Despite the lower clocks, the RTX 5060 Mobile manages to win most benchmarks, indicating the Blackwell architecture is more efficient per clock.

Memory configuration is a significant differentiator. Both cards have 8 GB of memory on a 128-bit bus, but the RTX 5060 Mobile uses faster GDDR7 memory. The RTX 4060 Mobile uses GDDR6 with a memory clock of 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) and a bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s. The RTX 5060 Mobile’s GDDR7 runs at 1500 MHz (24 Gbps effective), delivering a much higher bandwidth of 384.0 GB/s. This 50% increase in memory bandwidth is likely a key factor in the newer card’s higher scores in compute and modern API tests.

The power profile is also starkly different. The RTX 5060 Mobile has a TDP of 45 W, while the RTX 4060 Mobile is rated at 115 W. Despite the lower power envelope, the newer card is faster, which speaks to a major efficiency improvement. The bus interface has been upgraded from PCIe 4.0 x8 on the RTX 4060 Mobile to PCIe 5.0 x16 on the RTX 5060 Mobile, which can benefit data transfer in systems that support the newer standard. Both cards support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The largest single win for the RTX 5060 Mobile comes in the Passmark DirectX 12 test, where it scores 87 against 73, a 16.1% advantage. This is a strong indicator of future-proofing, as DirectX 12 is the standard for modern AAA titles. The second-largest margin is in the Passmark G2D test, with the RTX 5060 Mobile winning 876 to 730, a 16.7% lead. The Passmark DirectX 10 test shows a 10.1% gap (119 vs 107), and the Passmark GPU compute test shows a 10.4% gap (7607 vs 6816). These results suggest that the RTX 5060 Mobile’s architectural improvements are most impactful in compute and newer graphics APIs.

In the Geekbench tests, the RTX 5060 Mobile wins OpenCL by 7.8% (96969 vs 89420) and Vulkan by 7.1% (96451 vs 89569). The Passmark DirectX 11 test is closer, with the RTX 5060 Mobile winning 168 to 157, a 6.5% gap. The Passmark G3D score shows a 7.3% difference, with 18852 for the RTX 5060 Mobile and 17469 for the RTX 4060 Mobile.

The RTX 4060 Mobile’s only victory is in the Passmark DirectX 9 test, where it scores 216 versus 203, a 6.4% margin. This is a notable result because it shows the older architecture has a specific strength in legacy workloads, but it is a narrow win in a test that is increasingly irrelevant to modern software. The overall average benchmark scores reflect the close competition: the RTX 4060 Mobile averages 22729, while the RTX 5060 Mobile averages 22435, meaning the older card actually has a 1.3% higher aggregate score, driven by its DirectX 9 win and the fact that the newer card’s wins are spread across many tests.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in overall gaming performance?

A: The RTX 5060 Mobile wins the Passmark G3D test with a score of 18852, which is 7.3% higher than the RTX 4060 Mobile’s 17469, indicating better overall 3D gaming performance.

Q: Is the RTX 4060 Mobile better at anything?

A: Yes, the RTX 4060 Mobile wins the Passmark DirectX 9 test, scoring 216 compared to the RTX 5060 Mobile’s 203, a 6.4% advantage. This is its only head-to-head win.

Q: How much faster is the RTX 5060 Mobile in compute workloads?

A: The RTX 5060 Mobile scores 7607 in Passmark GPU compute, which is 10.4% higher than the RTX 4060 Mobile’s 6816.

Q: Does the RTX 5060 Mobile have a memory bandwidth advantage?

A: Yes, the RTX 5060 Mobile has a bandwidth of 384.0 GB/s with GDDR7 memory, while the RTX 4060 Mobile has 256.0 GB/s with GDDR6 memory.

Q: What is the difference in power consumption?

A: The RTX 5060 Mobile has a TDP of 45 W, while the RTX 4060 Mobile has a TDP of 115 W.

Q: Do both GPUs support the same APIs?

A: Yes, both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Specification Differences

The core specification differences between the two GPUs are substantial. The RTX 5060 Mobile uses the GB206 chip on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture, while the RTX 4060 Mobile uses the AD107 chip on Ada Lovelace. The newer chip is larger, with a die size of 181 mm² and 21,900 million transistors, versus 159 mm² and 18,900 million for the older chip. The RTX 5060 Mobile has more shading units (3328 vs 3072), more TMUs (104 vs 96), more RT cores (26 vs 24), and more tensor cores (104 vs 96). Both have 48 ROPs.

Clock speeds are inverted, with the RTX 4060 Mobile running at 1545 MHz base and 1890 MHz boost, while the RTX 5060 Mobile runs at 952 MHz base and 1455 MHz boost. Memory type differs, with the RTX 5060 Mobile using GDDR7 at 24 Gbps effective, and the RTX 4060 Mobile using GDDR6 at 16 Gbps effective. Memory bandwidth is 384.0 GB/s for the RTX 5060 Mobile and 256.0 GB/s for the RTX 4060 Mobile. The TDP is significantly lower on the RTX 5060 Mobile at 45 W versus 115 W. The bus interface has been upgraded to PCIe 5.0 x16 on the RTX 5060 Mobile, while the RTX 4060 Mobile uses PCIe 4.0 x8.