NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile vs NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile Comparison

The data shows a clear generational clash between two mobile NVIDIA GPUs: the GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile, built on Ada Lovelace, and the RTX A4000 Mobile, an Ampere-generation professional part. Across the nine head-to-head benchmark comparisons, the GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile secures eight wins, while the RTX A4000 Mobile takes only one. The average benchmark scores reflect this, with the RTX 4060 Mobile posting 22,729 against the A4000 Mobile's 21,379. The overall performance percentiles are similarly close, with the GeForce card at the 67th percentile of all GPUs and the RTX A4000 at the 66th.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most decisive victory for the GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile comes in the Passmark DirectX 9 test, where it scores 216 versus the RTX A4000 Mobile's 157, a massive 37.6% advantage. This is a legacy API test, but the margin is stark. Following that, the GeForce card wins the Passmark DirectX 11 test by 23.6%, with scores of 157 against 127. These two results show that the Ada Lovelace architecture handles older DirectX workloads with far greater efficiency than the Ampere-based professional card.

In the Geekbench Vulkan test, the RTX 4060 Mobile again dominates, scoring 89,569 against the A4000 Mobile's 73,002, a 22.7% delta. This is a significant win in a modern, low-level graphics API. The Passmark G2D test also favors the GeForce card, with a 730 score versus 585, a 24.8% difference, indicating better 2D and desktop composition performance. The primary 3D gaming benchmark, Passmark G3D, shows the RTX 4060 Mobile at 17,469, which is 18.1% ahead of the A4000 Mobile's 14,796.

The newer DirectX 12 test shows a narrower but still clear win for the GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile, which scores 73 against the A4000 Mobile's 66, a 10.6% advantage. The Passmark DirectX 10 result is the closest contest, with the RTX 4060 Mobile edging out a 1.9% win (107 versus 105). In compute workloads, the GeForce card leads again in Passmark GPU Compute, scoring 6,816 versus 6,394, a 6.6% difference.

The single benchmark where the RTX A4000 Mobile wins is Geekbench OpenCL. Here, the professional card scores 97,178 against the RTX 4060 Mobile's 89,420, a -8% delta in favor of the A4000. This is an interesting outlier, suggesting that in raw OpenCL compute throughput, the A4000 Mobile's larger chip and higher shading unit count can overcome the architectural advantages of the newer GeForce part. However, it is the only test where the A4000 Mobile comes out ahead, and it does not compensate for the losses elsewhere.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs represent different design philosophies and fabrication generations. The GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile uses the AD107 chip built on a 5 nm process at TSMC, while the RTX A4000 Mobile uses the GA104 chip built on an 8 nm process at Samsung. The transistor counts are similar—18,900 million for the AD107 versus 17,400 million for the GA104—but the die sizes are vastly different. The AD107 is a compact 159 mm², while the GA104 is a large 392 mm². This results in a transistor density of 118.9M per mm² for the Ada chip versus just 44.4M per mm² for the Ampere chip, showing the massive density advantage of the 5 nm node.

The compute configurations tell a different story. The RTX A4000 Mobile has 5,120 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, while the RTX 4060 Mobile has 3,072 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. The A4000 Mobile also has more RT cores (40 versus 24) and more tensor cores (160 versus 96). Despite the higher raw component counts, the RTX 4060 Mobile's higher clocks—1545 MHz base and 1890 MHz boost versus 1140 MHz base and 1680 MHz boost—narrow the gap. The FP32 compute figures show this: the A4000 Mobile reaches 17.20 TFLOPS, but the RTX 4060 Mobile still manages 11.61 TFLOPS, a smaller deficit than the core counts might suggest.

Memory configurations also diverge. Both cards have 8 GB of GDDR6, but the RTX A4000 Mobile uses a 256-bit bus, yielding 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth, while the RTX 4060 Mobile is limited to a 128-bit bus and 256.0 GB/s. The memory clocks differ as well, with the RTX 4060 Mobile running at 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) versus 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) for the A4000. The bus interface is another differentiator: the RTX 4060 Mobile uses PCIe 4.0 x8, while the A4000 Mobile uses PCIe 4.0 x16. Both cards share the same power envelope at 115 W TDP and both rely on portable-device-dependent display outputs with no power connectors.

The Verdict

From the benchmark data, the GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile is the superior choice for most general-purpose and gaming workloads. It wins eight of nine tests, with particularly strong showings in DirectX 9 (37.6% ahead), DirectX 11 (23.6% ahead), and Vulkan (22.7% ahead). The architecture's efficiency on the 5 nm node clearly pays off in both legacy and modern graphics APIs, and even in G3D, the primary 3D performance metric, it leads by 18.1%. For users who prioritize gaming, real-time graphics, or general compute, the RTX 4060 Mobile is the data-supported pick.

The RTX A4000 Mobile's single win in Geekbench OpenCL indicates that it retains an edge in specific compute scenarios that favor its larger shading unit count (5,120 versus 3,072) and higher FP32 throughput (17.20 TFLOPS versus 11.61 TFLOPS). However, this advantage does not translate into wins in the Passmark compute test, where the RTX 4060 Mobile leads by 6.6%. The A4000 Mobile also holds a significant memory bandwidth advantage (384.0 GB/s versus 256.0 GB/s), but the benchmarks suggest this is not enough to overcome the architectural efficiency of the Ada Lovelace design.

Professionals who specifically rely on OpenCL acceleration might find the RTX A4000 Mobile compelling, but the data indicates that the GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile is the better-rounded performer. The RTX 4060 Mobile is also the active product, while the A4000 Mobile is marked as end-of-life. For users buying new hardware today, the RTX 4060 Mobile offers superior performance in the vast majority of tested workloads, a newer architecture, and a production status that suggests longer-term support.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in several key specifications. The process node is 5 nm for the RTX 4060 Mobile versus 8 nm for the A4000 Mobile. The foundry is TSMC for the GeForce part and Samsung for the RTX part. The chip designs are AD107 versus GA104, and the architectures are Ada Lovelace versus Ampere. Transistor counts are 18,900 million versus 17,400 million, with die sizes of 159 mm² versus 392 mm². Transistor density is 118.9M per mm² versus 44.4M per mm².

Clock speeds are higher on the RTX 4060 Mobile: base 1545 MHz versus 1140 MHz, and boost 1890 MHz versus 1680 MHz. Memory clocks are 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) versus 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective). The memory bus width is 128-bit versus 256-bit, and bandwidth is 256.0 GB/s versus 384.0 GB/s. Shading units are 3,072 versus 5,120, TMUs are 96 versus 160, ROPs are 48 versus 80, RT cores are 24 versus 40, and tensor cores are 96 versus 160. Pixel rate is 90.72 GPixel/s versus 134.4 GPixel/s, texture rate is 181.4 GTexel/s versus 268.8 GTexel/s, and FP32 compute is 11.61 TFLOPS versus 17.20 TFLOPS. The bus interface is PCIe 4.0 x8 versus PCIe 4.0 x16. Production status is Active versus End-of-life, with release dates of 2023-01-02 versus 2021-04-11.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins the majority of the head-to-head benchmarks?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile wins 8 of the 9 benchmark comparisons, with the only loss coming in the Geekbench OpenCL test.

Q: How much faster is the RTX 4060 Mobile in the Passmark DirectX 9 test?

A: The RTX 4060 Mobile scores 216 against the RTX A4000 Mobile's 157, a 37.6% advantage.

Q: What is the single benchmark where the RTX A4000 Mobile wins?

A: The RTX A4000 Mobile wins the Geekbench OpenCL test, scoring 97,178 versus the RTX 4060 Mobile's 89,420, an 8% difference.

Q: What are the respective process nodes for the two GPUs?

A: The GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile uses a 5 nm process at TSMC, while the RTX A4000 Mobile uses an 8 nm process at Samsung.

Q: How do the memory bandwidths compare?

A: The RTX A4000 Mobile has a 256-bit bus with 384.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the RTX 4060 Mobile has a 128-bit bus with 256.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: What is the production status of each card?

A: The GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile is listed as Active, while the RTX A4000 Mobile is listed as End-of-life.