NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 vs NVIDIA T400 4 GB Comparison

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 vs NVIDIA T400 4 GB: a head-to-head comparison of two end-of-life NVIDIA parts from different eras. The RTX 4060, a GeForce 40-series consumer GPU built on Ada Lovelace, is pitted against the T400, a Turing-based workstation card. The benchmark data available shows a stark performance gulf, with the RTX 4060 winning both shared tests by margins that are difficult to overstate. This analysis will dissect the numbers, architectural differences, and specification gaps that define this matchup.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two GPUs share only two benchmark results in the data set: Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan. In both, the RTX 4060 is the clear winner, and the magnitude of its victory is the defining story here.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 4060 scores 95,057 against the T400's 17,320. This translates to a delta of 448.8% in favor of the RTX 4060. To put that in perspective, the RTX 4060 is not merely faster; it is performing at a level that is more than five times higher than the T400. This is not a close contest or a marginal improvement; it is a generational leap that renders the T400 non-competitive in any compute-heavy OpenCL workload.

The Geekbench Vulkan result, while less extreme, still shows a decisive advantage. The RTX 4060 scores 48,643, while the T400 manages 16,263. The delta here is 199.1%, meaning the RTX 4060 is roughly three times faster. This large gap in a modern graphics API like Vulkan suggests the architectural differences between Ada Lovelace and Turing are significant, especially in driver overhead and shader throughput. The RTX 4060's newer design handles the API's demands far more efficiently.

The data shows a clean sweep: 2 wins for the RTX 4060, 0 for the T400. The T400's average benchmark score of 16,792 places it in the 60th percentile of all GPUs, with its nearest rivals being the NVIDIA Tesla M4 (score 16,932, deltaPct -0.8) and the AMD Radeon HD 7970M (score 17,019, deltaPct -1.3). This shows the T400 is a competent, mid-range performer for its era. However, the RTX 4060, with an average score of 17,639, sits in the 61st percentile. Its closest rivals are the AMD Radeon HD 7790 (score 17,666, deltaPct -0.2) and the AMD Radeon 780M (score 17,588, deltaPct 0.3). While their percentile rankings are similar, the head-to-head tests reveal the true scale of the performance gap, which the average scores obscure due to the different benchmark sets used.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 has an average benchmark score of 17,639, compared to the NVIDIA T400 4 GB's 16,792. This gives the RTX 4060 a lead of about 5%.

Q: How much faster is the RTX 4060 in the Geekbench Vulkan test?

A: The RTX 4060 scores 48,643 in Geekbench Vulkan, which is 199.1% higher than the T400's score of 16,263. This indicates the RTX 4060 is roughly three times faster in this specific test.

Q: What is the transistor density difference between the two GPUs?

A: The RTX 4060's chip, AD107, has a transistor density of 118.9M / mm². The T400's chip, TU117, has a density of 23.5M / mm². This shows the RTX 4060 packs transistors far more densely.

Q: Does the T400 have any architectural features that the RTX 4060 lacks?

A: No. The RTX 4060 has both 24 RT Cores and 96 Tensor Cores, while the T400 has 0 of each. These are critical for ray tracing and AI-accelerated workloads.

Q: Which GPU has a higher pixel fill rate?

A: The RTX 4060 has a pixel rate of 118.1 GPixel/s, which is substantially higher than the T400's pixel rate of 22.80 GPixel/s. This indicates the RTX 4060 can fill the screen with pixels much faster.

Q: What is the difference in their memory bandwidth?

A: The RTX 4060 has a memory bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s using a 128-bit bus. The T400 has a bandwidth of 80.00 GB/s on a 64-bit bus. The RTX 4060 has more than three times the memory bandwidth.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on fundamentally different architectures, which explains the massive performance disparity. The RTX 4060 is based on Ada Lovelace, while the T400 is based on the older Turing architecture. This is not a simple clock speed difference; it is a redesign of the GPU core.

The most significant architectural difference is the inclusion of dedicated hardware in the RTX 4060. It features 24 RT Cores for hardware-accelerated ray tracing and 96 Tensor Cores for AI processing and DLSS. The T400 has no RT Cores and no Tensor Cores (listed as null), making it incapable of hardware ray tracing and lacking the tensor throughput for modern AI features. This alone makes the RTX 4060 a more future-proof and capable GPU for modern games and creative applications.

The manufacturing process is another critical divider. The RTX 4060 is built on a 5 nm process at TSMC, while the T400 uses a 12 nm process, also at TSMC. This process shrink is the primary reason for the RTX 4060's superior transistor density: 118.9M / mm² versus 23.5M / mm². The RTX 4060's AD107 chip contains 18,900 million transistors on a 159 mm² die. In contrast, the T400's TU117 chip has only 4,700 million transistors on a larger 200 mm² die. This means the RTX 4060 packs nearly four times the transistors into a smaller physical space.

The FP32 and FP16 compute performances also highlight the architectural gulf. The RTX 4060 delivers 15.11 TFLOPS of FP32 and 15.11 TFLOPS of FP16 (at a 1:1 ratio). The T400, by comparison, offers only 1,094.4 GFLOPS (1.09 TFLOPS) of FP32 and 2.189 TFLOPS of FP16 (at a 2:1 ratio). The RTX 4060 has over 13 times the FP32 compute power. The difference in FP16 ratios also indicates a different design philosophy, with the RTX 4060 offering full-rate FP16 throughput.

Specification Differences

Beyond the architecture, the raw specifications paint a clear picture of two products aimed at different performance tiers.

• Shading Units: The RTX 4060 has 3072 shading units, while the T400 has only 384. This is an 8-to-1 difference in raw shader count.
• Texture Mapping Units (TMUs): The RTX 4060 has 96 TMUs, compared to the T400's 24 TMUs. This directly impacts texture fill rate.
• Render Output Units (ROPs): The RTX 4060 has 48 ROPs, while the T400 has 16 ROPs. This affects pixel fill rate and final output resolution.
• Memory: The RTX 4060 comes with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s. The T400 has 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 80.00 GB/s. The RTX 4060 has double the memory capacity and over three times the bandwidth.
• Clocks: The RTX 4060 has a base clock of 1830 MHz and a boost clock of 2460 MHz. The T400 has a base clock of 420 MHz and a boost clock of 1425 MHz. Even at boost, the T400's clock is significantly lower than the RTX 4060's base clock.
• Power and Physical: The RTX 4060 has a TDP of 115 W and requires a 1x 12-pin power connector, with a suggested PSU of 300 W. It is a Dual-slot card. The T400 has a TDP of just 30 W, requires no power connectors, and has a suggested PSU of 200 W. It is a Single-slot card.
• Bus Interface: The RTX 4060 uses PCIe 4.0 x8, while the T400 uses the older PCIe 3.0 x16 interface.
• Display Outputs: The RTX 4060 offers 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. The T400 offers 3x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a.
• API Support: The RTX 4060 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the T400 is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1). This is a key difference for feature support in the latest games.
• Release Date: The RTX 4060 was released on 2023-05-17, while the T400 was released earlier on 2021-05-05.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is a dramatically more powerful GPU than the NVIDIA T400 4 GB. Its wins in both head-to-head benchmarks, by margins of 448.8% and 199.1%, are supported by its overwhelming advantages in core count, memory bandwidth, and architectural features like RT and Tensor cores.

The T400, with its low 30 W TDP, single-slot design, and lack of power connectors, is clearly optimized for minimal power draw and physical footprint. Its performance profile, with a 60th percentile ranking and an average score of 16,792, suggests it is a capable entry-level workstation card for basic display tasks or light compute. However, it is not in the same league as the RTX 4060.

The RTX 4060, despite its higher power requirements and dual-slot size, is the only choice for anyone needing serious graphics performance. Its 61st percentile ranking and average score of 17,639 do not fully capture its dominance in the shared tests. The presence of RT and Tensor cores makes it suitable for modern gaming, 3D rendering, and AI-accelerated applications. Any user selecting between these two should choose the RTX 4060 if performance is the primary criterion, as the T400's only advantages are its lower power draw and smaller size. The benchmark results indicate that the RTX 4060 is the superior product in almost every measurable way.