NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 occupies a specific position in the desktop graphics market, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD107 chip fabricated on TSMC's 5 nm process. Its average benchmark score of 23181 places it at the 66th percentile among all GPUs, indicating it sits comfortably in the mid-range tier rather than at the enthusiast level. The data shows a launch MSRP of 299 USD, and the card is now marked as end-of-life, succeeding the GeForce 30 series and preceding the GeForce 50 series. For gamers targeting 1080p resolution with high refresh rates, the RTX 4060 delivers scores that align with this use case, while those seeking 1440p performance will find it adequate for less demanding titles but should temper expectations for maximum settings in the latest releases.

Who Should Consider It

The RTX 4060 is best suited for gamers building a system around 1080p gaming, where its 15.11 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 236.2 GTexel/s texture rate provide ample headroom for modern titles. Benchmark results show a PassMark G3D score of 19545, which places it roughly equal to the AMD Radeon RX 6600M (deltaPct -0.6%) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti (deltaPct -0.7%), while being marginally ahead of the Intel Arc B580 (deltaPct 0.7%) and AMD Radeon 760M (deltaPct 0.8%). This clustering suggests the card delivers consistent mid-range performance without a clear advantage over its closest competitors, making it a reasonable choice for users upgrading from older GeForce 30-series hardware. At 1440p, the 8 GB VRAM and 272.0 GB/s bandwidth will handle esports titles and older AAA games comfortably, but the 128-bit memory bus may become a limiting factor in texture-heavy scenes, leading to occasional frame pacing issues in newer releases. For creators, the Geekbench OpenCL score of 101030 and Vulkan score of 98095 indicate solid compute performance for GPU-accelerated workflows, though the 8 GB frame buffer will constrain large 3D rendering projects or 4K video editing timelines that exceed this capacity. The card's dual-slot design and 240 mm length (9.4 inches) make it compatible with most mid-tower cases, and the 115 W TDP means it does not require exotic cooling solutions, fitting into systems with modest airflow.

Ray Tracing and Feature Set

The RTX 4060 includes 24 RT cores dedicated to ray tracing workloads, a feature set that is fully supported by the DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) API, along with OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4 compliance. In synthetic benchmarks, the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test yields a score of 2302, which provides a baseline for DirectX 12 ray-traced workloads, though the data does not include separate ray tracing-specific tests. The 96 tensor cores enable AI-accelerated features such as DLSS, which can offset the performance cost of ray tracing in supported games, allowing players to enable RT effects at 1080p while maintaining playable frame rates. The PassMark DirectX 12 score of 76 is notably lower than the DirectX 11 score of 175, suggesting that the card's architecture is more optimized for older API paths, but the DirectX 12 Ultimate support ensures compatibility with future titles that leverage mesh shaders and variable rate shading. The 96 tensor cores also support compute workloads beyond gaming, including machine learning inference tasks, though the 15.11 TFLOPS FP16 (1:1) performance indicates a balanced approach to both FP32 and FP16 operations. The lack of a dedicated DLSS version or ray tracing benchmark score in the data means conclusions must be drawn from the core count and API support, which show a capable but not class-leading implementation compared to higher-tier Ada Lovelace parts.

Power and Cooling

The RTX 4060 carries a TDP of 115 W, which is modest for a discrete graphics card and allows for a compact dual-slot cooler design measuring 40 mm in width (1.6 inches). The suggested PSU rating is 300 W, making this card suitable for systems with older or lower-wattage power supplies, though the power connector requirement is a single 12-pin, which may necessitate an adapter for power supplies lacking native 12VHPWR outputs. The 115 W TDP also means the card produces less heat than higher-end GeForce 40-series models, reducing the strain on case cooling and enabling quieter operation under load. The pixel rate of 118.1 GPixel/s and texture rate of 236.2 GTexel/s are achieved within this power envelope, indicating efficient power utilization relative to the performance delivered. The 5 nm TSMC process with 18,900 million transistors on a 159 mm² die size contributes to this efficiency, yielding a transistor density of 118.9M per mm². For users upgrading from a GeForce 30-series card with a higher TDP, the RTX 4060 will likely run cooler and quieter, but the 12-pin connector requirement is a potential friction point that users must address with the included adapter or a compatible power supply.

FAQ

Q: What is the memory configuration of the RTX 4060?

A: The card features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s with an effective speed of 17 Gbps.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 compare to the Intel Arc B580?

A: The RTX 4060's average benchmark score of 23181 is 0.7% higher than the Arc B580's 23021, indicating near-identical performance in aggregate benchmarks.

Q: What is the recommended power supply wattage for this card?

A: The suggested PSU rating is 300 W, with the card itself drawing a TDP of 115 W from a single 12-pin power connector.

Q: Does the RTX 4060 support modern graphics APIs?

A: Yes, it supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, covering the full range of contemporary graphics APIs.

Q: What are the display output options on the RTX 4060?

A: The card provides one HDMI 2.1 port and three DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, supporting multi-monitor setups with up to four displays.

Q: Is the RTX 4060 still in production?

A: No, the production status is end-of-life, with a release date of May 17, 2023, and it is succeeded by the GeForce 50 series.

Benchmark Performance

The aggregate benchmark landscape places the RTX 4060 in a tightly contested mid-range segment. Its average score of 23181 is virtually indistinguishable from the AMD Radeon RX 6600M (23321, deltaPct -0.6%), meaning the RTX 4060 trails by less than one percent. The same applies to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti (23338, deltaPct -0.7%), a much older card that still matches the RTX 4060 in raw synthetic performance, though the latter offers modern feature support. Against the Intel Arc B580 (23021, deltaPct 0.7%) and AMD Radeon 760M (22999, deltaPct 0.8%), the RTX 4060 holds a slight lead, but the deltas are within noise margins. In specific tests, the Geekbench OpenCL score of 101030 and Vulkan score of 98095 show strong compute throughput, while the PassMark G3D score of 19545 reinforces the mid-range positioning. The PassMark DirectX 9 score of 236 is the highest among the DirectX tests, indicating strong legacy API performance, whereas the DirectX 12 score of 76 is comparatively weak, which could reflect driver optimizations or architectural trade-offs. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2302 provides a modern DirectX 12 workload measure, and it aligns with the card's overall percentile ranking. The PassMark GPU Compute score of 9213 further confirms that the RTX 4060 is a balanced performer, with no single metric dramatically above or below its class expectations. When interpreted together, these results show a card that trades blows with its nearest rivals, neither dominating nor being dominated, and the 66th percentile ranking across all GPUs suggests it outperforms the majority of installed hardware while remaining accessible to mainstream buyers.

Memory Subsystem

The RTX 4060's memory configuration consists of 8 GB of GDDR6 memory running at an effective speed of 17 Gbps, across a 128-bit bus, yielding a total bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s. This bandwidth figure is a critical constraint for high-resolution gaming, as 4K textures and large data sets require rapid memory access. At 1080p, the 272.0 GB/s bandwidth is generally sufficient, but at 1440p and above, the 128-bit bus width becomes a bottleneck, particularly in open-world games with streaming assets or in scenes with heavy post-processing effects. The 8 GB capacity also limits texture quality settings in modern titles, as some games at 1440p with ultra settings can exceed this amount, leading to texture pop-in or reduced draw distances as the GPU relies on slower system memory. For users considering this card for 4K gaming, the data suggests it is not well-suited, as the bandwidth and capacity would force significant compromises in settings, and the pixel rate of 118.1 GPixel/s further constrains fill-rate-heavy workloads at high resolutions. The memory clock of 2125 MHz (base) contributes to the 17 Gbps effective rate, and the GDDR6 type is standard for this segment, offering a balance of cost and performance. Compared to the RTX 4060's nearest rivals, none of which have their memory specifications listed in the data, the bandwidth figure must be evaluated in isolation, but it is consistent with a mid-range card targeting 1080p as its primary resolution, with 1440p as a secondary option for less demanding titles.