Nvidia RTX 4060 Review ft. MSI

Rating: 7.0.

It's been just over a month since the disastrous launch of the RTX 4060 Ti, and despite originally being slated to hit the market in July, today marks the official release for the RTX 4060 (non-Ti). Utilising AD107 silicon, this new GPU offers a cut-down die at a cut-down price, landing on shelves for £289/$299. Today we put the RTX 4060 through its paces and assess gaming performance, ray tracing, power draw, efficiency and much more.

There's no doubt that the RTX 4060 Ti was the most poorly received of the RTX 40-series GPUs so far, and it seems likely Nvidia brought the RTX 4060 release window forward in an effort to move on as quickly as possible. Hitting shelves tomorrow, June 29th, today we are able to share our full review of this new graphics card.

RTX 4060 also marks the first time we've seen AD107 silicon in the desktop space, having previously been used for RTX 4050 and RTX 4060 Laptop chips. It's an absolutely tiny die, measuring 146mm², and accordingly RTX 4060 is the lowest-power 40-series GPU to date, with a TGP of just 115W. RTX 4060 is also launching with no Founders Editions available, and so today we are checking out the MSI Ventus 2X Black model.

If you want to read this review as a single page, click HERE.

First, for a quick spec recap. The RTX 4060 Ti marks the first appearance of the AD107 silicon in the desktop space, a tiny die measuring just 146mm². Despite being a new die, it is closely related to AD106, and the fundamental building blocks are still the same, with the RTX 4060 offering a total of 24 Streaming Multiprocessors (SMs), each housing 256 CUDA Cores, for a total of 3072. We also find 24 RT cores, 96 Tensor cores, 96 Texture Units, and 48 ROPs.

TSMC's N4 node has Nvidia cranking up the clock speed significantly this generation, although the RTX 4060 is actually clocked slightly lower than its bigger siblings, sporting a 2460MHz rated boost clock. We would still expect GPU Boost to push actual clock speed higher, but we examine that later in this review.

The memory configuration is an area with great similarities to AD106. We find the same 128-bit memory interface, paired with 8GB GDDR6, although the memory itself is clocked slightly slower at 17.Gbps. That brings total memory bandwidth down to 272 GB/s, noticeably lower than the RTX 3060. That said, there has been a substantial upgrade to the L2 cache with the Ada architecture, with the RTX 4060 now offering 24MB, compared to just 3MB for GA106.

As with the RTX 4060 Ti, the PCIe bus has also been reduced, so the 4060 offers a Gen4 x8 interface, as opposed to Gen4 x16 connectors on the RTX 4070 and up.

Considering these cut-backs, power draw is naturally lower than even the RTX 4060 Ti, with the 4060  boasting a 115W TGP. This is something we focus on closely, using our updated GPU power testing methodology in this review, so read on for our most detailed power and efficiency testing yet.

The MSI RTX 4060 Ventus 2X Black ships in a black box, with an imagine of the card visible on the front, alongside some prominent GeForce branding. On the back, MSI highlights various key features about the card and cooler.

Inside, the only included accessory is a brief quick start guide.

As for the card itself then, the Ventus 2X Black is relatively plain, but that doesn't mean it's ugly. The all-plastic shroud has just enough raised sections and edges to maintain visual interest, while the all-black aesthetic means it is very stealthy and won't look out of place in a colour coordinated system.

Being all-plastic it doesn't feel especially premium, but it doesn't flex in the hand or feel alarmingly cheap, so I'd have no concerns once it was installed in my PC. We can also note the two 90mm fans, each equipped with 10 fan blades.

The Ventus 2X Black is a very dinky card. It measures in at 199 x 120 x 41mm, so it's just 2-slots thick and very short overall, making it a prime contender for a mini-ITX build. It tips the scales at 545g.

The front side of the card is home to the MSI and GeForce RTX logos. It's worth noting there's no LEDs of any kind on this card.

Flipping over to the backplate, this is a full-length plastic design and it's again entirely black apart from the MSI and GeForce logos. We can also note a few small cut-outs towards the end of the card, designed to help air pass straight through the heatsink and out into your chassis.

Just like the RTX 4060 Ti, power is supplied by a single 8-pin connector. Given TGP is a mere 115W, even a 6-pin connector would have been enough when you factor in power delivered via the PCIe slot itself.

Lastly, we find a standard array of display outputs, with 3x DisplayPort 1.4 and 1x HDMI 2.1.

Driver Notes

• AMD GPUs (except RX 7600) were benchmarked with the Adrenalin 23.5.2 driver.
• AMD's RX 7600 was benchmarked with the Adrenalin 23.5.1 driver.
• All Nvidia GPUs (except RTX 4060) were benchmarked with the 535.98 driver.
• All Intel GPUs were benchmarked with the 101.4499 driver.
• RTX 4060 was benchmarked with the 536.20 driver supplied to press.

Result are only directly comparable where this exact configuration has been used.

Test System:

We test using a custom built system from PCSpecialist, based on Intel’s Rocket Lake platform. You can read more about this system HERE and configure your own PCSpecialist system HERE.

Comparison Graphics Cards List

• AMD RX 7600 8GB
• AMD RX 6700 XT 12GB
• Gigabyte RX 6650 XT Gaming 8GB
• Gigabyte RX 6600 Eagle 8GB
• Intel Arc A750 LE 8GB
• Nvidia RTX 4060 Ti FE 8GB
• Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti FE 8GB
• Palit RTX 3060 12GB StormX
• Nvidia RTX 2060 FE 6GB

All cards were tested at reference specifications.

Software and Games List

• 3DMark Fire Strike & Fire Strike Ultra (DX11 Synthetic)
• 3DMark Time Spy (DX12 Synthetic)
• 3DMark DirectX Raytracing feature test (DXR Synthetic)
• Assassin's Creed Valhalla (DX12)
• Control (DX12)
• Cyberpunk 2077 (DX12)
• Days Gone (DX11)
• Dying Light 2 (DX11)
• F1 22 (DX12)
• God of War (DX11)
• Hitman 3 (DX12)
• Horizon Zero Dawn (DX12)
• The Last of Us Part 1 (DX12)
• Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered (DX12)
• A Plague Tale: Requiem (DX12)
• Red Dead Redemption 2 (DX12)
• Resident Evil 4 (DX12)
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider (DX12)
• Total War: Warhammer III (DX11)
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (DX12)

We run each benchmark/game three times, and present mean averages in our graphs. We use FrameView to measure average frame rates as well as 1% low values across our three runs.

Fire Strike is a showcase DirectX 11 benchmark for modern gaming PCs. Its ambitious real-time graphics are rendered with detail and complexity far beyond other DirectX 11 benchmarks and games. Fire Strike includes two graphics tests, a physics test and a combined test that stresses the CPU and GPU. (UL).

3DMark Time Spy is a DirectX 12 benchmark test for Windows 10 gaming PCs. Time Spy is one of the first DirectX 12 apps to be built the right way from the ground up to fully realize the performance gains that the new API offers. With its pure DirectX 12 engine, which supports new API features like asynchronous compute, explicit multi-adapter, and multi-threading, Time Spy is the ideal test for benchmarking the latest graphics cards. (UL).

3DMark gives us an early look at performance, with the RTX 4060 coming in 10% behind the RX 7600 in Fire Strike, but there's a much more negligible 3% margin between the two GPUs in Time Spy. We're looking at gains of between 21-25% over the RTX 3060.

Real-time ray tracing is incredibly demanding. The latest graphics cards have dedicated hardware that’s optimized for ray-tracing. The 3DMark DirectX Raytracing feature test measures the performance of this dedicated hardware. Instead of using traditional rendering techniques, the whole scene is ray-traced and drawn in one pass. The result of the test depends entirely on ray-tracing performance. (UL).

3DMark's DXR feature test is all bout pure ray tracing performance, and here the RTX 4060 isn't far off matching the RTX 3060 Ti, while it's 35% faster than the RX 7600 and RX 6700 XT.

Assassin's Creed Valhalla is an action role-playing video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is the twelfth major installment and the twenty-second release in the Assassin's Creed series, and a successor to the 2018's Assassin's Creed Odyssey. The game was released on November 10, 2020, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S, and Stadia, while the PlayStation 5 version was released on November 12. (Wikipedia).

Engine: AnvilNext 2.0. We test using the Ultra High preset, DX12 API.

Kicking off with Assassin's Creed Valhalla, at 1080p we can see the RTX 4060 is good for 87FPS, putting it roughly level with the likes of the RX 6650 XT, RX 7600 and RTX 3060 Ti. It's 22% faster than the RTX 3060, and 16% slower than the RTX 4060 Ti.

Performance is still OK at 1440p, with an average of 64FPS, though the 4060's lead over the 3060 is now cut to 18%. It's also now 18% slower than the 4060 Ti, and 9% behind the 3060 Ti.

Cyberpunk 2077 is a 2020 action role-playing video game developed and published by CD Projekt. The story takes place in Night City, an open world set in the Cyberpunk universe. Players assume the first-person perspective of a customisable mercenary known as V, who can acquire skills in hacking and machinery with options for melee and ranged combat. Cyberpunk 2077 was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Stadia, and Xbox One on 10 December 2020. (Wikipedia).

Engine: REDengine 4. We test using the Ultra preset, FSR disabled, DX12 API.

Cyberpunk 2077 is a punishing test using Ultra settings but the 4060 still manages 72FPS on average at 1080p. That makes it 5% slower than the RX 7600 while it's just a hair faster than the RX 6650 XT. Against the 3060, we're looking at a 16% uplift.

Performance falls back slightly at 1440p however, as a result of the narrow memory bus, and the 4060 is now 10% slower than the RX 7600. It's also bested by Intel's Arc A750, though the margins are very slim. Perhaps most disappointing is the fact the 4060 is now only 8% faster than its predecessor, the RTX 3060.

Days Gone is a 2019 action-adventure survival horror video game developed by Bend Studio and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows. As part of Sony's efforts to bring more of its first-party content to Microsoft Windows following Horizon Zero Dawn, Days Gone released on Windows on May 18, 2021. (Wikipedia).

Engine: Unreal Engine 4. We test using the Very High preset, DX11 API.

Days Gone is a DX11 Unreal Engine 4 title so it's not a surprise to see the 4060 establish a healthy lead over AMD's RX 7600, with Nvidia's latest GPU delivering a 13% performance increase. It also comes in 19% faster than the RTX 3060, and it's just 9% slower than the RX 6700 XT.

At 1440p it's now 11% slower than the 6700 XT, and once again Intel's A750 is making strides, with the 4060 just 8% faster on average. We can also see the 4060 is exactly 20% slower than the 4060 Ti in this title.

Dying Light 2: Stay Human is a 2022 action role-playing game developed and published by Techland. The sequel to Dying Light (2015), the game was released on February 4, 2022 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. (Wikipedia).

Engine: C-Engine. We test using the High preset, DX11 API.

Meanwhile in Dying Light 2, we're looking at an average frame rate in the mid 80s for the RTX 4060, putting it dead level with the RX 7600. It's 20% faster than the RTX 3060 here, but 5% behind the A750.

At 1440p, the 4060, RX 7600 and 6650 XT all sit together, hitting just over 50FPS, but they're clearly behind the likes of the A750 and RTX 3060 Ti, with the 4060 coming in 15% slower than both of those GPUs.

God of War is an action-adventure game developed by Santa Monica Studio and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE). It was released worldwide on April 20, 2018, for the PlayStation 4 with a Microsoft Windows version released on January 14, 2022. (Wikipedia).

Engine: Sony Santa Monica in-house engine. We test using the Ultra preset, DX11 API.

God of War is very performant on AMD GPUs and at 1080p we can see the 4060 trailing the RX 6650 XT by 7%, while it's 14% slower than the RX 7600. We're also only looking at a 14% uplift versus the RTX 3060, which isn't overly impressive.

1440p is still very playable though, with an average of 57FPS, and the 4060 has also caught up to the RX 7600, with a 7% difference between the two cards now, compared to the 14% deficit we saw at 1080p. The gap between the 4060 and 3060 has shrunk to just 12%, however.

Horizon Zero Dawn is an action role-playing game developed by Guerrilla Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The plot follows Aloy, a hunter in a world overrun by machines, who sets out to uncover her past. It was released for the PlayStation 4 in 2017 and Microsoft Windows in 2020. (Wikipedia).

Engine: Decima. We test using the Ultimate Quality preset, DX12 API.

The RTX 4060 offers solid performance in Horizon Zero Dawn, where we get over 100FPS on average, with overall scaling identical to the RX 7600. Again though, the generational uplift versus the 3060 is a mere 14% at 1080p, so that's hardly cause for celebration.

At 1440p we're still getting just under 80FPS from the 4060 so it's eminently playable, coming in 16% slower than the 4060 Ti but it is now a hair ahead of the RX 7600.

The Last of Us Part I is a 2022 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. A remake of the 2013 game The Last of Us, it features revised gameplay, including enhanced combat and exploration, and expanded accessibility options. It was released for Microsoft Windows in March 2023. (Wikipedia).

Engine: Naughty Dog in-house engine. We test using the Ultra preset, DX12 API.

Next up is The Last of Us Part 1, and we've tested the latest 1.1 patch here. Performance seems absolutely fine with 8GB GPUs at 1080p now, with the RTX 4060 delivering 55FPS, making it level with the RX 7600. The RX 6700 XT does very well here though, with the 4060 coming in 30% slower, despite just a 12% price difference between the two.

At 1440p the RTX 4060 does suffer from a hitch or two, which brings down the 1% lows, and on average it's just 5% faster than the RTX 3060. That is a very weak result and could well be an example of the 3060's 12GB framebuffer giving it increased longevity.

Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered is a 2018 action-adventure game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. A remastered version of Marvel's Spider-Man, featuring all previously released downloadable content, was released for the PlayStation 5 in November 2020 and for Microsoft Windows in August 2022. (Wikipedia).

Engine: Insomniac Games in-house engine. We test using the Very High preset, DX12 API.

Spider-Man Remastered is more impressive overall, and here the RTX 4060 is actually level with the RX 6700 XT at 1080p, with both GPUs delivering 87FPS on average. The RTX 4060 also comes in 9% faster than the RX 7600.

At 1440p, as we'd expect, the RX 6700 XT does pull away slightly, but this game still favours Nvidia hardware overall. We're still looking at a 9% gain for the RTX 4060 over the 7600, while it's 14% faster than the RTX 3060.

A Plague Tale: Requiem is an action-adventure stealth game developed by Asobo Studio and published by Focus Entertainment. It is the sequel to A Plague Tale: Innocence (2019), and follows siblings Amicia and Hugo de Rune who must look for a cure to Hugo's blood disease in Southern France while fleeing from soldiers of the Inquisition and hordes of rats that are spreading the black plague. The game was released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on 18 October 2022. (Wikipedia).

Engine: Asobo Studio in-house engine. We test using the Ultra preset, DX12 API.

A Plague Tale Requiem is the most demanding title that we test, but with the RTX 4060 still delivering 51FPS on average it's a very playable result, and once more puts Nvidia's latest GPU on par with the RX 7600.

At 1440p however the 1% lows drop below 30FPS so it's not the smoothest of experiences, so you'd want to dial back some quality settings if you plan on playing at this resolution.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is a 2018 action-adventure game developed and published by Rockstar Games. The game is the third entry in the Red Dead series and is a prequel to the 2010 game Red Dead Redemption. Red Dead Redemption 2 was released for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in October 2018, and for Microsoft Windows and Stadia in November 2019. (Wikipedia).

Engine: Rockstar Advance Game Engine (RAGE). We test by manually selecting Ultra settings (or High where Ultra is not available), TAA, DX12 API.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is equally tough to play on Ultra settings, and here the RTX 4060 finds itself noticeably slower than the RX 7600, and is instead level with the likes of the A750 and RX 6650 XT. We do, however, see one of the biggest generational uplifts versus the RTX 3060, with the 4060 coming in 22% faster.

1440p is still playable here with an average of 42FPS, but we're still looking at a 10% deficit for the 4060 versus the 7600, with performance on par with the RX 6650 XT.

Resident Evil 4 is a 2023 survival horror game developed and published by Capcom. It is a remake of the 2005 game Resident Evil 4. Players control the US agent Leon S. Kennedy, who must save Ashley Graham, the daughter of the United States president, from the mysterious Los Illuminados cult. Resident Evil 4 was announced in June 2022 and released on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on March 24, 2023.

Engine: RE Engine. We test using the Max preset with ray tracing disabled, DX12 API.

Resident Evil 4 is a new addition to our test suite, replacing the venerable Resident Evil Village. Performance is noticeably lower overall but with an average of 85FPS, the RTX 4060 delivers solid frame rates and comes in 6% faster than the 7600, while it's 19% ahead of the RTX 3060.

At 1440p it's still enough for an almost-60FPS experience, though it's now 16% faster than the 3060 and 3% ahead of the RX 7600, so performance has fallen off slightly compared to 1080p.

Total War: Warhammer III is a turn-based strategy and real-time tactics video game developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega. It is part of the Total War series, and the third to be set in Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy fictional universe (following 2016's Total War: Warhammer and 2017's Total War: Warhammer II). The game was announced on February 3, 2021 and was released on February 17, 2022.(Wikipedia).

Engine: TW Engine 3 (Warscape). We test using the Ultra preset, with unlimited video memory enabled, DX11 API.

Lastly, we finish with Total War: Warhammer III, using the new Mirrors of Madness benchmark. The RTX 4060 can't deliver 60FPS here and is actually 14% slower than the RX 7600, while we're also looking at a disappointing 10% gain versus the RTX 3060.

Increasing the resolution to 1440p brings the 1% lows below 30FPS, though the RTX 4060 has at least cut the deficit to just 5% when compared to the RX 7600.

Here we present frame rate figures for each graphics card, averaged across all 12 games on test today. These figures can disguise significant variations in performance from game to game, but provide a useful overview of the sort of performance you can expect at each resolution tested.

Overall, the RTX 4060 delivers an average frame rate of 77FPS at 1080p, making it level with the RX 6650 XT and RX 7600. It offers up performance that's 17% faster on average than the RTX 3060, while it's 16% and 20% slower than the RX 6700 XT and RTX 4060 Ti, respectively.

At 1440p resolution, it's still a solid enough performer, with an average frame rate of 54FPS. That's once more dead level with the RX 7600, but now just 14% ahead of the RTX 3060 – hardly an exciting generational uplift. The RTX 4060 also drops off versus the RX 6700 XT at 1440p, where it's now 17% slower on average, but it remains 20% behind the 4060 Ti.

The MSRPs

Using the average frame rate data presented earlier in the review, here we look at the cost per frame using the UK MSRP launch prices for each GPU.

As to what all of that performance data means in terms of value for money, we turn to our cost per frame analysis. At 1080p, using the launch MSRP prices, the RTX 4060 sits in second place. It delivers a cost per frame of £3.77, making it 6% better value than the RTX 4060 Ti, and 11% better than the 3060 Ti. It is, however, 13% more expensive per frame than the RX 7600 – at least for rasterisation.

At 1440p not a whole lot changes in terms of relative value, with the 4060's cost per frame still coming in 7% lower than the 4060 Ti, but now it's only 8% better value than the RTX 3060 Ti, which launched two and a half years ago. Versus the RX 7600, it comes in 10% more expensive per frame at 1440p.

Current retail pricing

Of course, that launch MSRP data is only so useful as we know there are plenty of deals on at the moment. This chart, using current retailing pricing, paints a different picture. Here, the RX 6600 is the best value GPU at its current price of £180, with the 4060 24% more expensive per frame. Even the RTX 3060 Ti is marginally better value, with that GPU as low as £320.

Likewise at 1440p, the RTX 4060 is still towards the bottom of the chart. It's 9% more expensive per frame than the RX 6700 XT, while also offering a third less VRAM.
Control is an action-adventure game developed by Remedy Entertainment and published by 505 Games. The game was released in August 2019 for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One, and for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in February 2021. (Wikipedia).

Engine: Northlight Engine. We test using the High Preset, High Ray Tracing Preset, DXR API. DLSS/FSR are disabled.

Turning our attention now to ray tracing performance, we start with Remedy's Control at 1080p. Here the RTX 4060 delivers 47FPS on average, making it 27% faster than the RX 7600. Intel's A750 is very strong here though, hovering just behind the RTX 4060 on 45FPS.

Cyberpunk 2077 is a 2020 action role-playing video game developed and published by CD Projekt. The story takes place in Night City, an open world set in the Cyberpunk universe. Players assume the first-person perspective of a customisable mercenary known as V, who can acquire skills in hacking and machinery with options for melee and ranged combat. Cyberpunk 2077 was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Stadia, and Xbox One on 10 December 2020. (Wikipedia).

Engine: REDengine 4. We test using the Ray Tracing: Ultra preset. DLSS/FSR are disabled. DXR API.

As for Cyberpunk 2077, using the RT Ultra preset with no upscaling, the load here is too much for the RTX 4060 to handle without enabling DLSS. We're looking at an average frame rate of just 34FPS, but with 1% lows hitting 28FPS. It's clearly faster than the RX 7600 and even RX 6700 XT, but it's not playable.

Cyberpunk 2077 is a 2020 action role-playing video game developed and published by CD Projekt. The story takes place in Night City, an open world set in the Cyberpunk universe. Players assume the first-person perspective of a customisable mercenary known as V, who can acquire skills in hacking and machinery with options for melee and ranged combat. Cyberpunk 2077 was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Stadia, and Xbox One on 10 December 2020. (Wikipedia).

Engine: REDengine 4. We test using the RT Overdrive preset. DLSS/FSR/XeSS are set to their Balanced modes. DXR API.

How about the new RT Overdrive mode though? This time we are testing with upscaling set to balanced mode on all GPUs, as otherwise the data would just be completely useless. Even then, at 1080p it's still a struggle for the RTX 4060, but it is able to keep the 1% lows above 30FPS. We can also get an idea of how much faster Nvidia GPUs are compared to their AMD counterparts for this test – not even the RX 6700 XT can manage double-digit 1% lows.

F1 22 is a racing video game developed by Codemasters and published by EA Sports. It is the fifteenth entry in the F1 series by Codemasters. The game holds an official licence of the 2022 Formula One and Formula 2 championships. The game was released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on 1 July 2022. (Wikipedia).

Engine: EGO. We test using the Ultra High preset, Ultra High ray tracing quality, DXR API. DLSS/FSR are disabled.

F1 22 is much less demanding overall, despite featuring a number of ray traced effects. At 1080p the RTX 4060 is able to deliver over 60FPS on average, making it just 5% faster than the RX 7600. The RX 6700 XT is also slightly faster here, a rarity in ray traced games.

Hitman 3 is a 2021 stealth game developed and published by IO Interactive. Hitman 3 was released worldwide for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Stadia, and Nintendo Switch (via cloud gaming) on 20 January 2021. (Wikipedia).

Engine: Glacier engine. We test using Ultra settings, RT Reflections, RT Shadows, DXR API. DLSS/FSR are disabled.

As for Hitman 3, at 1080p using max settings we once again find performance isn't playable without some form of upscaling. The RTX 4060 hits 34FPS on average but with 1% lows at just 25FPS, it is a very choppy experience. It's still massively faster than the RX 7600, in the region of 40%, but neither result is particularly enjoyable.

Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered is a 2018 action-adventure game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. A remastered version of Marvel's Spider-Man, featuring all previously released downloadable content, was released for the PlayStation 5 in November 2020 and for Microsoft Windows in August 2022. (Wikipedia).

Engine: Insomniac Games in-house engine. We test using the Very High preset, Very High RT, RT Object Range: 6. DXR API. DLSS/FSR are disabled.

Spider-Man Remastered is next, and with just ray traced reflections, it's not too punishing. The RTX 4060 is able to average 63FPS, and it's 42% faster than the RX 7600. That said, the 1% lows aren't quite as tight as what we see from the likes of the RX 6700 XT – that GPU has a lower average frame rate but higher 1% lows, so it's likely we're looking at the start of a VRAM limitation here. A quick look at the 1440p data also suggests the same – the gap between the 1% lows and average frame rate is much wider than even the RTX 3060.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider is a 2018 action-adventure video game developed by Eidos-Montréal and published by Square Enix's European subsidiary. It continues the narrative from the 2015 game Rise of the Tomb Raider and is the twelfth mainline entry in the Tomb Raider series, as well as the third and final entry of the Survivor trilogy. The game was originally released worldwide for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One. (Wikipedia).

Engine: Foundation Engine. We test using the Highest Preset, 16x Anisotropic filtering, RT Ultra Shadows. DLSS/FSR are disabled. DXR API.

We've brought back Shadow of the Tomb Raider here, as one of the first games with ray tracing it's interesting to see how RT performance has developed over the last 5 years. Utilising just ray traced shadows, modern hardware makes relatively light work of it, with the RTX 4060 averaging over 80FPS at 1080p. That makes it 39% faster than the RX 7600, and it's even 10% faster than the RX 6700 XT.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a 2015 action role-playing game developed and published by CD Projekt. It is the sequel to the 2011 game The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings and the third game in The Witcher video game series. In December 2022, the publisher re-released the game for the PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S. (Wikipedia).

Engine: REDengine. We test using the RT Ultra Preset, HairWorks disabled. DLSS/FSR are disabled. DXR API.

Lastly, we turn to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, of course running the game's next-gen update, with a whole host of ray traced lighting effects enabled. At 1080p it's almost too much for the 4060 as it barely scrapes 30FPS, but the game does support FSR and DLSS should you need it. This time around we're looking at a 29% advantage for the 4060 versus the RX 7600.

Ray tracing 8-game average FPS

Overall, the RTX 4060 averages 49FPS when using ray tracing at 1080p. Not every game is playable without upscaling, but it's significantly faster than the RX 7600, with a 44% advantage over AMD's newest GPU. Even against the RX 6700 XT we're looking at a 15% lead for the RTX 4060, while it's 19% faster than the RTX 3060.

Cost per frame, launch MSRP data

Cost per frame when solely looking at ray tracing performance paints a more positive picture for the RTX 4060. Using the launch MSRP data, it sits at the top of the chart, offering a 12% reduction in cost per frame compared to the closest 30-series challenger, the RTX 3060 Ti.

Cost per frame, current pricing data

Using current pricing data is still fairly favourable to the RTX 4060. The Arc A750 sits at the top of the chart, but the 4060 is only 4% more expensive per frame at 1080p. AMD's closest challenger is the RX 6600, but the 4060 offers 13% better cost per frame.

Here we re-test three titles using both DLSS 2 and DLSS 3, to give you an idea of the performance on offer from Nvidia's upscaling technologies.

Cyberpunk 2077 has always scaled very well when enabling DLSS 2 Super Resolution, and things are no different here. At 1080p the RTX 4060 gets a 74% boost to its average frame rate, bringing it from a 30FPS experience to one just shy of 60FPS, making it far smoother overall.

Even then, at 1440p DLSS 2 isn't enough to get the 4060 to hold above 30FPS, with the 1% lows just a hair below that baseline.

DLSS 3 Frame Generation is another feature worth testing, where we look at enabling Frame Generation on its own, and then with the technology used in conjunction with DLSS 2 Super resolution. Frame Gen on its own gives a boost up to 55FPS, so it's broadly as performant as DLSS 2 Quality mode, though the latency is noticeably higher (77.6ms with Frame Gen compared to 36.7ms with DLSS 2 Quality.) Enabling both together reduces latency to 52.3ms, so that's slightly better than native, but with the frame rate boosted up to 88FPS.

Next is Hitman 3, where DLSS 2 Quality mode brings a very healthy 56% boost to frame rates, once more taking the RTX 4060 from a sub-30FPS experience and bringing the 1% lows to 47FPS. It's still not enough to get the 4060 over the 30FPS line at 1440p when using max ray tracing settings, but a couple of tweaks to the settings should make it workable.

Hitman 3 also supports DLSS 3 Frame Gen, with similar scaling when compared to Cyberpunk 2077. Using just Frame Gen on its own sees the frame rate hit 59FPS, so it's slightly faster than DLSS 2 Super Resolution, albeit with double the latency. Frame Gen plus DLSS Super Resolution brings latency to just below native figures, while the frame rate is well over double what we get without any form of AI upscaling.

Lastly we have Spider-Man Remastered, where DLSS 2 Quality provides a smaller boost of around 30% at 1080p, though that is still welcome. That increases to a 44% uplift at 1440p, but we can clearly see the 1% lows aren't quite as tight as with the RTX 3060 – another example of VRAM limits just starting to reduce performance. It's only slight, but it is noticeable.

Here we present the average clock speed for each graphics card while running Cyberpunk 2077 for 30 minutes. We use GPU-Z to record the GPU core frequency during gameplay. We calculate the average core frequency during the 30 minute run to present here.

We've not tested any other RTX 4060 models other than the MSI Ventus 2X, but just to give you an idea of how it stacks up, we have included the RTX 4060 Ti in the above bar graph. The RTX 4060 does clock in a touch lower overall, hitting 2640MHz over our 30 minute stress test, compared to 2745MHz for the RTX 4060 Ti.

Interestingly, the clock speed is much more dynamic with the RTX 4060 as it appears to be more power-limited. The RTX 4060 Ti is almost entirely voltage limited and would often run at a locked 2745MHz. Not so for the 4060, the frequency clearly fluctuates, dropping below 2500MHz at points, before boosting back up into the 2650MHz range.

For our temperature testing, we measure the peak GPU core temperature under load. A reading under load comes from running Cyberpunk 2077 for 30 minutes.

For thermals, we have no direct comparisons but the cooler on the Ventus 2X is more than adequate. We saw a peak of 68.6C for the GPU and 84.4C on the hot spot, so that's well within an acceptable range.

We take our noise measurements with the sound meter positioned 1 foot from the graphics card. I measured the noise floor to be 32 dBA, thus anything above this level can be attributed to the graphics cards. The power supply is passive for the entire power output range we tested all graphics cards in, while all CPU and system fans were disabled. A reading under load comes from running Cyberpunk 2077 for 30 minutes.

As for noise levels, the Ventus is a quiet card, running the fans at 1735rpm in my testing, or 48%. That resulted in noise levels hitting 37dBa, so it is a touch louder than the 4060 Ti Founders Edition, but it's still very easy on the ears. There was no audible coil whine from my sample either.

Here we present power draw figures for the graphics card-only, on a per-game basis for all twelve games we tested at 1080p. This is measured using Nvidia's Power Capture Analysis Tool, also known as PCAT. You can read more about our updated power draw testing methodology HERE.

Per-Game Results at 1080p:

Click to enlarge.

12-Game Average at 1080p:

The RTX 4060 is slightly unusual among the 40-series GPUs, as our testing showed it actually exceeded the 115W TGP. Not in every game, but the likes of Cyberpunk 2077 and Days Gone see power draw hitting 125W. Over all 12 games we tested it averaged 119.7W, so only slightly above TGP, but considering all the other 40-series cards come in under the rated TGP, it's interesting behaviour. It definitely looks like the 4060 is much more power limited than its more powerful siblings. Of course, power is still very low, coming in about 40W below the RX 7600.

Ray tracing results

As a bonus, we now include the power figures for all eight games we test with ray tracing enabled.

8-Game ray tracing average:

Power draw with ray tracing is a touch higher still, this time averaging 123W over the 8 RT games we tested.

Here we present power draw figures for the graphics card-only, on a per-game basis for all twelve games we tested at 1440p. This is measured using Nvidia's Power Capture Analysis Tool, also known as PCAT. You can read more about our updated power draw testing methodology HERE.

Per-Game Results at 1440p:

Click to enlarge.

12-Game Average at 1440p:

Up at 1440p we see power has climbed just a touch, up to 122.2W on average. This puts it just below the RX 6600, despite being significantly faster overall, and it's still roughly 40W less power-hungry than the RX 7600.

Ray tracing results

As a bonus, we now include the power figures for all eight games we test with ray tracing enabled.

8-Game ray tracing average:

It's a similar story when looking at the ray traced figures too, with an average of 123W.

Here we present power draw figures for the graphics card-only, on a per-game basis for all twelve games we tested at 2160p (4K). This is measured using Nvidia's Power Capture Analysis Tool, also known as PCAT. You can read more about our updated power draw testing methodology HERE.

Per-Game Results at 2160p (4K):

Click to enlarge.

12-Game Average at 2160p (4K):

Up at 4K, we still see very similar overall results, with the 4060 averaging 122.5W over the 12 games we tested.

Ray tracing results

As a bonus, we now include the power figures for all eight games we test with ray tracing enabled.

8-Game ray tracing average:

Power does just fall off at 4K with ray tracing enabled however, a few games are completely unplayable here resulting in the GPU stalling, which in turn reduces power.

Using the graphics card-only power draw figures presented earlier in the review, here we present performance per Watt on a per-game basis for all twelve games we tested at 1080p.

Per-Game Results at 1080p:

Click to enlarge.

12-Game Average at 1080p:

Combining the performance and power data, we take a look at efficiency levels – presented here as performance per Watt. We know Ada Lovelace is a very efficient architecture, though the 4060 isn't quite as impressive as the 4060 Ti here, as performance per Watt is actually reduced by 6%. We're talking fine margins though, and it is still a generation ahead of the RX 7600, offering 33% better efficiency than AMD's latest GPU.

Ray tracing results

As a bonus, we now include the power figures for all eight games we test with ray tracing enabled.

8-Game ray tracing average:

We see similar results when looking at the ray tracing average, but this time the 4060 is almost twice as efficient as the RX 7600 due to its superior ray tracing performance while also offering lower power draw.

Using the graphics card-only power draw figures presented earlier in the review, here we present performance per Watt on a per-game basis for all twelve games we tested at 1440p.

Per-Game Results at 1440p:

Click to enlarge.

12-Game Average at 1440p:

The gap between the RTX 4060 and 4060 Ti narrows slightly at 1440p, but the 4060 remains 33% more efficient than the RX 7600.

Ray tracing results

As a bonus, we now include the power figures for all eight games we test with ray tracing enabled.

8-Game ray tracing average:

At 1440p the RTX 4060 is now more than twice as efficient as the RX 7600 for ray traced games, while it's now effectively level with the RTX 4060 Ti.

Using the graphics card-only power draw figures presented earlier in the review, here we present performance per Watt on a per-game basis for all twelve games we tested at 2160p (4K).

Per-Game Results at 2160p (4K):

Click to enlarge.

12-Game Average at 2160p (4K):

4K isn't particularly relevant for the RTX 4060, but the figures are here if you want them.

Ray tracing results

As a bonus, we now include the power figures for all eight games we test with ray tracing enabled.

8-Game ray tracing average:

Likewise, you are never going to enable ray tracing at 4K with the RTX 4060… but if you did, this is the efficiency you'd see.

We measure system-wide power draw from the wall while running Cyberpunk 2077 for 30 minutes. We do this at 1080p, 1440p and 2160p (4K) to give you a better idea of total system power draw across a range of resolutions, where CPU power is typically higher at the lower resolutions.

Lastly, we also take a look at total system power draw, which peaked at just over 320W at 1080p. Bear in mind that this is with the 13900KS, if paired with something like a Ryzen 7600, we could see even lower power figures.

Despite originally being slated for release in July, Nvidia brought the launch forward for the RTX 4060, with retail availability from tomorrow, June 29th. Priced at £289/$299, while I don't think it's as awful as the RTX 4060 Ti, it's not exactly good either, and certainly nothing close to exciting.

That starts with the raw performance. While the RTX 4060 delivers decent enough frame rates across the board for 1080p Ultra settings, over the 12 games we tested it's just 17% faster on average when compared to its predecessor, the RTX 3060 12GB. That puts it dead level with the RX 7600, while it's 16% and 20% slower than the RX 6700 XT and RTX 4060 Ti, respectively.

As with the RTX 4060 Ti however, relative performance drops off as we increase the resolution to 1440p. You can still get away with gaming at this resolution, though more demanding titles including The Last of Us Part 1 and A Plague Tale: Requiem saw average frame rates drop into the 30s. Against the RTX 3060 12GB however, the 4060 is just 14% faster on average, while it's 17% slower than the RX 6700 XT.

Perhaps more disappointing is the comparison against the RTX 2060. On average, the RTX 4060 is just 39% faster at 1080p and 43% faster at 1440p. Both are highly underwhelming numbers considering we're now four and a half years, and two GPU generations, on from the launch of that Turing GPU back in January 2019. To put that into perspective, the RTX 4090 saw a bigger performance jump in a single generation when compared to the RTX 3090, but the generational gains are nowhere near as compelling in this market segment.

Ray tracing performance has advanced at a slightly faster rate though, with the RTX 4060 now 63% faster on average at 1080p when compared to the RTX 2060. That's still just a 19% advantage over the RTX 3060 though, and while most games run well enough, the like of Hitman 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 aren't playable at native resolution when ray tracing is cranked to the max.

DLSS 2 remains an impressive technology and does add value here, as does DLSS 3 Frame Generation. It's still very early days for the latter technology though, with support for just 37 games currently, according to Nvidia's own website. As I mentioned in my RTX 4060 Ti review, DLSS 3 is a ‘nice to have feature' but there are still so many games that don't support it, while the added latency also means it's not particularly useful in competitive multiplayer titles – which is almost all of the most played games on Steam. In other words, it's not enough to justify circa 17% gains over the RTX 3060 by relying on DLSS 3.

Despite all that, I do think the RTX 4060 isn't quite as bad as the RTX 4060 Ti. For one thing, it's 26% cheaper but only 20% slower, so that results in a small improvement to cost per frame. Primarily though, the fact the RTX 4060 only ships with 8GB VRAM is easier to forgive at the £289 price point, as end users would be more willing to accept image quality compromises with the RTX 4060 than you would with the £389 RTX 4060 Ti.

That being said, in no way, shape or form do I think 8GB VRAM is a good amount for the RTX 4060. My RTX 4060 Ti video offered numerous examples where 8GB VRAM is clearly a limiting factor, all of which apply to the RTX 4060, and we also saw a couple more in this review with the Cyberpunk 2077 and Spider-Man Remastered results. Again, if all of this is happening today, it does not bode well for things in one, two, three years down the line.

The 8GB framebuffer situation is also made worse for the RTX 4060 when we consider the fact that its predecessor, the RTX 3060, obviously launched with 12GB VRAM over two years ago. Of course I understand from a technical perspective that 12GB VRAM is not a viable option for the RTX 4060 due to its 128-bit memory interface, instead it would need to have either 8GB or 16GB. The reality is, however, that neither of those are good options for this class of hardware, whereas 12GB VRAM would suit this GPU perfectly – something we had with the last generation xx60 SKU, but have since regressed on, and that's never a good look.

If you're just wondering about who has the upper hand between the AMD RX 7600 and the RTX 4060, I'd say Nvidia has the stronger – or perhaps more accurately, the less weak option. Yes, the RX 7600 offers equivalent rasterisation performance for £40 less, and for some that might be all that matters. However, the 4060 is far superior when it comes to ray tracing, while also offering support for DLSS 2, DLSS 3 and significantly better energy efficiency.

Neither are impressive though, so if you're looking for a new graphics card, I wouldn't position the RX 7600 as the main contender to the RTX 4060. The RX 6600 at £180 is more of a threat in my view, coming in over £100 cheaper while still offering decent gaming performance, and of course the 8GB framebuffer stings a heck of a lot less at that price point. Or you could go the other way and look at an RX 6700 XT for £340, a GPU that's 18-20% faster while also offering 50% more VRAM, giving you more longevity at Ultra settings. The main drawback to that RDNA 2 GPU is power consumption however, as it pulls almost twice the power as the RTX 4060.

Ultimately, the Nvidia RTX 4060 is another very underwhelming launch. Real generational gains for this class of hardware just don’t seem to be a thing any more, and while it is slightly more palatable than the RTX 4060 Ti, it's still very hard to recommend outright, at least not without a reasonable price cut.

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Pros

• Decent gaming performance.
• Very low power draw.
• MSI Ventus 2X Black model runs cool and quiet.
• DLSS 3 is a useful feature in the games that support it.

Cons

• Disappointing performance improvement versus the RTX 3060 and even RTX 2060.
• 8GB VRAM, while more forgivable at this price point, is still a clear limitation for gaming today and into the future.
• Less VRAM than its direct predecessor.
• Very small improvement in cost per frame versus 30-series.
• 128-bit memory interface limits performance above 1080p.
• A touch less efficient than RTX 4060 Ti.

KitGuru says: It's not as awful as the RTX 4060 Ti, but it's not exactly inspiring either.

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