Nvidia RTX 5060 vs RTX 4060: Which Is the Better GPU?

The Nvidia RTX 5060 is the direct successor of the RTX 4060, but how much better is it comparatively? Is this GPU worth spending your money on?

Picture of Nvidia RTX 5060 vs RTX 4060 — Nvidia RTX 5060 vs RTX 4060 (Image via Gigabyte | MSI)

The Nvidia RTX 5060 and RTX 4060 are two GPUs designed for the budget market, where users seek the best value for their money. The former is the direct successor of the latter, so it is expected to deliver higher performance. However, is the RTX 5060 worth paying the extra for, considering the RTX 4060 is available for much cheaper in the used market? That’s exactly what we plan to find in this article with a detailed comparison of the two GPUs. Read on to learn more.

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Note: Parts of this article are subjective and reflect the writer’s opinions.

Nvidia RTX 5060 vs RTX 4060: Detailed Comparison

The Nvidia RTX 5060 is based on the latest Blackwell architecture and has features like DLSS 4 Multi-FG for boosting performance in supported games. On the other hand, the RTX 4060 is based on the older Ada Lovelace architecture. It supports Frame generation as well, but not Multi-Frame generation, and it is more power efficient. Let’s look at the specs of the two GPUs to see what they are capable of.

Specs Comparison

Picture of Nvidia RTX 4060 — GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 5060 WINDFORCE (Image via GIGABYTE)

Here are the specs of the Nvidia RTX 5060 and RTX 4060:

Specifications	Nvidia RTX 5060	Nvidia RTX 4060
Architecture	Blackwell	Ada Lovelace
Shader cores	3840	3072
RT cores	30	24
TMUs	120	96
ROPs	48	48
Base core clock speeds	2280 MHz	1830 MHz
Boost core clock speeds	2497 MHz	2460 MHz
Memory capacity	8GB GDDR7	8GB GDDR6
Memory bus width	128-bit	128-bit
Memory bandwidth	448.0 GB/s	272.0 GB/s
Manufacturing node	5nm	5nm
Thermal design power (TDPs)	145W	115W

According to the space table, the RTX 5060 has more CUDA cores, RT cores, TMUs, and faster GDDR7 memory than the RTX 4060. Will that be enough for the former to triumph over the latter? Let’s find out.

Performance Comparison

Here’s how Nvidia the RTX 5060 and RTX 4060 perform in some popular games:

Games	Nvidia RTX 5060	Nvidia RTX 4060
God of War Ragnarok	119 FPS	95 FPS
Stellar Blade	137 FPS	109 FPS
The Last of Us Part 2	119 FPS	93 FPS
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2	107 FPS	84 FPS
Horizon Forbidden West	82 FPS	64 FPS
Cyberpunk 2077	107 FPS	78 FPS
DOOM The Dark Ages	67 FPS	59 FPS
Red Dead Redemption 2	98 FPS	77 FPS
Assassin’s Creed Shadows	63 FPS	52 FPS
Alan Wake 2	69 FPS	53 FPS

Note: The two GPUs tested here were evaluated at a 1080p resolution with High/Ultra Settings, unless otherwise specified. All the FPS numbers were sourced from the Geralt Benchmarks channel on YouTube. For the tests, the two graphics cards were paired with a Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU.

The Nvidia RTX 5060 delivers 26.7% more FPS than the RTX 4060 on average in the 10 games tested above. This is a significant improvement from just one generation, but the card is still hamstrung by its limited 8GB VRAM. Games that require more than 8GB RAM may crash or cause stutters, which is something Nvidia should have addressed this generation.

However, this would be a problem if you stick to FPS/competitive games that don’t require a lot of memory.

Price Comparison

Picture of Nvidia RTX 5060 — MSI Gaming GeForce RTX 4060 (Image via MSI)

The Nvidia RTX 5060 is selling at its MSRP of $299 on Amazon. However, since the RTX 4060’s production has been reduced significantly, according to the latest reports, it is not available in large quantities, and its price has skyrocketed. Nonetheless, the price of the RTX 4060 is stable in the used market and available for around $230 to $270.

Final Verdict on Nvidia RTX 5060 vs RTX 4060

The Nvidia RTX 5060 is simply the better GPU out of the two. It is 26-28% faster than the RTX 4060, depending on the game, and it also supports features like DLSS 4, which can boost performance in supported games. The RTX 5060 is available for sale almost everywhere at the actual MSRP. We can’t say the same for the older RTX 4060. Even if you buy it for cheaper from the used market, it is still not worth it, as it is quite a bit slower than the new GPU.

The Nvidia RTX 5060 is our recommendation from the two GPUs here. However, if you ask us, we would suggest the Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB model instead. It has twice the memory for a slightly higher price. The inclusion of more VRAM would future-proof the GPU.

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Nvidia RTX 5060 vs RTX 4060: Which Is the Better GPU?