RTX 3060 vs 4060 laptop: Which One is The Best to Consider in 2024?

If you are planning to buy a gaming laptop under $1500, then you probably come across several options. Among those the RTX 3060 and RTX 4060 are very commonly used GPU. Now you might get confused about which one should I go with. Now both of them are Nvidia’s top level GPU, capable of 1080p level gaming with 100+ fps and 2K (1440p) level gaming with 60+ fps, in almost every latest title. There are some major and some minor differences between them, here in this article we will discuss about RTX 3060 vs 4060 laptop in detail, and find out which one you should go with.

RTX 3060 vs 4060 laptop: Side by side comparison

RTX 3060 comes with a dedicated 6GB GDDR6 VRAM and The RTX 4060 comes with a 8GB GDDR6 VRAM. Both of them are compatible with the DirectX 12 ultimate feature. RTX 3060 has a TDP of 80W and RTX 4060 has a 115W TDP. Now if you look, RTX 4060 has a better clock frequency, with its base clock starting from 1545MHz, can be boosted up to 1890MHz. Whereas RTX 3060 has a base clock frequency of 900 MHz and can be boosted up to only 1425MHz.

But RTX 3060 comes with a better hardware configuration. As you can see RTX 3060 has 25% more CUDA cores, Tensor cores and Ray-tracing cores than RTX 4060.

Also read RTX 4050 vs RTX 3060 Laptop.

Comparison between DLSS 2.0 and DLSS 3.0

When it comes to comparing two RTX series GPUs, DLSS always plays an important role. Now here the key difference is that RTX 4060 has DLSS 3.0 support with its latest features. In DLSS technology The graphics card renders every frame in a low resolution and then upscales it to 2k or 4k with the help of deep learning. It helps the GPU to produce more frames without putting too much load. The tensor cores are the key element here. In RTX 3060 tensor cores are more than that of RTX 4060. But with RTX 4060 you will get the Frame generation support.

In short Frame generation support uses the AI model, to let it guess what the next frame will be, by analyzing the previous frame and motion vectors of the game engine. Now with frame generation mode enabled you will get an FPS boost of almost, twice.

As you can see clearly With only DLSS mode RTX 3060 and RTX 4060 perform similarly. But when Frame Generation is taken into account, the Frame rate is almost twice as on RTX 4060 laptops than on RTX 3060.

It is more applicable to single-player games, where the latency is not an issue. Now there are also some issues with it. Frame generation was recently introduced by NVIDIA, so it’s quite new. Only some games give frame generation support. With updates, frame generation will be better soon.

So in terms of future-proofing RTX 4060 is better than the RTX 3060.

Also read RTX 4060 Laptop vs 4070 Laptop.

Performance Comparison

Here I’ve taken 10 Modern demanding games. All of the games has been tested on the maximum settings with 1080p resolution and Ray-tracing quality at high.

On average, in 1080p level gaming, the RTX 4060 laptop GPU is 17% faster than the RTX 3060 laptop GPU. Now Keep in mind we haven’t used the frame generation on the supported titles for RTX 4060. In 1440p level gaming, the RTX 4060 performs 13% better than the RTX 3060 laptop GPU.

Now look what happens when we include Frame generation in this test. Here all the other preset is same, Ray-tracing has been set to Ultra.

RTX 3060 on average is giving 60+ fps without any upscaling method like DLSS or FSR. on the other side, RTX 4060 on average gives giving 10-12fps boost to RTX 3060. If we enable the Frame generation on RTX 4060 the difference will be much higher. In today’s scenario, FG is not available on most of the titles. But gaming companies are slowly adapting to it, and soon, FG will be ubiquitous, So RTX 4060 is more future-proofed here. For Detailed information check out Jarrod’s tech video.

Features and specifications

When we are comparing the RTX 3060 vs 4060 laptop, it is worth to know about their architecture. So RTX 3060 is based on Ampere architecture, and RTX 4060 is based on Ada Lovelace architecture. Here are some key difference between them,

• Efficiency: Ampere architecture has a larger number of cores than the RTX 4060, but ADA Lovelace architecture is more efficient, meaning it performs better while using less power.
• DLSS: ADA Lovelace architecture comes with the DLSS 3.0, some of the fancy features like Frame Generation potentially boost the performance.
• Ray-Tracing: Both of them offers Ray-Tracing feature, But Ada Lovelace is slightly better due to it’s architecture.

Now you see, RTX 4060 comes with 8GB GDDR6 VRAM where RTX 3060 comes with the 6GB VRAM, On paper 2GB seems to be big, but in reality 6GB is enough for 2k level gaming and, video editing work. In most of the time RTX 4060 doesn’t use it’s 100% VRAM capacity.

Also read RTX 4070 vs 4080 laptop.

Power Consumption (TGP)

TGP or Total Graphics power is an important aspect . The overall performance of an GPU always depends on on the TGP of it. Both RTX 3060 and RTX 4060 laptop GPU comes with a lot of options. RTX 3060 variants are available from 60-115W TGP. RTX 4060 variants are available from 35W-115W. Now in 3D timespy if you compare 60W RTX 3060 variant with 35W RTX 4060 variant, RTX 4060 performs slightly better. It clearly indicates that RTX 4060 is more power efficient.

Now after 100W RTX 4060 just hits a plateau, not showing any performance improvement, the same goes for RT 3060. So at higher power levels RTX 4060 and RTX 3060 both have almost the same performance, The difference becomes noticeable when we compare both of them in lower power levels (In a thinner and smaller laptop) then RTX 4060 is a clear winner.

Here I’ve included some RTX 3060 and RTX 4060 laptop, you can check the price.

1. MSI GF65 Thin (RTX 3060) – check price on amazon.
2. MSI Raider GE76 (RTX 3060) – check price on amazon.
3. Acer Predator Helios 300 (RTX 3060) – check price on amazon.
4. GIGABYTE G6 KF (RTX 4060) – check price on amazon.
5. ASUS ROG-Strix G16 (RTX 4060) – check price on amazon.
6. MSI Stealth 15 (RTX 4060) – check price on amazon.

Conclusion

Here in this article we have discussed about the RTX 3060 vs 4060 laptop, in detail. We have shown various aspects where RTX 3060 and RTX 4060 performs quite well. According to myself, If you are buying a laptop only focused on gaming, then go with RTX 4060 laptops. You will get better performance, future-proofing. Now why you should choose RTX 3060? See, don’t focused only on the RTX 3060 GPU. With this GPU you will get top-notch build quality, top cooling, top quality display, like 2k display with Dolby Vision, at the same price of RTX 4060 laptop.

Now if you already have bought an RTX 3060 laptop with decent TGP, then there is no need to upgrade to 4060 laptop. You are good to go.

FAQ

• Q: Is the RTX 4060 laptop significantly faster than the RTX 3060 laptop?
  • A: Yes, the RTX 4060 offers about 40-50% better performance, especially in 1440p gaming and demanding titles.
• Q: Should I upgrade from an RTX 3060 laptop to an RTX 4060 laptop?
  • A: Depends on your needs. If you’re happy with your current performance and primarily play at 1080p, an upgrade might not be necessary. However, if you crave higher frame rates, smoother gameplay at 1440p, or want to explore DLSS 3 features, then a 4060 could be worthwhile.
• Q: What are the key differences between the RTX 3060 and 4060 laptops in terms of technology?
  • A: The 4060 uses the newer Ada Lovelace architecture, offering advancements in performance, power efficiency, and features like DLSS 3.0.
• Q: Is an RTX 4060 laptop necessary for competitive gaming at high refresh rates?
  • A: It depends on the specific game and desired frame rate. An RTX 4060 could offer an edge in competitive titles, but some 3060 options might suffice depending on your settings and target fps.
• Q: Do both laptops support ray tracing?
  • A: Yes, both the RTX 3060 and 4060 feature dedicated RT cores for enabling real-time ray tracing in supported games. However, the 4060 offers improved ray tracing performance due to its newer architecture.

If you have any more query, feel free to ask me in the comment.