NVIDIA RTX 5060 vs 4060: What’s New and What’s Not?

RTX 5060 vs RTX 4060: Is It Worth the Upgrade?

Are you thinking about upgrading your computer's graphics card? The RTX 5060 is here, and it's going head-to-head with the RTX 4060. Both cards have 8GB of memory, but the RTX 5060 promises better performance. Let's see if it lives up to the hype.

What You Need to Know

The RTX 5060 is the new kid on the block. It aims to give you more power for your money. The MSI RTX 5060 Gaming OC is priced around $36,990. There are other versions, like the Shadow 2X, that cost around $32,990. You might even find some for around $30,000. The RTX 4060 used to cost around $28,000 to $30,000, but it's hard to find now.

Key takeaway: The RTX 5060 is a bit more expensive, but it might be worth it for the performance boost.

If you're looking to build a new PC or upgrade your current one, you might want to check out Modx Computers. They have good prices and a wide selection of parts.

Tech Specs Compared

Here's a quick look at how the RTX 5060 and RTX 4060 stack up:

• CUDA Cores: The RTX 5060 has about 25% more CUDA cores. This means it can handle more tasks at once.
• Ray Tracing (RT) Cores: The RTX 5060 has more RT cores. This helps with making games look more realistic with better lighting and shadows.
• Tensor Cores: The RTX 5060 also has more Tensor Cores. These are used for AI tasks, which can improve performance in some games and applications.
• Memory: Both cards have 8GB of memory.
• Memory Bandwidth: The RTX 5060 has better memory bandwidth. This means data can be moved faster, which helps with things like rendering and AI tasks.
• AI Performance: The RTX 5060 has much better AI performance. It went from 242 AI TOPS to 564.
• Power: The RTX 5060 uses a bit more power (145W) than the RTX 4060 (115W). You'll need at least a 550W power supply.

In short: The RTX 5060 has better specs across the board, except for memory, which is the same.

How We Tested

To see how these cards perform, a test bench was used with some powerful components:

• Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D
• Motherboard: MSI X670 Carbon Wi-Fi
• Memory: 64GB RAM (32GB x 2) at 6000 MHz
• Cooler: MSI CoreLiquid E360 Black AIO
• Power Supply: 1200W

This setup makes sure that the graphics cards are the only things holding back performance.

Benchmark Results

Let's look at some benchmark scores:

• BMW Render Test: The RTX 5060 finished in 19 seconds, while the RTX 4060 took 21 seconds.
• Geekbench 6 (OpenCL): The RTX 5060 had about 17% better performance.
• AI Image Generation: The RTX 5060 was noticeably faster.
• Blender: The RTX 5060 was about 19% faster.

What does this mean? The RTX 5060 is faster in these tests.

Gaming Performance

Now, let's get to the good stuff: how these cards perform in games.

1080p Gaming

At 1080p resolution, both cards can handle most games well. Here's a breakdown:

• Hogwarts Legacy: With ray tracing on Ultra and DLSS off, the RTX 5060 gave better frames. With frame generation on, the RTX 5060 still performed better.
• Hellblade: The RTX 5060 gave 10-15 more frames per second (FPS). With frame generation on, it was 20-30 FPS better.
• The Last of Us Part II: The RTX 5060 gave 20-30 more FPS. With frame generation, both cards performed about the same.
• Assassin's Creed Shadows: Both cards performed similarly without frame generation. With frame generation, the RTX 4060 performed slightly better.
• Alan Wake 2: The RTX 5060 gave 10-15 more FPS without ray tracing. With frame generation on Quality, it was 20-30 FPS better. With ray tracing on Ultra, both cards struggled.
• Cyberpunk 2077: The RTX 5060 gave a big boost. It had about 30-40 more FPS without frame generation and about 50 more with frame generation. With ray tracing on Ultra, the difference was smaller, but the RTX 5060 was still better.
• Black Myth: Wukong (Unreal Engine 5): The RTX 5060 gave 8-10 more FPS. With frame generation, the difference was small. With ray tracing on Very High, neither card performed great. With frame generation, the RTX 4060 performed better.

1440p Gaming

At 1440p, the RTX 5060 still shows its strength:

• Alan Wake 2: The RTX 5060 gave 10-15 more FPS without ray tracing. With frame generation, it was 15-20 FPS better. With ray tracing on Ultra, the RTX 4060 struggled.
• Hogwarts Legacy: Neither card was very playable with ray tracing on Ultra. With DLSS frame generation, both cards