Nvidia’s RTX 4060 graphics card and 4060 laptop GPU share more
than the same name - they’re both actually using the same GPU die.
This is unusual, because with the higher tier 4070,
4080 and 4090 options the desktop version uses a bigger GPU die and performs way better than
the laptop. Despite the fact that laptop and desktop share the same name with those parts.
But now with the RTX 4060, we’ve got the same GPU in the desktop and laptop,
which means that the performance difference is way closer than you might think.
I’ve compared both GPUs in 25 games at 1440p and
1080p resolutions to show you the real differences!
But first, Gigabyte have sponsored this part of the video.
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Back to the comparison. As mentioned, both GPUs are using the same AD107 die, so the laptop and
desktop both have the same amount of CUDA, Tensor and RT cores. They both have 8 gigs of
GDDR6 memory with the same memory bus, but the desktop card has faster memory and more memory
bandwidth. They even both have the same power limit of 115 watts, sort of. Let me explain.
Nvidia’s RTX 4060 laptop graphics can technically run between 35 watts and
140 watts with dynamic boost, it depends on the laptop, but it only gets that high in
some workloads like Furmark. I did a whole video about it, but long story short there’s a voltage
limit which stops the 4060 laptop reaching higher FPS in games above 100 watts or so.
In 3DMark Timespy we can see that the 4060 desktop card in red is only scoring
slightly higher than a 4060 laptop GPU at the same power level. The 4060
laptop flatlines around 100 watts in this workload, and most games for that matter,
so it shouldn’t matter if you buy a 100 watt or 140 watt 4060 laptop.
I’m using XMG’s Focus 16 laptop to do this testing, and this has a full powered 4060,
so expect a much bigger difference if the 4060 laptop in question runs its GPU between 35
and 100 watts. The laptop also has Intel’s Core i9-13900HX CPU and 32 gigs of DDR5-5600 memory.
Along with MSI's RTX 4060 Ventus 2X graphics card, the desktop has Intel’s Core i9-13900K processor,
which was chosen as it has the same amount of cores, threads and cache as the laptop CPU.
I’ve also tested it with 32 gigs of DDR5-5600 memory with the same timings as the laptop.
I don’t know if you can tell, but there’s a pretty big size difference between these
two. Laptop’s just don’t have as much space for cooling. I mean granted,
this is a pretty big case, but even compared to a Mini-ITX system, a laptop is just more portable.
And this means that the laptop fans need to spin faster and
louder to keep things cool compared to the desktop, let’s have a quick listen.
The desktop’s GPU was running a fair bit cooler, despite the fact that it was also running quieter
too. The desktop was drawing more power at the wall, but to be fair, this is total system power,
so it also includes the more power hungry 13900K processor too. The desktop card was reaching a
little higher TGP, so that’s where some of the extra power is going. My laptop was hitting its
voltage limit at 110 watts. A higher TGP allows the desktop card to reach higher clock speeds,
but as you’ll see soon, the FPS in games isn’t that much different, which actually results in
the laptop being more power efficient by achieving a higher FPS per watt score.
Let’s start out with Cyberpunk 2077, as we just used that for the thermal testing. This
one had the biggest performance gap out of all 25 games tested at 1080p,
with the desktop 4060 reaching a 29% higher average frame rate, but at 1440p the laptop
was actually slightly ahead, at least in terms of average FPS. We double checked
this and it was reproducible, but it’s one of the few times the laptop was actually ahead.
Red Dead Redemption 2 was only like 2 FPS faster on the desktop at both resolutions,
there’s no major difference here, and it’s a similar deal in many other games
like Shadow of the Tomb Raider. The desktop was only 5% faster here,
not a practical difference you’d be too likely to notice when playing.
The difference was extremely small in Call of Duty Modern Warfare II,
with the desktop 4060 just 5% or 4 FPS faster than the laptop at
1440p. There’s a bigger 9% lead with the desktop at the lower 1080p resolution,
but honestly I suspect at this lower resolution we’re seeing more of the CPU difference showing.
This was seen in Apex Legends too, where the 4060 desktop had its biggest lead over the laptop at
1440p out of all 25 games tested, with a 22% higher average frame rate. Even the desktops
dips in performance as measured by the 1% lows were higher than the laptop, so a much more
stable experience on the desktop, but again this is probably more down to CPU power difference.
The CPU difference really shows itself in some games like DOOM Eternal. This is a game
where I’ve found poor 1% lows on laptops since Intel 13th gen laptops came out at
the start of the year. It just seems like there isn’t enough power to share over the 24 cores,
as the desktop is way better in this regard, despite the fact that the
average FPS difference wasn’t that big, with the desktop just 6% faster at 1440p.
Dead space is another game where I’ve always found poor 1% lows with 13th gen gaming laptops.
Again just like DOOM, at 1440p the desktop was just 7% faster in terms of average FPS,
but the desktop had a 44% higher 1% low, so it’s just more stable and consistent.
Newer games like Hogwarts Legacy ran alright, even at 1440p ultra settings, though we could of course
use features like DLSS or frame generation to improve the experience. The desktop was
just 9% faster than the laptop at 1440p, and 12% faster at the lower 1080p resolution.
Alright so the desktop 4060 was almost always beating the laptop version,
you get it. Instead of wasting your time talking through the rest of the 17 games that I’ve tested,
I’ll instead just quickly skip through the rest of the results on screen now,
so feel free to pause the video if you want a closer look at any of the other games tested.
I think it’s important to test a wide selection of games so that we can get an accurate picture
of the average performance differences to make the fairest possible conclusion. In other words,
more data equals more better. Let’s look at those average differences next.
On average over all 25 games tested, at 1080p the RTX 4060 desktop GPU was 9% faster when compared
to the RTX 4060 laptop GPU. This graph shows how much faster each game is on the desktop,
and as we can see, results depend on the specific game. Some games
like Apex and Cyberpunk were 20 to 30% faster on the desktop,
while others like Watch Dogs Legion, Control or Metro Exodus were less than 3% faster.
The gap between desktop and laptop GPU gets smaller at the higher 1440p resolution,
where we’re more GPU bound, so there should be less of a difference in terms of CPU power here
with results depending more on the GPU. Apart from the desktop 4060 having faster memory with
more memory bandwidth and a slightly higher TGP, these are essentially the same GPUs,
so this makes sense, we’d expect both to perform about the same with a little edge to the desktop.
Here’s how frame rates look if we instead take the average of all 25 games at all resolutions.
I think this better allows us to visually see how much better the desktop is in a quick and
easy summary. At 1440p the desktop was just 5 FPS faster than the laptop on average, only a
small difference considering it’s also using a fair bit more power too, as we saw earlier.
So if the 4060 desktop only performs a bit better than a 4060 laptop, which offers the best value?
Prices and availability will change over time, so refer to the links below for updates and
current sales. And speaking of sales, we’ve got some nice RTX 4060 laptop deals on our
gaminglaptop.deals website at the moment, so check that out regularly to save money
on your next gaming laptop! We update it every day to include all the latest sales.
Right now the RTX 4060 graphics card launched with an MSRP of $300 USD,
and MSI’s Ventus card that I’ve tested is available for this price.
If you pair it with some decent mid-range parts, we’re looking at a little over $1000
USD for a full PC build, not including keyboard, monitor or mouse, all of which come built into
the laptop. A decent budget 1080p monitor adds on another $150 or so, while the lowest price 1440p
options start from a bit more, so I think we’ll just say $200 for monitor, keyboard and mouse.
Based on the laptops we’ve got on the deals site right now,
I think $1100 USD for a full powered 4060 sounds reasonable, but like the desktop
it’s pretty easy to spend more or less. As 4060 laptop GPUs max out at around 100
watts due to Nvidia’s voltage limit, the cheaper models probably don’t perform that much worse.
From a cost per frame perspective, well, it depends. Our desktop PC wins if we’re not
factoring in the extra $200 for monitor, keyboard and mouse, if we need those peripherals then the
desktop ends up in last place in terms of value. Honestly the fact that the difference isn’t that
big shows that there’s not a massive difference in terms of laptop or desktop with a 4060,
which is good given the performance in games wasn’t that different either.
In other words, the price difference and performance differences are pretty small,
so there are more important things to consider.
For example, the desktop can easily be upgraded in future. A few years from now you could
pull out the 4060 card and put in a 5060 or 6060 or whatever. Meanwhile for the laptop,
if you want to upgrade the GPU you’ve got to replace the entire machine.
Ultimately for the most part, it’s going to depend on whether or not you need portability. If you
do then good luck taking something like this to school or the office. Again, like I said before,
you can of course build a much smaller Mini-ITX PC, I get it. My point is you would still need
to take things with you like a monitor, keyboard, mouse and some kind of power source like a UPS.
It just doesn’t really make sense for most people when you can put something like this in your bag.
The main point is these are different machines for different people with different use cases. It all
comes down to personal preference, but at least there are choices. And at the end of the day,
the 4060 desktop doesn’t perform that much better than a 4060 laptop. So if
you are someone that needs portability and you’re deciding between these two,
you could probably just go for the laptop. You don’t have to worry that you’re missing
out on heaps of performance by not going for a 4060 desktop.
You can of course get more FPS with a higher tier GPU, like the RTX 4070,
but the performance differences between a 4070 desktop and 4070 laptop are much bigger
than what we’ve seen in this video, so check out this video next to find out how big the
performance difference is before you buy your next desktop or laptop. I’ll see you in that one next!