4050 and 3060 gaming laptops have similar prices, so which should you get?
I’ve compared both in 25 games at 1080p and 1440p resolutions to show you all the
differences!
But first, this part of the video has been sponsored by Gigabyte!
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The older RTX 3060 laptop GPU actually has 50% more CUDA, Tensor and RT cores compared
to the newer RTX 4050 laptop GPU.
They both have 6 gigs of GDDR6 memory capacity, but the older 3060 has 75% more memory bandwidth
and a much larger memory bus.
The newer 4050 can also reach higher clock speeds with the new ADA architecture, and
both GPUs max out at 115 watts, though the 4050 can run lower at just 35 watts.
Both of my laptops run their GPUs at 115 watts, plus 25 watts with Nvidia’s dynamic boost
for 140 watts total.
This same maximum power limit means that we’re comparing a full powered RTX 4050 against
a full powered RTX 3060.
I’ve measured the 3DMark TimeSpy graphics score at different power levels, and a higher
power limit results in a better score which means more performance.
The 4050 shown in purple hits a voltage limit in this workload around 100 watts, so the
3060 is able to overtake it at around 115 watts and above.
As we’re comparing without any power limits, this indicates that the 3060 should be a little
ahead, but it would be a different story if we were comparing thinner laptops with lower
power levels.
These are the laptops I’m using for this testing.
Unfortunately there’s quite a significant CPU difference, but these are the only laptops
I’ve been able to get to do this comparison.
I've tested at higher setting levels, and with 1440p we shouldn't have any problems
comparing the GPUs.
Let’s get straight into the 25 game comparison at 2 resolutions.
After that we’ll compare price difference to find out which GPU offers the best value.
Let’s start out with Cyberpunk 2077.
I’ve got the 1080p results down the bottom and 1440p up the top, with the RTX 3060 below
the RTX 4050.
The 3060 was ahead in average FPS at both resolutions, but it’s only a small 3-4 FPS
difference, probably not something most people would actually notice.
I’ve also tested this game with the ray tracing ultra preset, which is a heavier workload,
so I’ve also enabled DLSS on balanced mode too.
The 4050 was now ahead at both resolutions, but RTX 40 GPUs also allow us to use frame
generation in supported games, which was able to offer smoother gameplay.
At least at 1080p, for some reason there were more dips in performance at 1440p, as shown
by the worse 1% low.
I’ve also tested The Witcher 3 with the next gen update and ray tracing preset, just
to see if it was the ray tracing settings that gave the 4050 its lead in Cyberpunk previously,
but the results were much closer together here.
Both laptops are able to get an FPS boost if we turn on DLSS, but the difference in
terms of average FPS was still very small, basically no real difference.
This game has frame generation support too, which definitely smoothed out the 4050 at
1440p and just felt better to play compared to not having it, though honestly you’d
probably be skipping RT on these GPUs in this game at 1440p for best results.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider was tested with the game’s benchmark, and the 4050 had a
clear win this time, with a 14% higher average FPS at 1080p, and 8% lead at the higher 1440p
resolution.
Hogwarts Legacy was tested in Hogsmeade, and the 3060 was ahead in average FPS this time,
coming out 13% faster at 1080p and 6% at 1440p.
The 1% lows were better with the 4050 laptop at the higher 1440p resolution, but it’s
possible that’s due to my unfortunate CPU difference.
If we set DLSS to balanced mode the average FPS differences are much closer together now,
though the 4050 still has a better 1% low at 1440p, and for some reason it’s better
than at 1080p now.
This game also has frame generation support, which helped the 4050 play better.
Even if it may not be fair to compare generated frames as visuals aren’t directly comparable,
in my opinion turning this on improves how the game feels to play.
Forza Horizon 5 on the other hand was a little better on the 4050 laptop, but we’re talking
about a 1-2 FPS difference in average frame rate, not much at all.
The 1% lows are much better with the 4050, but that could be more due to the CPU difference
than GPU.
Then again Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered is typically more CPU heavy, and although
both where close together at 1080p, the 3060 was 21% ahead at the higher 1440p resolution
where we’re more GPU bound.
A Plague Tale Requiem was another where average FPS was ahead with the 3060, but 1% lows were
better with the 4050, again possibly due to the CPU difference.
Both laptops are able to get an FPS boost if we turn on DLSS, though it’s a similar
story with the 3060 still reaching a higher frame rate.
This is another game with frame generation support, and if we include that then the 4050
definitely felt smoother to play.
The 3060 was ahead in Microsoft Flight Simulator too, though it’s only a 3 to 4 FPS lead,
and this isn’t exactly a title that needs super high FPS to enjoy.
Again both laptops get an FPS boost with DLSS enabled, however at 1440p the 3060 increases
by over 15 FPS, while the 4050 only went up by less than 3 FPS.
Strangely frame gen wasn’t enough to put the 4050 ahead of the 3060 here.
The 3060 with DLSS 2 was beating the 4050 with DLSS 3 here.
Apex Legends was tested in the firing range for consistent results, and the older 3060
had the lead here at max settings at both resolutions in average FPS.
There’s an even smaller difference in Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, which was tested
with the game’s benchmark, though this game does have DLSS too so you could boost FPS
even higher with both.
Alright after 10 games I think you’ve got the general idea.
We’ll just skip through the rest of the 15 games tested on screen now rather than
waste your time having me talk through every single one, so feel free to pause the video
if you want a closer look at any of the results.
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.
As I always say, more data equals more better.
Let’s look at those average differences next.
On average over all 25 games tested, at 1080p the RTX 3060 laptop GPU was just 5% faster
compared to the newer RTX 4050 laptop GPU.
This graph shows how much faster each game was on the 3060, so we can see that results
really vary depending on the specific game.
These 4 down the bottom were doing better on the 4050 laptop, though as mentioned some
of this difference could be due to it having a better processor.
CPU difference usually matters less at higher resolutions, and at 1440p the RTX 3060 laptop
GPU was now 10% faster compared to the RTX 4050.
Don’t forget that we’re comparing full powered GPUs here at 140 watts, it’s likely
that the 4050 would win if we were instead comparing both at something lower, like 60
watts.
Anyway, best case, the 3060 was 25% faster than the 4050, not too impressive if you remember
that the 3060 has 50% more CUDA cores and 75% more memory bandwidth.
Here’s how frame rates look if we instead take the average of all 25 games.
I think this better allows us to visually see the overall differences as a quick summary.
At 1080p there’s barely a difference at all, though again the CPU difference would
show more here.
1440p would be fairer to consider as that resolution is more GPU heavy, and well, this
is a GPU comparison.
The 3060 was right on the magic 60 FPS sweet spot, but the 4050 wasn’t really that far
behind.
Here’s how the difference between DLSS 2 and DLSS 3 looks in the 5 supported games
that I’ve tested.
DLSS was set to balanced mode on both laptops, with frame gen also on for the 4050.
Technically speaking, this graph isn’t that useful as we’re attempting to measure generated
frames, but I don’t really have a better way of comparing it other than telling you
I thought frame gen gameplay felt smoother.
The 4050 laptop was actually using more power in Cyberpunk at 1440p ultra settings, despite
the fact that as we saw earlier, the 3060 was hitting a higher average frame rate.
This combination results in the 3060 being more power efficient, at least when comparing
our two laptops with maxed out GPU power limits, because things would be different at lower
levels.
So the older 3060 performs better in most games, but what’s the price difference?
Pricing and availability will change over time, so check those links below the video
for updates and current sales.
And if any 3060 or 4050 laptops do go on sale we’ll be sure to add them to our gaminglaptop.deals
website, so check that out to get the best deal on your next gaming laptop!
We update it every day with the latest deals.
At the time of recording, RTX 3060 laptops start from $800 USD, but these are with lower
GPU power limit than what I’ve tested here, so won’t perform as well.
With a good sale it should be possible to get a full powered 3060 laptop like an Acer
Helios 300 or Lenovo Legion 5 for about $1000, but without a sale these can be pretty over
priced, closer to RTX 3070 Ti territory at about $1500, but 1200 should definitely be
possible.
4050 laptops on the other hand start at $1000, according to Nvidia’s CES announcement in
January, but the cheapest option at this price point definitely won’t perform as well as
what I’ve tested.
The cheapest full powered 4050 with 140 watt power limit I’ve found so far is Acer’s
Nitro 16 for $1200.
If we actually use the XMG Focus 15 I’ve tested with, without tax and converted to
US dollars for a fair comparison, that’s more like $1370.
Assuming you can find them for about the same price, well the 3060 ends up better from a
cost per frame perspective, at least without factoring in extra features like upscaling
or frame generation.
So the older RTX 3060 actually holds up quite well against the newer RTX 4050, but again
this is with both GPUs at their maximum power limits.
Honestly, I’d expect the 4050 to pull out a win if both were at 100 watts or lower.
So in thinner, lighter, or most likely, cheaper designs.
Price difference should in theory be somewhat negligible.
I’ve found examples of full powered 3060 and full powered 4050 laptops being available
for about $1000 USD.
So if the price is about the same, then you could go for the 3060 to get that better performance.
At least until you take frame generation into account.
Personally, I have found frame generation to be a nice feature to have in the games
that I’ve tested.
If this keeps coming in newer games then I’d probably be leaning more towards the 4050
if these were the same price.
As the 4050 wasn’t that far behind the 3060 at 1080p, and I think frame gen would make
a more noticeable difference there - at least in supported games.
If you already have a 3060 laptop, I don’t think there’s any point “upgrading”
to a 4050 laptop.
Well, I wouldn’t even call it an upgrade, more like a sidegrade.
If I was upgrading to a new laptop then I think I would want more performance gains
than just what frame generation has to offer.
Now there was a bigger performance gap between these two at 1440p, but honestly based on
the FPS results we’ve seen here, I don’t really think that either of these GPUs are
1440p ready.
Don’t get me wrong, they can absolutely play many games at 1440p, especially if you
turn down the settings and use features like DLSS.
But yeah just based on some of the FPS numbers we’ve seen here at higher settings and that
they have 6 gigs of VRAM, I’d probably be leaning towards something better.
I’ve already compared the RTX 3060 against the higher tier RTX 4060 in this video.
So check that one out next to find out if it’s worth paying more money for the RTX
4060.
And I will also have a dedicated 4050 vs 4060 comparison coming soon.
But for now I’ll see you in that one next!