RTX 4060 vs RTX 3070
The complete head-to-head: full specs, real per-game FPS with 1% lows, ray tracing, a live CPU-bottleneck check, thermals, power and value, with a straight verdict.
GeForce RTX 4060
GeForce RTX 3070
avg, 1080p
The short answer
The older RTX 3070 is still about 14% faster than the newer RTX 4060, thanks to nearly double the CUDA cores and a much wider 256-bit memory bus. Both cards carry the same 8 GB of VRAM, so this is not a memory story, it is raw horsepower versus efficiency and features. The 4060 claws back ground with DLSS 3 Frame Generation, a hardware AV1 encoder, and less than half the power draw. If raw frame rate and value matter most, buy the 3070 used. If efficiency, a small case, or streaming features matter more, buy the 4060.
This is an unusual matchup, the newer card is the slower one. NVIDIA priced the RTX 4060 as a budget successor rather than a direct replacement for the RTX 3070, which shipped two tiers higher at launch. Both cards carry the same 8 GB of VRAM, but the 3070's much wider 256-bit bus and nearly double the CUDA core count still give it a real raw-performance edge three generations later.
What follows breaks that 14% gap down game by game: full spec tables, 1% lows, ray tracing and DLSS behaviour, a CPU-pairing check, thermals, power draw, price history back to each launch, and a verdict on whether the 3070's extra 176 GB/s of memory bandwidth is worth chasing over the 4060's 105-watt power savings and DLSS 3 Frame Generation.
At a glance
Seven dimensions, two cards. Bigger area is not automatically better, each card owns different corners.
Strengths radar
Each axis scored 0-100 relative to the pair
Performance vs price
Up and to the left is better value
Grey dots are neighbouring cards for context.
Which should you buy?
Pick your use case, the winner changes with what you actually do.
Frame Generation and much lower power draw make the 4060 a clean, efficient pick for competitive-adjacent titles.
The 3070's wider bus and extra CUDA cores keep it ahead once settings and resolution climb.
Same 8GB on both, so the faster 3070 with its wider bus does more with the identical capacity.
Ada's hardware AV1 encoder gives cleaner streams at the same bitrate and quicker exports than the 3070.
At 115W it runs happily on a 450W supply, ideal for small cases and prebuilt upgrades.
The wider 256-bit bus and higher bandwidth help high-resolution emulation where the 4060's narrow bus holds it back.
Already own an RTX 3070? Don't downgrade to a 4060.
Short answer: probably not
The 4060 is not an upgrade over the 3070, it is about 14% slower. The only reasons to switch are power draw, DLSS 3 Frame Generation, or AV1 encoding, none of which are worth losing raw performance for if you already own the 3070.
If you want a genuine upgrade, look at a used RTX 4070 or 4070 Super, a real 25 to 45% jump with all the same Ada features. Keep the 3070 and save toward that instead of sidegrading to a 4060.
Full specification comparison
Every spec side by side. The highlighted figure wins each row.
| Specification | RTX 4060 | RTX 3070 |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | ||
| GPU / architecture | AD107 · Ada | GA104 · Ampere |
| Process node | TSMC 4N (5 nm) ▲ | Samsung 8 nm |
| Release date | Jun 29, 2023 | Oct 29, 2020 |
| Launch MSRP | $299 ▲ | $499 |
| Compute | ||
| CUDA cores | 3,072 | 5,888 ▲ |
| RT cores | 24 · 3rd gen | 46 · 2nd gen ▲ |
| Tensor cores | 96 · 4th gen | 184 · 3rd gen |
| Base / boost clock | 1830 / 2460 MHz ▲ | 1500 / 1725 MHz |
| L2 cache | 24 MB ▲ | 4 MB |
| Memory | ||
| VRAM | 8 GB GDDR6 | 8 GB GDDR6 |
| Memory bus | 128-bit | 256-bit ▲ |
| Bandwidth | 272 GB/s | 448 GB/s ▲ |
| Power & form factor | ||
| TDP | 115 W ▲ | 220 W |
| Power connector | 1× 8-pin | 1× 8-pin |
| Suggested PSU | 450 W ▲ | 650 W |
| PCIe interface | 4.0 ×8 | 4.0 ×16 ▲ |
| Features | ||
| Upscaling | DLSS 3 + Frame Gen ▲ | DLSS 4 Super Res (no FG) |
| AV1 encode (NVENC) | Yes ▲ | No |
| Display outputs | 3×DP1.4a · HDMI 2.1 | 3×DP1.4a · HDMI 2.1 |
Average FPS by game
Switch resolution, metric, ray tracing and upscaling, the bars update live. Hover a bar for the avg / 1% / 0.1% breakdown.
Average FPS · 1080p · Rasterization. Representative data, hover a bar for avg / 1% / 0.1%. Note the RTX 3070's 1% lows fall off at 1440p and up from its 8 GB VRAM.
Smoothness & frametimes
Average FPS hides stutter. This is one run plotted as frametime, a flat line is smooth, spikes are hitches. Watch what the RTX 3070's 8 GB VRAM does in a texture-heavy game.
Frametime: Hogwarts Legacy, 1440p Ultra
Lower and flatter is better · 16.7 ms = 60 fps
Counterintuitive but real: the slower RTX 4060 delivers a smoother line here because 12 GB holds the texture pool the 8 GB RTX 3070 keeps evicting, those spikes are VRAM stutter, not raw speed.
Lab scores
Clean apples-to-apples tests, useful, but weaker at predicting real games than the FPS above.
Ray tracing & upscaling
Ray tracing tanks both cards at native resolution. What makes it playable is upscaling, and here the RTX 3070 has a real edge.
Is frame generation "real" performance?
DLSS 3 Frame Generation inserts an AI-made frame between two real ones, so the RTX 4060's counter can climb well past what its raw hardware would otherwise deliver, with NVIDIA Reflex clawing back most of the added latency. The RTX 3070 predates this feature entirely and does not support it.
On the 4060, lean on it for single-player and cinematic games where the extra smoothness is easy to feel. Skip it in competitive shooters or once your base frame rate drops under about 50fps, and remember the 3070 has no equivalent to fall back on either way. It's available in roughly 100 DLSS 3 titles and growing.
Will your CPU bottleneck these cards?
A faster GPU only helps if your CPU keeps up. Pick your CPU and resolution to see expected FPS and bottleneck for each card.
CPU + GPU pairing check
The willitbottleneck engine, built right into the comparison.
Estimated from a 43-CPU model across 1440p. A weak CPU mostly bites at 1080p; at higher resolutions the GPU becomes the limiter and the bottleneck shrinks.
Thermals & noise
The efficiency gap shows up here: the newer card runs cooler and quieter, day in and day out.
Real draw, efficiency & PSU
TDP is the rated figure; what matters is real gaming draw and how many frames you get per watt.
Both use a single 8-pin connector. If your PSU already ran the RTX 4060, it will run the RTX 3070 easily. Leave about 30% headroom for spikes.
Will it fit, and what to pair it with?
Size to scale
Card length matters for small cases
What monitor to pair
RTX 4060: best at 1080p 165Hz and up, or 1440p 60-90Hz with DLSS. RTX 3070: comfortably ahead at 1440p 100-144Hz, and a reasonable, DLSS-assisted 4K option for lighter titles. Treat neither as a true 4K-ultra card.
Running an older PCIe 3.0 board?
The 4060 runs only PCIe 4.0 ×8. On an older PCIe 3.0 motherboard that drops to 3.0 ×8 and costs roughly 2-5% in most games. The 3070 runs a full ×16 link and is unaffected.
Price history & dollars-per-frame
Raw price is only half the story. Cost per frame is the number that decides it, and it keeps moving as prices fall.
New price over time
Street price of new cards (USD)
The 8 GB vs 8 GB question
RTX 4060 · 8 GB
- 8 GB is enough for the large majority of 1080p games on high to ultra settings, where this card is meant to live.
- The narrow 128-bit bus and 272 GB/s bandwidth are the real limiter, texture-heavy games at 1440p stutter here before the 3070 does.
- 24 MB of L2 cache helps offset the narrow bus, but it does not fully close the gap to the 3070's wider bus.
- Local AI and large creator workloads are limited by the same narrow bus, not just the 8 GB capacity.
RTX 3070 · 8 GB
- Same 8 GB capacity as the 4060, but on a much wider 256-bit bus with 448 GB/s of bandwidth, real texture streaming headroom the 4060 does not have.
- That bandwidth is why the 3070 ages better than its 8 GB figure suggests, and why it still leads in most 1440p benchmarks.
- 8 GB is still 8 GB, both cards eventually hit the same wall in the newest AAA titles at max settings.
- For emulation and bandwidth-sensitive workloads, the 3070's bus width matters more than its lack of a newer architecture.
Emulation & memory bandwidth
The narrower bus is a real downgrade for emulation
The RTX 3070's 448 GB/s over a 256-bit bus comfortably beats the 4060's 272 GB/s over 128-bit, and emulation performance tracks bandwidth closely at high internal resolutions. For Switch and PS3 emulation specifically, the older, wider-bus 3070 is the better pick.
Creator, AI & streaming
The newer card is quicker per task, but the older card's extra VRAM unlocks larger jobs it can't fit at all.
Streaming: the AV1 encoder is the differentiator
The RTX 4060 has a hardware AV1 encoder, the 3070 tops out at H.264 and HEVC. AV1 gives cleaner streams at the same bitrate and faster exports in AV1-aware software. For anyone who streams or records regularly, that alone can be worth the trade against raw speed.
Overclocking & undervolting
The 3070 has a bit more overclocking headroom and gains more from undervolting given its 220W stock draw. The 4060 is already efficient at 115W, so its overclocking ceiling and undervolt upside are both smaller in absolute terms.
Pros & cons
RTX 4060
- Far more efficient, 115W against the 3070's 220W
- DLSS 3 Frame Generation and a hardware AV1 encoder
- Runs on a compact 450W PSU, easy fit for small builds
- About 14% slower in raw raster performance
- Narrow 128-bit bus limits it more than its 8GB figure suggests
RTX 3070
- About 14% faster, and the wider 256-bit bus ages better at 1440p and in texture-heavy games
- Better for emulation and bandwidth-sensitive workloads
- Cheaper on the used market for the performance
- 220W draw needs a bigger PSU and generates more heat and noise
- No DLSS 3 Frame Generation and no AV1 encoder
- Discontinued, so only available used with no warranty
Buying pitfalls
A laptop RTX 4060 or RTX 3070 is a different chip entirely
Mobile RTX 4060 and RTX 3070 GPUs are cut-down parts that trail their desktop namesakes by a wide margin. If you're shopping for a laptop, use the mobile version of this comparison instead, desktop and laptop benchmarks are not interchangeable.
Both cards are 8GB, don't expect a VRAM upgrade either way
Unlike most generational matchups, these two share the same 8GB capacity. The real differences are bus width, power draw and feature set, not memory headroom, so pick based on those, not VRAM.
RTX 4060 vs RTX 3070: your questions answered
In pure frame rate, yes, the 3070 runs about 14% ahead thanks to nearly double the CUDA core count and a 256-bit memory bus twice as wide as the 4060's. The 4060 fights back with DLSS 3 Frame Generation, a hardware AV1 encoder, and power draw under half of the 3070's 220W.
A used 3070 gets you more raw speed and a lower cost per frame. Go with the 4060 instead if a small, low-power build matters, or if DLSS 3 Frame Generation and AV1 streaming support are things the 3070 simply can't offer.
Yes, its 256-bit bus and 448 GB/s of bandwidth have aged better than most Ampere cards, and it still handles 1080p and 1440p comfortably. What it can't do is Frame Generation or AV1 encoding, and it pulls nearly twice the 4060's power at the wall.
No, it's a step backward in raw performance, about 14% slower. The only reasons to make the switch are power draw, DLSS 3 Frame Generation, or AV1 encoding, none of which offset losing speed you already have. A used RTX 4070 or 4070 Super gets you 25 to 45% more instead.
The 3070. Both cards top out at the same 8GB of VRAM, so capacity isn't the deciding factor here, it's the 3070's extra compute and wider memory bus that let it push more through that identical 8GB in tools like Blender and Stable Diffusion.
The 4060, its hardware AV1 encoder produces cleaner streams at the same bitrate and exports faster in AV1-aware software. On heavier editing projects the 3070's extra compute can still pull ahead on raw timeline performance.
The 4060 gets DLSS 4's upscaling plus DLSS 3's single Frame Generation, but not the multi-frame generation reserved for RTX 50-series cards. The 3070 only supports DLSS 4 Super Resolution upscaling, with no Frame Generation of any kind.
Both support it, but differently. The 3070's older 2nd-generation RT cores are more numerous and generally win native ray tracing benchmarks, while the 4060's newer 3rd-generation cores are more efficient per core despite having fewer of them.
A little, inserting AI-made frames adds some latency, though NVIDIA Reflex claws back most of it. It's a good fit for single-player games on the 4060, turn it off for competitive shooters or when your base frame rate drops under about 50fps. The 3070 doesn't support it at all.
It runs the other way, a weak CPU is what bottlenecks these two, mainly at 1080p. Check the pairing tool on this page, a Ryzen 5 5600 or Core i5-12400F or better keeps either card fed at 1440p.
The 4060, clearly, 115W against the 3070's 220W, which translates into meaningfully lower temperatures and roughly 6dB less fan noise under load. Both cards go silent at idle thanks to fan-stop.
A 450W unit is enough for the 4060, while the 3070 wants a fuller 650W supply, both running on a single 8-pin connector. Go with 650W if you want headroom in case you upgrade to something bigger later.
Typical 4060 cards run around 200mm and 3070 cards around 242mm, so measure your case's maximum clearance first. On a PCIe 3.0 motherboard the 4060 loses roughly 2 to 5%, while the 3070's full x16 link is unaffected.
No. Both the mobile RTX 4060 and mobile RTX 3070 are cut-down, weaker parts compared with their desktop namesakes. Don't line up a laptop card against these desktop numbers, use the mobile version of this comparison instead.
Only in lighter or older titles with DLSS turned on. Neither is built for modern AAA games at native 4K, both belong in the 1080p-to-1440p range with 4K treated as an occasional bonus, not a target.
The 4060 is still sold new for around $290. The 3070 is discontinued, so a used unit near $210 is your only option, and it's also the better value of the two, just buy from a seller with a return window and skip untested ex-mining cards.
Years, for both. Ada and Ampere are still getting full Game Ready driver support, so driver longevity isn't a reason to rule out either card for a 2026 purchase.