When it comes to building a gaming PC on a budget, the graphics card is often the linchpin of performance and price. In the rapidly evolving world of GPUs, two cards have emerged as compelling options for cost-conscious gamers in 2024: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 and the AMD Radeon RX 7600. These entry-level graphics cards promise solid 1080p performance, ray-tracing support, and access to modern features—all while remaining under the elusive $300 mark.
TLDR: NVIDIA RTX 4060 vs AMD RX 7600
Both the RTX 4060 and RX 7600 offer excellent price-to-performance ratios for 1080p gaming, but they excel in different areas. The RTX 4060 edges out in ray tracing performance and energy efficiency thanks to DLSS 3 and its Ada Lovelace architecture. The RX 7600, however, provides better raw rasterization performance in some titles and comes at a slightly lower price. Your choice will hinge on what you value more—visual fidelity and future-proofing or better frames per dollar today.
Hardware Specifications
On paper, both GPUs serve a similar market niche, but their underlying architectures and capabilities differ.
RTX 4060 Specs:
- Architecture: Ada Lovelace
- CUDA Cores: 3,072
- Base/Boost Clock: 1.83 GHz / 2.46 GHz
- VRAM: 8GB GDDR6 (128-bit bus)
- TDP: 115W
RX 7600 Specs:
- Architecture: RDNA 3
- Stream Processors: 2,048
- Base/Boost Clock: 1.72 GHz / up to 2.66 GHz
- VRAM: 8GB GDDR6 (128-bit bus)
- TDP: 165W
While both cards feature 8GB of VRAM, the RTX 4060 is notably more power-efficient. That has distinct advantages when it comes to thermals, form factor, and overall power supply requirements.
Performance Benchmarks
Benchmarks provide the clearest picture of how these cards handle real-world workloads. Across a variety of 1080p gaming scenarios, results show a fairly neck-and-neck race between the two—though each has its strengths depending on the use case.
Rasterization Performance
In pure rasterized workloads—games that don’t make extensive use of ray tracing—the RX 7600 often pulls ahead slightly. Titles like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and Hogwarts Legacy show the RX 7600 delivering 5–10% higher frame rates when DLSS is not engaged.
Ray Tracing and Upscaling
This is where the RTX 4060 starts to flex its muscle. Thanks to DLSS 3, NVIDIA’s AI-driven frame generation tech, games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Portal RTX run substantially smoother on Team Green’s card—with ray tracing enabled, the performance advantage can widen by up to 30%.
The RX 7600 does support AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR), but even its latest version can’t match DLSS 3’s sophistication or universal integration into modern game engines.
Content Creation and Compute Workloads
Although these are not workstation GPUs, many users dabble in creative workloads like video editing or 3D rendering. Here again, NVIDIA has a slight edge.
The RTX 4060 supports CUDA and benefits from NVIDIA’s mature driver ecosystem, which can lead to faster rendering times in software like Adobe Premiere Pro or Blender. AMD’s RX 7600 holds its own but lacks the broader compatibility that NVIDIA’s CUDA ecosystem allows.
Power Consumption and Thermals
One of the key differentiators between these cards is their power draw. The RTX 4060 has a major efficiency advantage, drawing just 115 watts under full load compared to 165 watts on the RX 7600.
This lower TDP not only allows for quieter and cooler operation with smaller cooling solutions, but also allows for potential savings when factoring in PSU requirements or long-term energy costs.
Software and Ecosystem
Another point where NVIDIA pulls ahead is in its software stack. NVIDIA’s GeForce Experience offers easy driver updates, game optimization features, and tools like ShadowPlay and NVIDIA Broadcast—useful for streamers and content creators. On the AMD side, the Adrenalin Software suite is intuitive and feature-rich but slightly less polished overall.
Moreover, NVIDIA GPUs traditionally benefit from faster and broader driver support for newly released AAA titles. This can affect day-one performance in new games—an important consideration for gamers eager to try the latest releases.
Future Proofing and Longevity
While both cards are limited to 8GB of VRAM—a potential concern with increasingly memory-hungry games—the RTX 4060’s support for DLSS 3 and its superior efficiency may make it more viable in the long term.
DLSS 3’s frame generation can extend the lifespan of the card by keeping frame rates high even as visual demands increase. AMD may catch up with future versions of FSR, but the gap is currently noticeable.
Price and Availability
Pricing is always a moving target, but as of mid-2024, the RX 7600 commonly retails for around $250, while the RTX 4060 hovers closer to $290. Those extra $40 can be well-justified if you prioritize ray tracing, streaming features, or long-term efficiency. However, for gamers focused solely on raw frame rates and who don’t plan to use ray tracing, the RX 7600 remains an incredibly compelling value.
Who Should Buy Which?
To help clarify which GPU might be the better fit for different users, consider the following breakdown:
Buy the RTX 4060 if you:
- Want better ray tracing performance and DLSS 3 support
- Care about lower power consumption and quieter operation
- Engage in content creation with CUDA-aided applications
- Value software stability and broad driver support
Buy the RX 7600 if you:
- Want the best dollar-to-frame ratio for rasterized gaming
- Are building a pure gaming rig without ray tracing needs
- Have a higher-wattage power supply and airflow already accounted for
- Appreciate open-source and mod-friendly ecosystems
Conclusion
The bottom line comes down to priorities. If you’re focused strictly on performance-per-dollar and don’t care for ray tracing or NVIDIA-exclusive features, the RX 7600 is arguably the smarter buy. It’s slightly cheaper, and excels at classic 1080p gaming without frills.
However, for those who aim to get more future-proofing, value ray tracing or DLSS, or are looking for a GPU with broader creative capabilities, the RTX 4060 is the better investment. While pricier, the added features and efficiency may pay off over time—especially as games continue to grow more demanding.
