RTX 4060 vs RTX 4070 - Worth Paying More for RTX 4070
### Should You Spend More on an RTX 4070 Gaming Laptop or Is an RTX 4060 Enough?
When deciding whether to spend more on an RTX 4070 gaming laptop or if an RTX 4060 is sufficient, it's essential to compare the performance differences in real-world scenarios. This article delves into the detailed comparison of these GPUs across 18 games at both 1440p and 1080p resolutions, providing insights into their performance, power usage, and value for money.
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#### **Technical Specifications: RTX 4070 vs. RTX 4060**
The higher-tier RTX 4070 laptop GPU boasts 50% more CUDA cores, tensor, and ray tracing cores compared to the lower-tier RTX 4060. Despite this significant difference in processing power, both GPUs share identical specifications regarding VRAM, memory bus width, memory bandwidth, and memory speed. Both also have the same power range, but the RTX 4060 can achieve higher boost clock speeds due to its fewer CUDA cores.
In real-world testing, both GPUs hit a voltage limit of around 100 watts while running games. Beyond this point, there is no noticeable improvement in frame rates (FPS). The 3DMark Time Spy graphics score graph shows that GPU performance starts to plateau after approximately 100 watts, indicating that the additional power does not translate into better performance.
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#### **Testing Setup**
The testing was conducted using XMG’s Neo 16 gaming laptop, which features identical hardware components (CPU and RAM) for both configurations. A liquid cooler was employed to ensure no thermal throttling occurred during the tests, providing a fair apples-to-apples comparison between the two GPUs.
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#### **Game Performance Analysis**
The performance differences were tested across 18 games at both 1440p and 1080p resolutions. Here are some key findings:
1. **Red Dead Redemption 2**: The RTX 4070 was only 16% faster than the RTX 4060 at both resolutions, showing minimal difference.
2. **Microsoft Flight Simulator**: Despite being a CPU-heavy game, the RTX 4070 showed a significant performance advantage, with a 22% lead at 1080p and 24% at 1440p.
3. **Forza Horizon 5**: The RTX 4070 was 16% faster at both resolutions, but the difference in 1% lows (performance dips) was more pronounced.
4. **Hogwarts Legacy**: The RTX 4070 had a consistent lead, though the 1% lows were slightly worse on this title at 1440p.
5. **DOOM Eternal**: The RTX 4060 surprisingly outperformed the RTX 4070 in 1% lows at 1080p, despite the latter having a 38% higher average FPS.
6. **The Witcher 3**: Ray tracing preset enabled showed the largest performance gap, with the RTX 4070 barely exceeding 30 FPS and the RTX 4060 struggling to keep up.
7. **Dead Space**: The RTX 4070 was 23% faster at 1080p, highlighting its GPU-heavy nature.
8. **Apex Legends**: The performance difference was minimal, with the RTX 4070 only 11% faster at 1440p.
9. **Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2**: The RTX 4070 showed a significant lead, with a 24% higher average FPS at 1440p.
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#### **Average Performance Across All Games**
On average, the RTX 4070 outperformed the RTX 4060 by 20% at 1080p and 22% at 1440p. The performance differences varied across games, with titles like DOOM Eternal showing a much larger gap in favor of the RTX 4070.
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#### **Price Comparison and Value Analysis**
The price difference between the RTX 4070 and RTX 4060 varies depending on the laptop model. For example:
- The XMG Neo 16 with an RTX 4070 is approximately €300 more expensive than its RTX 4060 counterpart.
- The ASUS Zephyrus G14 starts at $1,600 for the RTX 4060 model and $1,850 for the RTX 4070.
- The ASUS TUF F15 costs $1,100 for the RTX 4060 and $1,400 for the RTX 4070.
While the RTX 4070 generally offers better value per frame in most cases, the decision ultimately depends on your budget. The RTX 4060 remains a capable GPU for gaming at high settings, especially with features like FSR and DLSS to boost performance.
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#### **Conclusion**
In many cases, upgrading to an RTX 4070 is worth considering if you can stretch your budget. However, the RTX 4060 still holds its own in terms of performance and value. If you’re looking for future-proofing or more advanced features like additional VRAM (as seen in the RTX 4080), spending even more on higher-tier GPUs could be worth exploring.
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