We're now getting a flurry of Nvidia GeForce RTX 4000-series leaks in the run up to the range's launch in October and, in good news for PC gamers looking to upgrade to one of the firm's new best graphics cards, we've just had a benchmark score leak for the incoming RTX 4060 GPU.
The benchmark leaks comes courtesy of established GPU leaker kopite7kimi on Twitter, who reveals that the "AD106" has a "typical TSE score" of "< 7000".
Now, for those not in the know, 'TSE' stands for the 3DMark benchmark 'Time Spy Extreme', which is a standardised test for PC gamers to ascertain just how powerful a GPU is, and 'AD106' is the codename for what has been reported to be the RTX 4060.
As noted here, then, the RTX 4060 delivers a Time Spy Extreme benchmark score of under 7,000 (most likely closely under it, in the high 6,000s). And that's good news for PC gamers because, as noted by T3 sister site TechRadar, that sort of TSE benchmark score puts the RTX 4060's performance in RTX 3070 territory.
So, it looks like the RTX 4060 will offer RTX 3070 levels of RAW power, but with some nice extras delivered by the 4000-series' new Lovelace architecture. Basically, a slicker, better version of the RTX 3070.
The T3 take: If the price is right, this is the GPU to buy
I, like many PC gamers, cannot afford the most extreme graphics cards released by Nvidia or AMD each GPU generation, instead looking to shop in the mid-range and try to get the most bang for my buck by shopping smart and then overclocking. This need to buy smart has got even more pressing due to the current cost of living crisis.
And, this early benchmark leak already communicates to me that the RTX 4060 is likely the region I need to be looking for my next GPU upgrade – well, providing the price is right, of course.
Pricing is so important. The GPU market has been a dumpster fire over the past couple of years due to chip shortages and crypto mining operations, sending prices of graphics cards to the moon. But, as T3 has reported, both of those things now seem to be massively diminished as issues in the graphics card market, giving me some hope we'll see more normal pricing for Nvidia's 4000-series of cards and a heck of a lot more of them available to buy.
If Nvidia can price the GeForce RTX 4060 at an affordable price point then this will be a very attractive GPU for a lot of PC gamers looking to upgrade their system or build a new rig on a budget.
Of course, I'll be keen to see how the RTX 4070, 4080 and 4090 perform, and I'm sure they will deliver better benchmark scores and power, but due to the 4060 likely to be markedly more affordable than those cards, that's where I can see a lot of PC gamers looking to shop.
And, if they can get RTX 3070 performance with optimised 4000-series architecture and features - hopefully also with some good margin for overclocking - we could be looking at a great buy for running today's most graphically demanding PC games and powering creative apps.
