Gigabyte RTX 4060 WindForce OC 8G:
Architecture:
As a reminder, the cards in the “Founders Edition” series are unique models offered by NVIDIA. For the RTX 4060 version, NVIDIA will not be offering any, leaving the entire offer to its partners. NVIDIA’s partners will also be offering their own models, either at NVIDIA’s MSRP of 329 euros, or at a higher price. We’ll be testing a second card tomorrow.
This Gigabyte RTX 4060 WindForce OC 8 GB features an AD107-400 GPU with 3072 CUDA cores, i.e. 1280 cores less than the RTX 4060 Ti. It features TSMC’s 4nm manufacturing process, rather than Samsung’s 8nm, bringing the TGP down to just 115 watts.
Memory: 8 GB of 128-bit GDDR6 memory, which translates into a bandwidth of 272 GB/s. The RTX 3060 Ti had 12 GB of memory and a 256-bit bus (448 GB/s), while the RTX 2060 Super had 8 GB with a 192-bit bus (448 GB/s). So we end up with a virtual RTX 4060 offering lower bandwidth. But NVIDIA assures us that bandwidth actually reaches 453 GB/s, thanks to the increase in L2 cache to 24 MB.
NVIDIA also emphasized the low power consumption of this RTX 4060 model, talking about the savings that can be made over 4 years for a person playing between 10 and 20 hours a week. The RTX 4060 is expected to consume around 2.2 kWh per week, less than an RTX 3060 170W at 3.5 kWh.
The Gigabyte RTX 4060 WindForce 8G bundle:
So what’s in the box? First of all, the box retains Gigabyte’s color code of orange, green and black. The box is fairly compact, which suggests that this is a card with reduced dimensions.
There’s nothing in the bundle other than a quick installation guide. The absence of a 12 4-pin adapter seems to confirm that Gigabyte has chosen to retain a “traditional” power connector.
Cooling:
The card benefits from a standard size for entry-level products, with dimensions of 192 x 120 x 41 mm and a width of 2 slots. A wise choice for owners of compact chassis.
This isn’t the first time we’ve had a Gigabyte graphics card in our hands, so the design isn’t totally unfamiliar. This is a custom card, i.e. with its own cooling system. It is labelled “Windforce 2x” and features two 80 mm fans.
Gigabyte uses its patented Alternate Spinning technology on this board. The principle is quite simple, and involves the two fans rotating in opposite directions. The aim is to avoid turbulence between the two fans.
The eleven fan blades are slightly curved and raised to optimize airflow. Our sample is equipped with ” 3D Active Fan ” technology to leave the fans idle if the GPU temperature doesn’t require their operation.
The black plastic casing encloses the slightly shorter PCB, and bears the Gigabyte GeForce RTX lettering on the top edge. The finish of the plastic shell is quite good for an entry-level card, and the fairly neutral aesthetic should suit many users. Gigabyte, surely for financial reasons, does without RGB backlighting here.
The cooling system :
Let’s get down to disassembling the board’s cooling system. This is secured by six clamping points. The usual four around the graphics chip, but also two more around the power supply stages. This ensures optimum retention of the cooling system.
The aluminum radiator responsible for keeping the various PCB components cool is traversed by a single 6 mm heatpipe, which seems a little light to us all the same. This is in direct contact with the graphics chip. It’s a cooling system we’ve already encountered at Gigabyte on entry-level graphics cards. Memory chips, the power supply stage and certain PCB chips are covered with thermal pads to ensure heat dissipation.
Connectors :
The traditional 8-pin connector is used to power the board. Finally, the board’s video outputs include two DisplayPort 1.4a and two HDMI 2.1a ports.
Now that the owner’s tour is over, let’s move on to the technical specifications before beginning the full test of this Gigabyte RTX 4060 WindForce OC 8G.
