Which is better for ai & machine learning: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 or GeForce RTX 4060?

GeForce RTX 4060 performs better for ai & machine learning, winning 5 of 20 benchmarks in our suite with an average 68.6% advantage.

What are the main hardware differences between NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 and GeForce RTX 4060?

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 has 8GB VRAM and a 180W TDP, while GeForce RTX 4060 has 8GB VRAM and a 115W TDP.

Where is the biggest performance difference between NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 and GeForce RTX 4060?

Stable Diffusion XL: GeForce RTX 4060 leads by roughly 157% (1.08 vs 2.78 images/min) in our testing.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 vs GeForce RTX 4060, AI & Machine Learning Comparison

GeForce RTX 4060 wins 5 of 20 benchmarks, averaging 68.6% faster.

Both cards' numbers are anchored estimates calibrated against our measured cards, pending first-party measurement. Treat small gaps as ties.

What the numbers say

The gap is widest in Stable Diffusion XL, where GeForce RTX 4060 leads by 157% (1.08 vs 2.78 images/min); the closest fight is Llama-3.1-8B (46% apart).

Benchmark results head-to-head

Benchmark	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080	GeForce RTX 4060	Difference
Qwen3-4B tok/s	59.12	86.38	-32%
Llama-3.1-8B tok/s	35.98	52.4	-31%
Qwen3 8B tok/s	34.97	51.31	-32%
Gemma 4 12B tok/s	22.65	33.27	-32%
Qwen2.5-Coder 14B tok/s	0	0	n/a
Qwen3 14B tok/s	0	0	n/a
Gemma 4 26B A4B tok/s	0	0	n/a
Qwen3 30B A3B tok/s	0	0	n/a
Gemma 4 31B tok/s	0	0	n/a
Qwen3 32B tok/s	0	0	n/a
Llama 3.3 70B tok/s	0	0	n/a
Sana 1.6B images/min	0	0	n/a
Stable Diffusion XL images/min	1.08	2.78	-61%
PixArt-Sigma XL images/min	0	0	n/a
FLUX.1 Kontext dev images/min	0	0	n/a
FLUX.1 dev images/min	0	0	n/a
Qwen-Image-Edit images/min	0	0	n/a
Z-Image Turbo images/min	0	0	n/a
LTX-Video (distilled) frames/s	0	0	n/a
Wan 2.2 5B (720p) frames/s	0	0	n/a

Cost to rent

Card	Per hour
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080	$0.049
GeForce RTX 4060	$0.078

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 is 1.59x cheaper per hour. Cheapest on-demand rate we see across RunPod and Vast.

Specifications compared

	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080	GeForce RTX 4060
VRAM	8GB	8GB
Transistors	7,200M	18,900M
Die size	314 mm²	158.7 mm²
Process node	16 nm	4 nm
Transistor density	22.9 M/mm²	119.1 M/mm²
Architecture	Pascal	Ada Lovelace
Memory bandwidth	320 GB/s	272 GB/s
Boost clock	1,733 MHz	2,475 MHz
TDP	180 W	115 W
Launch MSRP	$599	$299
Release	2016-05-27	2023-05-24

FAQ

Which is better for ai & machine learning: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 or GeForce RTX 4060?: GeForce RTX 4060 performs better for ai & machine learning, winning 5 of 20 benchmarks in our suite with an average 68.6% advantage.
What are the main hardware differences between NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 and GeForce RTX 4060?: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 has 8GB VRAM and a 180W TDP, while GeForce RTX 4060 has 8GB VRAM and a 115W TDP.
Where is the biggest performance difference between NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 and GeForce RTX 4060?: Stable Diffusion XL: GeForce RTX 4060 leads by roughly 157% (1.08 vs 2.78 images/min) in our testing.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 full review · GeForce RTX 4060 full review · All AI & Machine Learning rankings