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Nvidia’s most affordable RTX 40-series desktop graphics card is starting to push toward $500 at U.S. retailers. Yet, despite its horrific pricing, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 currently tops the best seller GPU chart on Newegg US, with an MSI Ventus model listed at $460 (and it "ships from Hong Kong"). Further down the chart, the only other RTX 4060 model in the top 20 is a triple-fan Gigabyte Eagle model at $455 (which ships from the US). These prices seem ridiculously high, but Newegg is still seeing enough demand to make this MSI model its best seller.
Of course, it's likely more of a statement on the lack of GPU supply rather than high demand for these graphics cards. The Blackwell RTX 50-series GPUs, along with AMD's RDNA 4 RX 9000-series and Intel's Battlemage Arc B-series, have all been rather difficult to find at anything approaching MSRPs. Inventory on the previous generation graphics cards also dried up late last year, with only the lower tier cards like the RTX 4060, RX 7600, Arc A750, and RX 6600 still remaining in stock at reasonable prices. We can scratch the 4060 off the "reasonable" list now, however.
When the RTX 4060 was launched at $299 in June 2023, it was panned by reviewers and enthusiasts for its significant compromises. Benchmarks showed that the intergenerational performance increase wasn’t exciting, and its 8GB VRAM and 128-bit interface meant the RTX 4060 suffered a significant VRAM and bus width deficit vs the previous 12GB RTX 3060. (Of course, Nvidia also released an RTX 3060 8GB late in the Ampere life cycle that perhaps made the 4060 look a little less terrible.)
Normally, when Nvidia is due to unleash the next-generation replacements for a graphics card family, consumers have a chance at a rare bargain. This is not the case in 2025, as the launch date for the RTX 5060-class GPUs approaches. Leaks and indications of a lift in 60-class pricing don’t help exert downward pressure on the RTX 4060 series. For example, Chinese etailers recently listed RTX 5060 and RTX 5060 Ti graphics cards for between $463 and $528 (prices converted for Chinese Yuan and minus local sales tax).
Another reason the RTX 4060 desktop price seems so high is that you can grab full gaming laptop systems featuring the RTX 4060 laptop GPU for bargain prices. Of course a mobile variant isn't equivalent to a desktop PC model, but a couple of weeks ago we spotted an RTX 4060 packing MSI Thin A15 for $729. That’s just $270 more than the desktop GPU alone, and if you were starting out in PC gaming, that bargain laptop features a powerful Ryzen 9 8945HS processor, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage, as well as the laptop screen, keyboard etc. – in a portable form factor.
That's not a direct substitute for a desktop graphics card if that’s what you want/need, but it illustrates the silly desktop card pricing. We must also comment that, unlike other Nvidia desktop/laptop GPU comparisons, the RTX 4060 laptop GPU actually offers relatively similar performance — the only major differences are clocks speeds and power limits.
Supply and demand strikes again
The law of supply and demand is a very powerful force in economics, and we frequently see this reflected in the PC components market. In the graphics card arena, the supply/demand balance has been unfortunate for PC DIYers and enthusiasts for several months now, chiefly due to AI, and we've seen similar issues in the past (e.g. due to cryptomining and Covid). It's not looking like things will be rectified shortly.
Having said that, we do feel that these RTX 4060 prices can’t be sustained. Nvidia and AMD are preparing to fill this market with new gen ‘60’ cards shortly, and they are usually supplied in good quantities, as they are mainstream mass-market products. Faced with RTX 4060 cards approaching $500, we would definitely suggest waiting a few weeks for the next-gen 4060/9060, with potential replenishments and restocks of ‘70’ series GPUs helping out, too.
If you're in a pinch, check out our graphics card hierarchy for the comparative performance of lesser-known GPUs from AMD and Intel. Perhaps, for your intended purposes, an AMD Radeon RX 7600/XT or Arc B580, B570, A770, or A750 might be a satisfactory substitute for an RTX 4060. Check our reviews and see how alternatives work in your favorite games and apps. As a stopgap, the Newegg fourth place AMD Radeon RX 6600, at $210, isn’t a terrible choice, either.
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