GeForce 9400 GT 256MB vs GeForce GT 310

Intro

Compare that to the GeForce GT 310, which uses a 40 nm design. nVidia has set the core speed at 589 MHz. The DDR2 RAM is set to run at a frequency of 1000 MHz on this card. It features 16 SPUs as well as 8 TAUs and 4 Rasterization Operator Units.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GT 310		31 Watts
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		50 Watts
	Difference: 19 Watts (61%)

Memory Bandwidth

Performance-wise, the GeForce GT 310 should in theory be much better than the GeForce 9400 GT 256MB in general. (explain)

GeForce GT 310		16000 MB/sec
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 3200 (25%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GT 310 is a small bit (approximately 7%) more effective at AF than the GeForce 9400 GT 256MB. (explain)

GeForce GT 310		4712 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		4400 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 312 (7%)

Pixel Rate

If running with high levels of AA is important to you, then the GeForce GT 310 is the winner, though only just barely. (explain)

GeForce GT 310		2356 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		2200 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 156 (7%)

Please note that the above 'benchmarks' are all just theoretical - the results were calculated based on the card's specifications, and real-world performance may (and probably will) vary at least a bit.

Price Comparison

Specifications

Memory Bandwidth: Memory bandwidth is the max amount of data (in units of MB per second) that can be transported past the external memory interface in one second. It's worked out by multiplying the bus width by its memory speed. If the card has DDR type RAM, it should be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the card's memory bandwidth, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, High Dynamic Range and high resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum number of texture map elements (texels) that are applied per second. This figure is worked out by multiplying the total texture units of the card by the core speed of the chip. The higher the texel rate, the better the graphics card will be at handling texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels processed in a second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels that the graphics card can possibly record to its local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is calculated by multiplying the number of Raster Operations Pipelines by the clock speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - aka Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel rate also depends on many other factors, especially the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the max fill rate.