GeForce GTS 250 512MB vs GeForce GTX 560

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GTX 560, which makes use of a 40 nm design. nVidia has set the core frequency at 810 MHz. The GDDR5 memory runs at a frequency of 1001 MHz on this specific card. It features 336 SPUs as well as 56 TAUs and 32 Rasterization Operator Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GTS 250 512MB		145 Watts
GeForce GTX 560		150 Watts
	Difference: 5 Watts (3%)

Memory Bandwidth

As far as performance goes, the GeForce GTX 560 should theoretically be much better than the GeForce GTS 250 512MB in general. (explain)

GeForce GTX 560		128128 MB/sec
GeForce GTS 250 512MB		70400 MB/sec
	Difference: 57728 (82%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTS 250 512MB will be a small bit (about 4%) better at texture filtering than the GeForce GTX 560. (explain)

GeForce GTS 250 512MB		47232 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GTX 560		45360 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 1872 (4%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 560 will be quite a bit (approximately 120%) faster with regards to full screen anti-aliasing than the GeForce GTS 250 512MB, and capable of handling higher resolutions better. (explain)

GeForce GTX 560		25920 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GTS 250 512MB		11808 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 14112 (120%)

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: Bandwidth is the largest amount of information (measured in MB per second) that can be transferred over the external memory interface in one second. It's worked out by multiplying the card's bus width by its memory clock speed. If it uses DDR memory, it must be multiplied by 2 once again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the bandwidth is, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, HDR and high resolutions.

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

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels the graphics card can possibly write to the local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is worked out by multiplying the number of Raster Operations Pipelines by the the core clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also sometimes called Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel fill rate is also dependant on quite a few other factors, especially the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to get to the max fill rate.