GeForce 9600 GT 512MB vs GeForce GTX 560

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GTX 560, which has GPU core speed of 810 MHz, and 1024 MB of GDDR5 memory running at 1001 MHz through a 256-bit bus. It also features 336 Stream Processors, 56 TAUs, and 32 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 9600 GT 512MB		95 Watts
GeForce GTX 560		150 Watts
	Difference: 55 Watts (58%)

Memory Bandwidth

As far as performance goes, the GeForce GTX 560 should theoretically be quite a bit better than the GeForce 9600 GT 512MB in general. (explain)

GeForce GTX 560		128128 MB/sec
GeForce 9600 GT 512MB		57600 MB/sec
	Difference: 70528 (122%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 560 will be quite a bit (about 118%) faster with regards to anisotropic filtering than the GeForce 9600 GT 512MB. (explain)

GeForce GTX 560		45360 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 9600 GT 512MB		20800 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 24560 (118%)

Pixel Rate

If running with a high screen resolution is important to you, then the GeForce GTX 560 is superior to the GeForce 9600 GT 512MB, by a large margin. (explain)

GeForce GTX 560		25920 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9600 GT 512MB		10400 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 15520 (149%)

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 maximum amount of data (counted in megabytes per second) that can be transferred over the external memory interface within a second. The number is calculated by multiplying the bus width by its memory clock speed. If the card has DDR RAM, it should be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The higher the card's memory bandwidth, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, High Dynamic Range and higher screen resolutions.

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

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most pixels that the graphics card can possibly write to its local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is calculated by multiplying the amount of Raster Operations Pipelines by the clock speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - aka Render Output Units) are responsible for drawing the pixels (image) on the screen. The actual pixel output rate also depends on many other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to get to the maximum fill rate.