GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3 vs GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 1GB

Intro

Compare all that to the GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 1GB, which comes with a core clock speed of 550 MHz and a GDDR5 memory speed of 850 MHz. It also makes use of a 128-bit memory bus, and makes use of a 40 nm design. It is comprised of 96 SPUs, 32 TAUs, and 8 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3		50 Watts
GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 1GB		70 Watts
	Difference: 20 Watts (40%)

Memory Bandwidth

As far as performance goes, the GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 1GB should theoretically be much better than the GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3 overall. (explain)

GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 1GB		54400 MB/sec
GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3		25600 MB/sec
	Difference: 28800 (113%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 1GB is quite a bit (more or less 100%) better at texture filtering than the GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3. (explain)

GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 1GB		17600 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3		8800 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 8800 (100%)

Pixel Rate

Both cards have the exact same pixel fill rate, so in theory they should be equally good at at AA, and be capable of handling the same screen resolutions. (explain)

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 largest amount of information (measured in MB per second) that can be moved past the external memory interface in one second. It's worked out by multiplying the interface width by its memory clock speed. If the card has DDR type RAM, the result should be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the 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 number of texture map elements (texels) that can be applied per second. This is worked out by multiplying the total amount of texture units of the card by the core clock speed of the chip. The higher this number, 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 number of pixels the video card can possibly write to the local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. Pixel rate is calculated by multiplying the amount of Render Output Units by the the core speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also sometimes called Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel rate is also dependant on lots of other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the maximum fill rate.