GeForce GTX 650 vs GeForce GTX 660

Intro

Compare all that to the GeForce GTX 660, which features core speeds of 980 MHz on the GPU, and 1502 MHz on the 2048 MB of GDDR5 memory. It features 960 SPUs along with 80 TAUs and 24 Rasterization Operator Units.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Benchmarks

These are real-world performance benchmarks that were submitted by Hardware Compare users. The scores seen here are the average of all benchmarks submitted for each respective test and hardware.

3DMark Fire Strike Graphics Score

GeForce GTX 660		5063 points
GeForce GTX 650		2263 points
	Difference: 2800 (124%)

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GTX 650		64 Watts
GeForce GTX 660		140 Watts
	Difference: 76 Watts (119%)

Memory Bandwidth

Theoretically speaking, the GeForce GTX 660 will be 80% faster than the GeForce GTX 650 in general, due to its greater data rate. (explain)

GeForce GTX 660		144192 MB/sec
GeForce GTX 650		80000 MB/sec
	Difference: 64192 (80%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 660 is much (more or less 132%) more effective at AF than the GeForce GTX 650. (explain)

GeForce GTX 660		78400 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GTX 650		33856 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 44544 (132%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 660 should be quite a bit (approximately 39%) faster with regards to anti-aliasing than the GeForce GTX 650, and will be capable of handling higher resolutions more effectively. (explain)

GeForce GTX 660		23520 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GTX 650		16928 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 6592 (39%)

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 maximum amount of data (in units of MB per second) that can be transferred across the external memory interface in a second. It is worked out by multiplying the interface width by its memory speed. If the card has DDR type memory, it should be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the memory bandwidth, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, HDR and higher screen 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 number of texture units by the core 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 applied in a second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels the video card can possibly record to the local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is calculated by multiplying the amount of colour ROPs by the the card's clock speed. 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 quite a few other factors, especially the memory bandwidth - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the maximum fill rate.