GeForce 9600 GT 512MB vs GeForce GTX 650

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GTX 650, which comes with a GPU core clock speed of 1058 MHz, and 1024 MB of GDDR5 RAM set to run at 1250 MHz through a 128-bit bus. It also features 384 SPUs, 32 TAUs, and 16 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GTX 650		64 Watts
GeForce 9600 GT 512MB		95 Watts
	Difference: 31 Watts (48%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce GTX 650 is 39% quicker than the GeForce 9600 GT 512MB in general, because of its greater bandwidth. (explain)

GeForce GTX 650		80000 MB/sec
GeForce 9600 GT 512MB		57600 MB/sec
	Difference: 22400 (39%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 650 will be a lot (approximately 63%) more effective at AF than the GeForce 9600 GT 512MB. (explain)

GeForce GTX 650		33856 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 9600 GT 512MB		20800 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 13056 (63%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 650 is much (approximately 63%) more effective at full screen anti-aliasing than the GeForce 9600 GT 512MB, and also should be able to handle higher screen resolutions better. (explain)

GeForce GTX 650		16928 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9600 GT 512MB		10400 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 6528 (63%)

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 moved past the external memory interface in one second. It's calculated by multiplying the card's bus width by its memory clock speed. If it uses DDR type RAM, it must 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 AA, HDR and higher screen resolutions.

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

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels the graphics card can possibly record to its local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is worked out by multiplying the amount of colour ROPs by the the core clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - aka 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 - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the maximum fill rate.