GeForce GTX 280 vs GeForce GTX 285 2GB

Intro

Compare that to the GeForce GTX 285 2GB, which comes with GPU core speed of 648 MHz, and 2048 MB of GDDR3 RAM set to run at 1242 MHz through a 512-bit bus. It also is made up of 240 SPUs, 80 TAUs, and 32 Raster Operation Units.

(No game benchmarks for this combination yet.)

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GTX 285 2GB		204 Watts
GeForce GTX 280		236 Watts
	Difference: 32 Watts (16%)

Memory Bandwidth

Theoretically speaking, the GeForce GTX 285 2GB will be 12% faster than the GeForce GTX 280 in general, because of its greater bandwidth. (explain)

GeForce GTX 285 2GB		158976 MB/sec
GeForce GTX 280		141696 MB/sec
	Difference: 17280 (12%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 285 2GB should be a small bit (more or less 8%) more effective at texture filtering than the GeForce GTX 280. (explain)

GeForce GTX 285 2GB		51840 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GTX 280		48160 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 3680 (8%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 285 2GB will be just a bit (about 8%) better at AA than the GeForce GTX 280, and will be able to handle higher resolutions better. (explain)

GeForce GTX 285 2GB		20736 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GTX 280		19264 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 1472 (8%)

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 data (counted in megabytes per second) that can be moved over the external memory interface in a second. The number is calculated by multiplying the interface width by its memory clock speed. If the card has DDR RAM, it should be multiplied by 2 once again. If it uses 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 high resolutions.

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

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels the graphics card could possibly record to the local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is calculated by multiplying the amount of ROPs by the clock speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - aka Render Output Units) are responsible for outputting the pixels (image) to the screen. The actual pixel output rate is also dependant on lots of other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to reach the max fill rate.