GeForce GTX 280 vs GeForce GTX 285 2GB

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GTX 285 2GB, which features core speeds of 648 MHz on the GPU, and 1242 MHz on the 2048 MB of GDDR3 RAM. It features 240 SPUs along with 80 TAUs and 32 ROPs.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

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

As far as performance goes, the GeForce GTX 285 2GB should in theory be a bit better than the GeForce GTX 280 overall. (explain)

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

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 285 2GB will 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

If using a high screen resolution is important to you, then the GeForce GTX 285 2GB is superior to the GeForce GTX 280, though only just barely. (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 max amount of information (in units of MB per second) that can be transported past the external memory interface in a second. It's worked out by multiplying the card's bus width by its memory clock speed. If it uses DDR RAM, it should be multiplied by 2 once again. If DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The higher the memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, HDR and higher screen resolutions.

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

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most pixels that the graphics chip can possibly write to its local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is worked out by multiplying the number of ROPs by the clock speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - sometimes also referred to as Render Output Units) are responsible for drawing the pixels (image) on the screen. The actual pixel output rate is also dependant on many other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the maximum fill rate.