GeForce 9800 GTX+ vs GeForce GTX 280

Intro

Compare all that to the GeForce GTX 280, which comes with core clock speeds of 602 MHz on the GPU, and 1107 MHz on the 1024 MB of GDDR3 memory. It features 240 SPUs as well as 80 TAUs and 32 Rasterization Operator Units.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 9800 GTX+		145 Watts
GeForce GTX 280		236 Watts
	Difference: 91 Watts (63%)

Memory Bandwidth

As far as performance goes, the GeForce GTX 280 should in theory be much better than the GeForce 9800 GTX+ in general. (explain)

GeForce GTX 280		141696 MB/sec
GeForce 9800 GTX+		70400 MB/sec
	Difference: 71296 (101%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 280 will be just a bit (about 2%) better at texture filtering than the GeForce 9800 GTX+. (explain)

GeForce GTX 280		48160 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 9800 GTX+		47232 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 928 (2%)

Pixel Rate

If running with high levels of AA is important to you, then the GeForce GTX 280 is superior to the GeForce 9800 GTX+, and very much so. (explain)

GeForce GTX 280		19264 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9800 GTX+		11808 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 7456 (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: Bandwidth is the max amount of data (in units of megabytes per second) that can be transported past the external memory interface in one second. The number is calculated by multiplying the card's interface width by the speed of its memory. In the case of DDR type RAM, it should be multiplied by 2 once again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The higher 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 processed in one second. This figure is calculated by multiplying the total number of texture units of the card 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 processed in one second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels that the graphics card could possibly write to the local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is worked out by multiplying the number of Raster Operations Pipelines 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 rate also depends on quite a few other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the max fill rate.