GeForce 9600 GT 512MB vs GeForce GTX 260 Core 216

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce GTX 260 Core 216, which uses a 65 nm design. nVidia has clocked the core speed at 576 MHz. The GDDR3 memory works at a frequency of 999 MHz on this specific model. It features 216 SPUs as well as 72 Texture Address Units and 28 Rasterization Operator Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 9600 GT 512MB		95 Watts
GeForce GTX 260 Core 216		202 Watts
	Difference: 107 Watts (113%)

Memory Bandwidth

The GeForce GTX 260 Core 216, in theory, should be a lot faster than the GeForce 9600 GT 512MB in general. (explain)

GeForce GTX 260 Core 216		111888 MB/sec
GeForce 9600 GT 512MB		57600 MB/sec
	Difference: 54288 (94%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 should be a lot (about 99%) more effective at anisotropic filtering than the GeForce 9600 GT 512MB. (explain)

GeForce GTX 260 Core 216		41472 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 9600 GT 512MB		20800 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 20672 (99%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 will be much (approximately 55%) faster with regards to AA than the GeForce 9600 GT 512MB, and also should be capable of handling higher screen resolutions without losing too much performance. (explain)

GeForce GTX 260 Core 216		16128 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9600 GT 512MB		10400 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 5728 (55%)

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 (measured in MB per second) that can be transferred past the external memory interface within a second. It's calculated by multiplying the interface width by the speed of its memory. If it uses DDR type memory, it should be multiplied by 2 once again. If DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The higher the memory bandwidth, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, HDR and high resolutions.

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

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels that the graphics chip can possibly write to its local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. Pixel rate is worked out by multiplying the number of colour ROPs by the the core speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - sometimes also referred to as Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel rate is also dependant on quite a few other factors, especially the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the maximum fill rate.