GeForce GTX 460 2GB vs GeForce GTX 970

Intro

Compare that to the GeForce GTX 970, which comes with a clock speed of 1050 MHz and a GDDR5 memory speed of 1750 MHz. It also features a 256-bit bus, and makes use of a 28 nm design. It is comprised of 1664 SPUs, 104 TAUs, and 64 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GTX 970		145 Watts
GeForce GTX 460 2GB		160 Watts
	Difference: 15 Watts (10%)

Memory Bandwidth

Theoretically speaking, the GeForce GTX 970 will be 94% quicker than the GeForce GTX 460 2GB overall, due to its greater data rate. (explain)

GeForce GTX 970		224000 MB/sec
GeForce GTX 460 2GB		115200 MB/sec
	Difference: 108800 (94%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 970 should be a lot (approximately 189%) more effective at texture filtering than the GeForce GTX 460 2GB. (explain)

GeForce GTX 970		109200 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GTX 460 2GB		37800 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 71400 (189%)

Pixel Rate

If running with a high screen resolution is important to you, then the GeForce GTX 970 is a better choice, by far. (explain)

GeForce GTX 970		67200 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GTX 460 2GB		21600 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 45600 (211%)

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 (counted in megabytes per second) that can be transported across the external memory interface in a second. It is worked out by multiplying the bus width by the speed of its memory. If the card has DDR type memory, the result should be multiplied by 2 once again. If DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The higher 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 amount of texture map elements (texels) that are applied per second. This figure is worked out by multiplying the total number of texture units by the core clock speed of the chip. The higher this number, the better the card will be at texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels per second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels that the graphics card can possibly record to the local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is worked out by multiplying the amount of Raster Operations Pipelines by the the core speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also called Render Output Units) are responsible for drawing the pixels (image) on the screen. The actual pixel rate also depends on quite a few other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the max fill rate.