GeForce 9600 GSO 768MB vs GeForce GTX 960

Intro

Compare all that to the GeForce GTX 960, which features GPU core speed of 1127 MHz, and 2048 MB of GDDR5 RAM set to run at 1750 MHz through a 128-bit bus. It also is comprised of 1024 SPUs, 64 TAUs, and 32 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 9600 GSO 768MB		84 Watts
GeForce GTX 960		120 Watts
	Difference: 36 Watts (43%)

Memory Bandwidth

As far as performance goes, the GeForce GTX 960 should in theory be quite a bit superior to the GeForce 9600 GSO 768MB overall. (explain)

GeForce GTX 960		112000 MB/sec
GeForce 9600 GSO 768MB		38400 MB/sec
	Difference: 73600 (192%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 960 is quite a bit (more or less 173%) better at texture filtering than the GeForce 9600 GSO 768MB. (explain)

GeForce GTX 960		72128 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 9600 GSO 768MB		26400 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 45728 (173%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 960 is a lot (approximately 446%) more effective at FSAA than the GeForce 9600 GSO 768MB, and should be capable of handling higher resolutions without slowing down too much. (explain)

GeForce GTX 960		36064 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9600 GSO 768MB		6600 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 29464 (446%)

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 transferred across the external memory interface in a second. It is worked out by multiplying the bus width by the speed of its memory. If it uses DDR type RAM, it should be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the memory bandwidth, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, HDR and high resolutions.

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

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most pixels the graphics card can possibly record to the local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is calculated by multiplying the amount of Render Output Units 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 output rate is also dependant on lots of other factors, especially the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the potential to reach the maximum fill rate.