GeForce 9400 GT 256MB vs GeForce GTX 950

Intro

Compare all that to the GeForce GTX 950, which features a core clock speed of 1024 MHz and a GDDR5 memory frequency of 1652 MHz. It also makes use of a 128-bit bus, and uses a 28 nm design. It features 768 SPUs, 48 Texture Address Units, and 32 ROPs.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		50 Watts
GeForce GTX 950		90 Watts
	Difference: 40 Watts (80%)

Memory Bandwidth

Theoretically, the GeForce GTX 950 should be quite a bit faster than the GeForce 9400 GT 256MB in general. (explain)

GeForce GTX 950		105728 MB/sec
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 92928 (726%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 950 is quite a bit (more or less 1017%) faster with regards to texture filtering than the GeForce 9400 GT 256MB. (explain)

GeForce GTX 950		49152 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		4400 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 44752 (1017%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 950 will be a lot (approximately 1389%) better at FSAA than the GeForce 9400 GT 256MB, and also able to handle higher resolutions better. (explain)

GeForce GTX 950		32768 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		2200 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 30568 (1389%)

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 (measured in MB per second) that can be transferred over the external memory interface within a second. The number is calculated by multiplying the interface width by the speed of its memory. In the case of DDR type memory, it should be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the bandwidth is, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, HDR and higher screen resolutions.

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

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels that the graphics chip can possibly write to the local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is worked out by multiplying the amount of Raster Operations Pipelines by the clock speed of the card. 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 quite a few other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to get to the maximum fill rate.