GeForce 8800 GTS (G92) vs GeForce GTS 250 1GB

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GTS 250 1GB, which features GPU core speed of 738 MHz, and 1024 MB of GDDR3 memory set to run at 1100 MHz through a 256-bit bus. It also is comprised of 128 Stream Processors, 64 TAUs, and 16 Raster Operation Units.

F.E.A.R. 2

Settings:	Maximum Quality
AA:	4x
AF:	8x
Resolution:	1920x1200
Test Machine:	Unknown (Source)

GeForce GTS 250 1GB		48 FPS
GeForce 8800 GTS (G92)		42 FPS
	Difference: 6 FPS (14%)

Fallout 3

Settings:	Very High Quality
AA:	8x
AF:	16x
Resolution:	1920x1200
Test Machine:	Tom's Hardware Test Machine (Source)

GeForce GTS 250 1GB		38 FPS
GeForce 8800 GTS (G92)		36 FPS
	Difference: 2 FPS (6%)

Fallout 3

Settings:	Very High Quality
AA:	4x
AF:	8x
Resolution:	1680x1050
Test Machine:	Tom's Hardware Charts Test Rig (Source)

GeForce GTS 250 1GB		66 FPS
GeForce 8800 GTS (G92)		59 FPS
	Difference: 7 FPS (12%)

Far Cry 2

Settings:	Very High Qualty
AA:	none
AF:	none
Resolution:	1920x1200
Test Machine:	Intel Core i7-920,3 x 2 GB Ram,Windows Vista Ultimate 32 Bit SP1 (Source)

GeForce GTS 250 1GB		50 FPS
GeForce 8800 GTS (G92)		45 FPS
	Difference: 5 FPS (11%)

Left4Dead

Settings:	Very High Quality
AA:	8x
AF:	16x
Resolution:	1920x1200
Test Machine:	Tom's Hardware Test Machine (Source)

GeForce GTS 250 1GB		44 FPS
GeForce 8800 GTS (G92)		40 FPS
	Difference: 4 FPS (10%)

Left4Dead

Settings:	Very High Quality
AA:	4x
AF:	8x
Resolution:	1920x1200
Test Machine:	Tom's Hardware Charts Test Rig (Source)

GeForce GTS 250 1GB		56 FPS
GeForce 8800 GTS (G92)		51 FPS
	Difference: 5 FPS (10%)

Tom Clancy's Endwar

Settings:	High Quality
AA:	4x
AF:	8x
Resolution:	1920x1200
Test Machine:	Tom's Hardware Test Machine (Source)

GeForce GTS 250 1GB		19 FPS
GeForce 8800 GTS (G92)		17 FPS
	Difference: 2 FPS (12%)

Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X

Settings:	High Quality
AA:	4x
AF:	8x
Resolution:	1680x1050
Test Machine:	Tom's Hardware Charts Test Rig (Source)

GeForce GTS 250 1GB		42 FPS
GeForce 8800 GTS (G92)		35 FPS
	Difference: 7 FPS (20%)

---

GeForce GTS 250 1GB wins

(Based entirely on the benchmarks listed above)

When combining all game benchmark scores on this page together, the GeForce GTS 250 1GB wins overall, by 38 FPS. Please note that we do not have the results of every benchmark ever done for these cards, so the results may differ wildly in different games.

GeForce GTS 250 1GB		363 FPS
GeForce 8800 GTS (G92)		325 FPS
	Difference: 38 FPS (12%)

---

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8800 GTS (G92)		135 Watts
GeForce GTS 250 1GB		145 Watts
	Difference: 10 Watts (7%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce GTS 250 1GB should perform just a bit faster than the GeForce 8800 GTS (G92) in general. (explain)

GeForce GTS 250 1GB		70400 MB/sec
GeForce 8800 GTS (G92)		62080 MB/sec
	Difference: 8320 (13%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTS 250 1GB should be just a bit (approximately 14%) faster with regards to texture filtering than the GeForce 8800 GTS (G92). (explain)

GeForce GTS 250 1GB		47232 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8800 GTS (G92)		41600 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 5632 (14%)

Pixel Rate

If using lots of anti-aliasing is important to you, then the GeForce GTS 250 1GB is superior to the GeForce 8800 GTS (G92), but only just. (explain)

GeForce GTS 250 1GB		11808 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8800 GTS (G92)		10400 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 1408 (14%)

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 largest amount of information (counted in megabytes per second) that can be moved across the external memory interface in one second. The number is worked out by multiplying the card's bus width by the speed of its memory. If it uses DDR RAM, the result should be multiplied by 2 once again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The higher 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 number of 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 speed of the chip. The better this number, the better the graphics card will be at handling texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels applied in a second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels that the graphics chip can possibly write to its local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. Pixel rate is worked out by multiplying the amount of ROPs 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 fill rate also depends on lots of other factors, especially the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to reach the maximum fill rate.