GeForce GTS 250 512MB vs GeForce GTX 850M

Intro

Compare that to the GeForce GTX 850M, which comes with GPU clock speed of 876 MHz, and 2048 MB of DDR3 memory running at 1000 MHz through a 128-bit bus. It also features 640 Stream Processors, 40 TAUs, and 16 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GTX 850M		40 Watts
GeForce GTS 250 512MB		145 Watts
	Difference: 105 Watts (263%)

Memory Bandwidth

Performance-wise, the GeForce GTS 250 512MB should in theory be quite a bit superior to the GeForce GTX 850M in general. (explain)

GeForce GTS 250 512MB		70400 MB/sec
GeForce GTX 850M		32000 MB/sec
	Difference: 38400 (120%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTS 250 512MB should be a lot (approximately 35%) faster with regards to anisotropic filtering than the GeForce GTX 850M. (explain)

GeForce GTS 250 512MB		47232 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GTX 850M		35040 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 12192 (35%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 850M should be a small bit (more or less 19%) more effective at full screen anti-aliasing than the GeForce GTS 250 512MB, and also will be capable of handling higher resolutions better. (explain)

GeForce GTX 850M		14016 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GTS 250 512MB		11808 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 2208 (19%)

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 max amount of data (counted in megabytes per second) that can be moved over the external memory interface within a second. The number is worked out by multiplying the card's bus width by its memory speed. If it uses DDR type memory, it should be multiplied by 2 once again. If DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The higher the memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, High Dynamic Range and high resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum texture map elements (texels) that are applied per second. This is worked out by multiplying the total amount of texture units of the card by the core speed of the chip. The higher this number, the better the video card will be at 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 card can possibly write to its local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is worked out by multiplying the number of ROPs by the the core clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also sometimes called Render Output Units) are responsible for drawing the pixels (image) on the screen. The actual pixel output rate also depends on quite a few other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the maximum fill rate.