GeForce GTX 1050 vs GeForce GTX 280

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce GTX 280, which comes with GPU clock speed of 602 MHz, and 1024 MB of GDDR3 memory running at 1107 MHz through a 512-bit bus. It also features 240 Stream Processors, 80 TAUs, and 32 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GTX 1050		75 Watts
GeForce GTX 280		236 Watts
	Difference: 161 Watts (215%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce GTX 280 will be 24% faster than the GeForce GTX 1050 overall, because of its greater data rate. (explain)

GeForce GTX 280		141696 MB/sec
GeForce GTX 1050		114688 MB/sec
	Difference: 27008 (24%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 1050 will be just a bit (more or less 12%) more effective at texture filtering than the GeForce GTX 280. (explain)

GeForce GTX 1050		54160 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GTX 280		48160 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 6000 (12%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 1050 should be much (approximately 125%) better at AA than the GeForce GTX 280, and also able to handle higher screen resolutions more effectively. (explain)

GeForce GTX 1050		43328 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GTX 280		19264 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 24064 (125%)

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 (measured in megabytes per second) that can be moved across the external memory interface in a second. The number is worked out by multiplying the card's interface width by the speed of its memory. If the card has DDR memory, it must be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The higher the memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, HDR and higher screen resolutions.

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

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels that the graphics card could possibly record to its local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is calculated by multiplying the amount of Render Output Units 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 rate also depends on many other factors, especially the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the max fill rate.