GeForce 9400 GT 256MB vs GeForce GT 1030

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GT 1030, which has GPU core speed of 1265 MHz, and 2048 MB of GDDR5 memory running at 1502 MHz through a 64-bit bus. It also features 384 SPUs, 32 TAUs, and 16 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GT 1030		30 Watts
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		50 Watts
	Difference: 20 Watts (67%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce GT 1030 should be much faster than the GeForce 9400 GT 256MB in general. (explain)

GeForce GT 1030		49152 MB/sec
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 36352 (284%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GT 1030 is much (more or less 820%) better at AF than the GeForce 9400 GT 256MB. (explain)

GeForce GT 1030		40480 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		4400 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 36080 (820%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GT 1030 will be a lot (more or less 820%) better at anti-aliasing than the GeForce 9400 GT 256MB, and will be able to handle higher resolutions without losing too much performance. (explain)

GeForce GT 1030		20240 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		2200 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 18040 (820%)

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 moved past the external memory interface in a second. It is calculated by multiplying the interface width by its memory clock speed. If the card has DDR memory, it must be multiplied by 2 once again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the card's memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, High Dynamic Range and higher screen resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum texture map elements (texels) that are processed per second. This is calculated 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 in one second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels that the graphics card could 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 Raster Operations Pipelines by the the core speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - sometimes also referred to as Render Output Units) are responsible for outputting the pixels (image) to the screen. The actual pixel rate is also dependant on lots of other factors, especially the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to reach the max fill rate.