GeForce 8800 GT 512MB vs GeForce 9500 GT DDR2

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce 9500 GT DDR2, which has a clock speed of 550 MHz and a DDR2 memory speed of 500 MHz. It also features a 128-bit bus, and uses a 65 nm design. It is made up of 32 SPUs, 16 TAUs, and 8 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 9500 GT DDR2		50 Watts
GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		105 Watts
	Difference: 55 Watts (110%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce 8800 GT 512MB will be 260% faster than the GeForce 9500 GT DDR2 overall, due to its higher data rate. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		57600 MB/sec
GeForce 9500 GT DDR2		16000 MB/sec
	Difference: 41600 (260%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 8800 GT 512MB will be quite a bit (more or less 282%) better at texture filtering than the GeForce 9500 GT DDR2. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		33600 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 9500 GT DDR2		8800 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 24800 (282%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce 8800 GT 512MB should be much (approximately 118%) more effective at FSAA than the GeForce 9500 GT DDR2, and able to handle higher screen resolutions more effectively. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		9600 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9500 GT DDR2		4400 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 5200 (118%)

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 data (measured in MB per second) that can be moved across the external memory interface in one second. It's calculated by multiplying the card's bus width by the speed of its memory. If it uses DDR RAM, it must be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The higher the memory bandwidth, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, High Dynamic Range and higher screen resolutions.

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