GeForce 8800 Ultra vs GeForce 9500 GT 1GB GDDR3

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce 9500 GT 1GB GDDR3, which features a core clock frequency of 550 MHz and a GDDR3 memory speed of 800 MHz. It also features a 128-bit memory bus, and makes use of a 55 nm design. It is made up of 32 SPUs, 16 TAUs, and 8 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 9500 GT 1GB GDDR3		50 Watts
GeForce 8800 Ultra		171 Watts
	Difference: 121 Watts (242%)

Memory Bandwidth

The GeForce 8800 Ultra should theoretically perform a lot faster than the GeForce 9500 GT 1GB GDDR3 in general. (explain)

GeForce 8800 Ultra		103680 MB/sec
GeForce 9500 GT 1GB GDDR3		25600 MB/sec
	Difference: 78080 (305%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 8800 Ultra should be a lot (about 345%) better at anisotropic filtering than the GeForce 9500 GT 1GB GDDR3. (explain)

GeForce 8800 Ultra		39168 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 9500 GT 1GB GDDR3		8800 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 30368 (345%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce 8800 Ultra will be quite a bit (more or less 234%) better at full screen anti-aliasing than the GeForce 9500 GT 1GB GDDR3, and should be capable of handling higher screen resolutions more effectively. (explain)

GeForce 8800 Ultra		14688 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9500 GT 1GB GDDR3		4400 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 10288 (234%)

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 largest amount of data (counted in megabytes per second) that can be moved across the external memory interface within a second. It is worked out by multiplying the card's interface width by its memory speed. If it uses DDR type memory, it should be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the card's memory bandwidth, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, HDR and high resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum number of texture map elements (texels) that can be applied per second. This figure is worked out by multiplying the total amount of texture units by the core clock speed of the chip. The higher this number, 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 number of pixels that the graphics chip could possibly write to the local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is worked out by multiplying the amount of ROPs by the the card's clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also sometimes called Render Output Units) are responsible for outputting the pixels (image) to the screen. The actual pixel output rate is also dependant on many other factors, especially the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the maximum fill rate.