GeForce 8800 GT 512MB vs GeForce 8800 GTS (G80) 320MB

Intro

Compare all of that to the GeForce 8800 GTS (G80) 320MB, which has core speeds of 513 MHz on the GPU, and 792 MHz on the 320 MB of GDDR3 memory. It features 96 SPUs along with 48 TAUs and 20 ROPs.

Battlefield Bad Company 2

Settings:	High Quality
AA:	4x
AF:	8x
Resolution:	1920x1200
Test Machine:	Tom's Hardware Test Machine (Source)

GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		21 FPS
GeForce 8800 GTS (G80) 320MB		6 FPS
	Difference: 15 FPS (250%)

F.E.A.R. 2

Settings:	Maximum Quality
AA:	4x
AF:	8x
Resolution:	1920x1200
Test Machine:	Unknown (Source)

GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		38 FPS
GeForce 8800 GTS (G80) 320MB		28 FPS
	Difference: 10 FPS (36%)

Fallout 3

Settings:	Very High Quality
AA:	4x
AF:	8x
Resolution:	1680x1050
Test Machine:	Tom's Hardware Charts Test Rig (Source)

GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		55 FPS
GeForce 8800 GTS (G80) 320MB		21 FPS
	Difference: 34 FPS (162%)

Far Cry 2

Settings:	Very High Qualty
AA:	none
AF:	none
Resolution:	1920x1200
Test Machine:	Intel Core i7-920,3 x 2 GB Ram,Windows Vista Ultimate 32 Bit SP1 (Source)

GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		41 FPS
GeForce 8800 GTS (G80) 320MB		23 FPS
	Difference: 18 FPS (78%)

Left4Dead

Settings:	Very High Quality
AA:	4x
AF:	8x
Resolution:	1920x1200
Test Machine:	Tom's Hardware Charts Test Rig (Source)

GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		46 FPS
GeForce 8800 GTS (G80) 320MB		35 FPS
	Difference: 11 FPS (31%)

Left4Dead 2

Settings:	Very High
AA:	8x
AF:	16x
Resolution:	1920x1200
Test Machine:	Tom's Hardware Test Machine (Source)

GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		46 FPS
GeForce 8800 GTS (G80) 320MB		27 FPS
	Difference: 19 FPS (70%)

Mass Effect 2

Settings:	Maximum Quality
AA:	none
AF:	8x
Resolution:	1920x1200
Test Machine:	Tom's Hardware Test Machine (Source)

GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		60 FPS
GeForce 8800 GTS (G80) 320MB		52 FPS
	Difference: 8 FPS (15%)

Supreme Commander 2

Settings:	High
AA:	8x
AF:	16x
Resolution:	1920x1200
Test Machine:	Tom's Hardware Test Machine (Source)

GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		28 FPS
GeForce 8800 GTS (G80) 320MB		22 FPS
	Difference: 6 FPS (27%)

Tom Clancy's Endwar

Settings:	High Quality
AA:	4x
AF:	8x
Resolution:	1920x1200
Test Machine:	Tom's Hardware Test Machine (Source)

GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		16 FPS
GeForce 8800 GTS (G80) 320MB		8 FPS
	Difference: 8 FPS (100%)

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GeForce 8800 GT 512MB wins

(Based entirely on the benchmarks listed above)

When combining all game benchmark scores on this page together, the GeForce 8800 GT 512MB wins overall, by 129 FPS. Please note that we do not have the results of every benchmark ever done for these cards, so the results may differ wildly in different games.

GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		351 FPS
GeForce 8800 GTS (G80) 320MB		222 FPS
	Difference: 129 FPS (58%)

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		105 Watts
GeForce 8800 GTS (G80) 320MB		143 Watts
	Difference: 38 Watts (36%)

Memory Bandwidth

The GeForce 8800 GTS (G80) 320MB, in theory, should be a small bit faster than the GeForce 8800 GT 512MB in general. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GTS (G80) 320MB		63360 MB/sec
GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		57600 MB/sec
	Difference: 5760 (10%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 8800 GT 512MB is a lot (about 36%) better at texture filtering than the GeForce 8800 GTS (G80) 320MB. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		33600 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8800 GTS (G80) 320MB		24624 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 8976 (36%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce 8800 GTS (G80) 320MB will be just a bit (more or less 7%) better at AA than the GeForce 8800 GT 512MB, and also should be capable of handling higher screen resolutions without slowing down too much. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GTS (G80) 320MB		10260 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		9600 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 660 (7%)

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 over the external memory interface in one second. It is calculated by multiplying the card's bus width by its memory clock speed. In the case of DDR RAM, it must be multiplied by 2 once again. If DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the card's memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, HDR and higher screen resolutions.

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

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels that the graphics chip can possibly write to its local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. Pixel rate is worked out by multiplying the amount of Raster Operations Pipelines by the the core clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - aka Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel rate is also dependant on lots of other factors, especially the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the maximum fill rate.