GeForce 8800 GS vs GeForce 8800 GT 256MB

Intro

Compare all of that to the GeForce 8800 GT 256MB, which features a clock speed of 600 MHz and a GDDR3 memory speed of 700 MHz. It also features a 256-bit memory bus, and uses a 65 nm design. It features 112 SPUs, 56 TAUs, and 16 ROPs.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Both cards have the same power consumption.

Memory Bandwidth

The GeForce 8800 GT 256MB, in theory, should be a little bit faster than the GeForce 8800 GS in general. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GT 256MB		44800 MB/sec
GeForce 8800 GS		38400 MB/sec
	Difference: 6400 (17%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 8800 GT 256MB will be quite a bit (about 27%) faster with regards to anisotropic filtering than the GeForce 8800 GS. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GT 256MB		33600 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8800 GS		26400 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 7200 (27%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce 8800 GT 256MB is quite a bit (more or less 45%) better at full screen anti-aliasing than the GeForce 8800 GS, and also will be capable of handling higher resolutions without losing too much performance. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GT 256MB		9600 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8800 GS		6600 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 3000 (45%)

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 transported past the external memory interface in one second. It's worked out by multiplying the card's interface width by its memory speed. If it uses DDR type RAM, it should be multiplied by 2 once again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better 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 texture map elements (texels) that can be processed per second. This number is calculated by multiplying the total amount of texture units by the core clock speed of the chip. The better this number, the better the video 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 most pixels the graphics card could possibly write to its local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is calculated by multiplying the amount of Raster Operations Pipelines by the the card's clock speed. 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 fill rate is also dependant on many other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the potential to reach the maximum fill rate.