GeForce 8400 GS 512MB vs GeForce 8500 GT

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce 8500 GT, which has GPU clock speed of 450 MHz, and 512 MB of DDR2 memory running at 400 MHz through a 128-bit bus. It also features 16 SPUs, 8 Texture Address Units, and 4 ROPs.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8400 GS 512MB		40 Watts
GeForce 8500 GT		45 Watts
	Difference: 5 Watts (13%)

Memory Bandwidth

Performance-wise, the GeForce 8500 GT should theoretically be much better than the GeForce 8400 GS 512MB in general. (explain)

GeForce 8500 GT		12800 MB/sec
GeForce 8400 GS 512MB		6400 MB/sec
	Difference: 6400 (100%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 8400 GS 512MB should be a lot (approximately 44%) faster with regards to anisotropic filtering than the GeForce 8500 GT. (explain)

GeForce 8400 GS 512MB		5200 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8500 GT		3600 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 1600 (44%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce 8400 GS 512MB will be much (more or less 44%) faster with regards to anti-aliasing than the GeForce 8500 GT, and able to handle higher resolutions more effectively. (explain)

GeForce 8400 GS 512MB		2600 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8500 GT		1800 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 800 (44%)

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 (counted in MB per second) that can be moved across the external memory interface within a second. The number is worked out by multiplying the bus width by its memory clock speed. In the case of DDR memory, it should be multiplied by 2 once again. If DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The higher the bandwidth is, the better 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 can be applied in one second. This figure is worked out by multiplying the total amount of texture units of the card 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 per second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels that the graphics card can possibly record to its local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is worked out by multiplying the amount of colour ROPs 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 also depends on quite a few other factors, especially the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the maximum fill rate.