GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 vs GeForce GTX 295

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce GTX 295, which has a core clock frequency of 576 MHz and a GDDR3 memory frequency of 999 MHz. It also uses a 448-bit memory bus, and uses a 55 nm design. It is made up of 240 SPUs, 80 TAUs, and 28 ROPs.

(No game benchmarks for this combination yet.)

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GTX 260 Core 216		202 Watts
GeForce GTX 295		289 Watts
	Difference: 87 Watts (43%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce GTX 295 should perform a lot faster than the GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 overall. (explain)

GeForce GTX 295		223776 MB/sec
GeForce GTX 260 Core 216		111888 MB/sec
	Difference: 111888 (100%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 295 is much (about 122%) more effective at anisotropic filtering than the GeForce GTX 260 Core 216. (explain)

GeForce GTX 295		92160 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GTX 260 Core 216		41472 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 50688 (122%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 295 should be quite a bit (about 100%) better at AA than the GeForce GTX 260 Core 216, and also should be capable of handling higher resolutions while still performing well. (explain)

GeForce GTX 295		32256 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GTX 260 Core 216		16128 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 16128 (100%)

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.

One or more cards in this comparison are multi-core. This means that their bandwidth, texel and pixel rates are theoretically doubled - this does not mean the card will actually perform twice as fast, but only that it should in theory be able to. Actual game benchmarks will give a more accurate idea of what it's capable of.

Price Comparison

Specifications

Memory Bandwidth: Memory bandwidth is the largest amount of data (counted in megabytes per second) that can be transported across the external memory interface within a second. The number is calculated by multiplying the bus width by its memory speed. In the case of DDR type RAM, the result should be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses 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, High Dynamic Range and high resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum number of texture map elements (texels) that can be processed in one second. This number is calculated by multiplying the total texture units by the core speed of the chip. The better this number, the better the graphics 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 amount of pixels the video card can possibly write to its local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is calculated by multiplying the number 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 filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel output rate is also dependant on quite a few other factors, especially the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the maximum fill rate.