GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB vs GeForce GT 320

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce GT 320, which makes use of a 40 nm design. nVidia has set the core speed at 540 MHz. The GDDR3 memory runs at a frequency of 790 MHz on this specific card. It features 72 SPUs as well as 24 TAUs and 8 Rasterization Operator Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GT 320		43 Watts
GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB		90 Watts
	Difference: 47 Watts (109%)

Memory Bandwidth

As far as performance goes, the GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB should in theory be much better than the GeForce GT 320 in general. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB		57600 MB/sec
GeForce GT 320		25280 MB/sec
	Difference: 32320 (128%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB is a lot (more or less 141%) faster with regards to anisotropic filtering than the GeForce GT 320. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB		31200 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GT 320		12960 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 18240 (141%)

Pixel Rate

If using a high screen resolution is important to you, then the GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB is superior to the GeForce GT 320, by far. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB		10400 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GT 320		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 6080 (141%)

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 max amount of data (in units of MB per second) that can be transported across the external memory interface in one second. It's calculated by multiplying the card's bus width by its memory speed. In the case of DDR memory, it should 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, High Dynamic Range and high resolutions.

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

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels the video card can possibly write to its local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is worked out by multiplying the number of ROPs by the the core clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also sometimes called Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel rate also depends on many other factors, especially the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the maximum fill rate.