GeForce 9400 GT 256MB vs GeForce GT 320

Intro

Compare that to the GeForce GT 320, which features a GPU core clock speed of 540 MHz, and 1024 MB of GDDR3 memory set to run at 790 MHz through a 128-bit bus. It also features 72 SPUs, 24 TAUs, and 8 ROPs.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GT 320		43 Watts
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		50 Watts
	Difference: 7 Watts (16%)

Memory Bandwidth

The GeForce GT 320 should theoretically be a lot faster than the GeForce 9400 GT 256MB overall. (explain)

GeForce GT 320		25280 MB/sec
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 12480 (98%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GT 320 will be quite a bit (more or less 195%) better at anisotropic filtering than the GeForce 9400 GT 256MB. (explain)

GeForce GT 320		12960 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		4400 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 8560 (195%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GT 320 is much (about 96%) more effective at full screen anti-aliasing than the GeForce 9400 GT 256MB, and able to handle higher screen resolutions more effectively. (explain)

GeForce GT 320		4320 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		2200 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 2120 (96%)

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 maximum amount of information (measured in MB per second) that can be transported past the external memory interface in a second. It's worked out by multiplying the bus width by its memory speed. If it uses DDR RAM, it should be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the memory bandwidth, the faster 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 can be applied per second. This is calculated by multiplying the total texture units of the card by the core clock 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 applied in a second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels that 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 colour ROPs by the clock speed of the card. 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 also depends on lots of other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the maximum fill rate.