GeForce 8800 GT 512MB vs GeForce GT 320

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GT 320, which comes with a clock frequency of 540 MHz and a GDDR3 memory speed of 790 MHz. It also makes use of a 128-bit memory bus, and uses a 40 nm design. It is made up of 72 SPUs, 24 TAUs, and 8 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GT 320		43 Watts
GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		105 Watts
	Difference: 62 Watts (144%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce 8800 GT 512MB will be 128% quicker than the GeForce GT 320 in general, due to its higher bandwidth. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		57600 MB/sec
GeForce GT 320		25280 MB/sec
	Difference: 32320 (128%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 8800 GT 512MB is a lot (approximately 159%) better at anisotropic filtering than the GeForce GT 320. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		33600 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GT 320		12960 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 20640 (159%)

Pixel Rate

If using a high screen resolution is important to you, then the GeForce 8800 GT 512MB is superior to the GeForce GT 320, and very much so. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		9600 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GT 320		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 5280 (122%)

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 maximum amount of data (counted in MB per second) that can be transferred across the external memory interface in a second. It is worked out by multiplying the bus width by its memory clock speed. In the case of DDR RAM, it must be multiplied by 2 once again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, HDR and high resolutions.

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

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most 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 number 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 fill 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 reach the maximum fill rate.