GeForce GT 340 1GB vs GeForce GTS 250 512MB

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GTS 250 512MB, which has GPU core speed of 738 MHz, and 512 MB of GDDR3 RAM set to run at 1100 MHz through a 256-bit bus. It also is comprised of 128 SPUs, 64 TAUs, and 16 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GT 340 1GB		69 Watts
GeForce GTS 250 512MB		145 Watts
	Difference: 76 Watts (110%)

Memory Bandwidth

Performance-wise, the GeForce GTS 250 512MB should in theory be quite a bit superior to the GeForce GT 340 1GB in general. (explain)

GeForce GTS 250 512MB		70400 MB/sec
GeForce GT 340 1GB		54400 MB/sec
	Difference: 16000 (29%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTS 250 512MB should be a lot (more or less 168%) better at anisotropic filtering than the GeForce GT 340 1GB. (explain)

GeForce GTS 250 512MB		47232 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GT 340 1GB		17600 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 29632 (168%)

Pixel Rate

If running with a high resolution is important to you, then the GeForce GTS 250 512MB is a better choice, and very much so. (explain)

GeForce GTS 250 512MB		11808 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GT 340 1GB		4400 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 7408 (168%)

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 information (measured in megabytes per second) that can be transferred across the external memory interface within a second. The number is worked out by multiplying the interface width by its memory speed. If it uses DDR type RAM, it must be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the bandwidth is, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, HDR and higher screen resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum texture map elements (texels) that are applied in one second. This figure is worked out by multiplying the total amount of texture units of the card by the core 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 applied in a second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels the graphics card can possibly write to its local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is worked out by multiplying the number of Render Output Units by the the card's clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - aka Render Output Units) are responsible for drawing the pixels (image) on the screen. The actual pixel rate also depends on lots of other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to get to the maximum fill rate.