GeForce 9600 GT 512MB vs GeForce GT 340 1GB

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce GT 340 1GB, which comes with a GPU core clock speed of 550 MHz, and 1024 MB of GDDR5 memory running at 850 MHz through a 128-bit bus. It also is comprised of 96 SPUs, 32 TAUs, and 8 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GT 340 1GB		69 Watts
GeForce 9600 GT 512MB		95 Watts
	Difference: 26 Watts (38%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce 9600 GT 512MB is 6% quicker than the GeForce GT 340 1GB overall, due to its higher data rate. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GT 512MB		57600 MB/sec
GeForce GT 340 1GB		54400 MB/sec
	Difference: 3200 (6%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 9600 GT 512MB should be a small bit (more or less 18%) faster with regards to anisotropic filtering than the GeForce GT 340 1GB. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GT 512MB		20800 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GT 340 1GB		17600 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 3200 (18%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce 9600 GT 512MB will be a lot (more or less 136%) better at anti-aliasing than the GeForce GT 340 1GB, and also capable of handling higher screen resolutions without losing too much performance. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GT 512MB		10400 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GT 340 1GB		4400 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 6000 (136%)

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 MB per second) that can be transported past the external memory interface within a second. It's worked out by multiplying the bus width by its memory clock speed. In the case of DDR type RAM, the result should be multiplied by 2 once again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the bandwidth is, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, HDR and high resolutions.

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

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most pixels the video card could possibly write to its local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is calculated by multiplying the amount of Raster Operations Pipelines by the the core speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also sometimes called Render Output Units) are responsible for outputting the pixels (image) to the screen. The actual pixel rate is also dependant on lots of other factors, especially the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the max fill rate.