GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB vs GeForce GT 340 1GB

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GT 340 1GB, which features a core clock speed of 550 MHz and a GDDR5 memory speed of 850 MHz. It also features a 128-bit bus, and uses a 40 nm design. It features 96 SPUs, 32 TAUs, and 8 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GT 340 1GB		69 Watts
GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB		90 Watts
	Difference: 21 Watts (30%)

Memory Bandwidth

The GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB should theoretically be a bit faster than the GeForce GT 340 1GB in general. (explain)

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

Texel Rate

The GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB will be a lot (approximately 77%) more effective at anisotropic filtering than the GeForce GT 340 1GB. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB		31200 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GT 340 1GB		17600 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 13600 (77%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB is quite a bit (more or less 136%) faster with regards to anti-aliasing than the GeForce GT 340 1GB, and should be able to handle higher screen resolutions better. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GSO 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 data (counted in MB per second) that can be transported 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 memory, it must be multiplied by 2 once again. If DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, High Dynamic Range and higher screen resolutions.

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

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels that the graphics card could possibly write to its local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is calculated by multiplying the number of Render Output Units 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 fill rate is also dependant on quite a few other factors, especially the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the maximum fill rate.