GeForce 8800 GT 256MB vs GeForce GT 340 1GB

Intro

Compare that to the GeForce GT 340 1GB, which features a clock frequency of 550 MHz and a GDDR5 memory frequency of 850 MHz. It also makes use of a 128-bit memory 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 8800 GT 256MB		105 Watts
	Difference: 36 Watts (52%)

Memory Bandwidth

Theoretically, the GeForce GT 340 1GB should be quite a bit faster than the GeForce 8800 GT 256MB in general. (explain)

GeForce GT 340 1GB		54400 MB/sec
GeForce 8800 GT 256MB		44800 MB/sec
	Difference: 9600 (21%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 8800 GT 256MB will be much (more or less 91%) better at anisotropic filtering than the GeForce GT 340 1GB. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GT 256MB		33600 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GT 340 1GB		17600 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 16000 (91%)

Pixel Rate

If running with high levels of AA is important to you, then the GeForce 8800 GT 256MB is superior to the GeForce GT 340 1GB, by a large margin. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GT 256MB		9600 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GT 340 1GB		4400 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 5200 (118%)

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 (counted in MB per second) that can be moved across the external memory interface in one second. It's calculated by multiplying the bus width by its memory speed. If it uses DDR type memory, it must be multiplied by 2 once again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, High Dynamic Range and high resolutions.

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

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most pixels the graphics card can possibly write to the local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is worked out by multiplying the amount of ROPs by the the core clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also called Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel rate also depends on quite a few other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the max fill rate.