GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB vs GeForce GT 340

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GT 340, which has a GPU core clock speed of 550 MHz, and 512 MB of GDDR5 memory running at 850 MHz through a 128-bit bus. It also is comprised of 96 Stream Processors, 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		69 Watts
GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB		90 Watts
	Difference: 21 Watts (30%)

Memory Bandwidth

Theoretically speaking, the GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB should perform a small bit faster than the GeForce GT 340 in general. (explain)

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

Texel Rate

The GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB should be quite a bit (more or less 77%) more effective at AF than the GeForce GT 340. (explain)

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

Pixel Rate

If using a high screen resolution is important to you, then the GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB is a better choice, and very much so. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB		10400 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GT 340		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: Memory bandwidth is the maximum amount of data (measured in megabytes per second) that can be moved across the external memory interface in one second. It is worked out by multiplying the card's interface width by its memory clock speed. If it uses DDR type RAM, it should be multiplied by 2 once again. If DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The higher the memory bandwidth, the faster 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 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 of the card by the core speed of the chip. The higher this number, the better the video card will be at handling texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels in a second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most pixels the video card can possibly record to the local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is calculated by multiplying the number of ROPs by the clock speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also called Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel fill rate is also dependant on lots of other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to get to the max fill rate.