GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB vs GeForce GT 340

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce GT 340, which features GPU core speed of 550 MHz, and 512 MB of GDDR5 memory set to run at 850 MHz through a 128-bit bus. It also features 96 Stream Processors, 32 TAUs, and 8 ROPs.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

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, the GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB should perform a small bit faster than the GeForce GT 340 overall. (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 a lot (approximately 77%) faster with regards to texture filtering 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 superior to the GeForce GT 340, by far. (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: Bandwidth is the max amount of data (counted in megabytes per second) that can be transported across the external memory interface in a second. The number is worked out by multiplying the card's bus width by the speed of its memory. If the card has DDR type RAM, 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, HDR 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 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 card will be at handling texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels processed per second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels that the graphics chip could possibly record to its local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is calculated by multiplying the number of Raster Operations Pipelines by the the core 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 rate also depends on many other factors, especially the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to reach the maximum fill rate.