GeForce 8800 GT 512MB vs GeForce GT 340

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce GT 340, which has GPU core speed of 550 MHz, and 512 MB of GDDR5 RAM set to run at 850 MHz through a 128-bit bus. It also features 96 Stream Processors, 32 Texture Address Units, and 8 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GT 340		69 Watts
GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		105 Watts
	Difference: 36 Watts (52%)

Memory Bandwidth

The GeForce 8800 GT 512MB should theoretically perform a little bit faster than the GeForce GT 340 overall. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		57600 MB/sec
GeForce GT 340		54400 MB/sec
	Difference: 3200 (6%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 8800 GT 512MB will be a lot (approximately 91%) more effective at anisotropic filtering than the GeForce GT 340. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		33600 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GT 340		17600 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 16000 (91%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce 8800 GT 512MB will be much (more or less 118%) more effective at FSAA than the GeForce GT 340, and also able to handle higher screen resolutions better. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		9600 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GT 340		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 data (measured in MB per second) that can be moved past the external memory interface in one second. It's calculated by multiplying the card's interface width by its memory clock speed. In the case of DDR type RAM, it should be multiplied by 2 once again. If DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the bandwidth is, 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 texture map elements (texels) that are processed in one second. This number is worked out by multiplying the total number of texture units of the card by the core speed of the chip. The higher the texel rate, the better the card will be at texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels applied in a second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels that the graphics card could possibly write to the local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. Pixel rate is calculated by multiplying the amount of ROPs by the clock speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also called Render Output Units) are responsible for drawing the pixels (image) on the screen. The actual pixel rate also depends on lots of other factors, especially the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the maximum fill rate.