GeForce 9600 GT 512MB vs GeForce GT 420

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce GT 420, which features GPU core speed of 700 MHz, and 2048 MB of GDDR3 RAM set to run at 900 MHz through a 128-bit bus. It also is comprised of 48 Stream Processors, 8 TAUs, and 4 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GT 420		50 Watts
GeForce 9600 GT 512MB		95 Watts
	Difference: 45 Watts (90%)

Memory Bandwidth

As far as performance goes, the GeForce 9600 GT 512MB should theoretically be a lot superior to the GeForce GT 420 overall. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GT 512MB		57600 MB/sec
GeForce GT 420		28800 MB/sec
	Difference: 28800 (100%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 9600 GT 512MB should be quite a bit (more or less 271%) better at texture filtering than the GeForce GT 420. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GT 512MB		20800 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GT 420		5600 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 15200 (271%)

Pixel Rate

If using lots of anti-aliasing is important to you, then the GeForce 9600 GT 512MB is superior to the GeForce GT 420, by a large margin. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GT 512MB		10400 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GT 420		2800 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 7600 (271%)

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 max amount of information (measured in megabytes per second) that can be transported across the external memory interface in one second. It's calculated by multiplying the card's bus width by its memory speed. In the case of DDR type memory, it should be multiplied by 2 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 texture map elements (texels) that can be processed per second. This number is calculated by multiplying the total amount of texture units by the core speed of the chip. The higher this number, 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 most pixels that the graphics card could possibly record to its local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is worked out by multiplying the number of Raster Operations Pipelines by the clock speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - aka Render Output Units) are responsible for outputting the pixels (image) to the screen. The actual pixel fill rate is also dependant on lots of other factors, especially the memory bandwidth - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the maximum fill rate.