GeForce 9800 GT 512MB vs GeForce GT 430

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GT 430, which makes use of a 40 nm design. nVidia has set the core frequency at 700 MHz. The GDDR3 memory works at a frequency of 900 MHz on this particular card. It features 96 SPUs along with 16 TAUs and 4 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GT 430		60 Watts
GeForce 9800 GT 512MB		105 Watts
	Difference: 45 Watts (75%)

Memory Bandwidth

As far as performance goes, the GeForce 9800 GT 512MB should theoretically be a lot better than the GeForce GT 430 overall. (explain)

GeForce 9800 GT 512MB		57600 MB/sec
GeForce GT 430		28800 MB/sec
	Difference: 28800 (100%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 9800 GT 512MB will be much (about 200%) more effective at anisotropic filtering than the GeForce GT 430. (explain)

GeForce 9800 GT 512MB		33600 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GT 430		11200 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 22400 (200%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce 9800 GT 512MB should be much (more or less 243%) faster with regards to anti-aliasing than the GeForce GT 430, and also capable of handling higher screen resolutions without losing too much performance. (explain)

GeForce 9800 GT 512MB		9600 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GT 430		2800 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 6800 (243%)

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 (counted in MB per second) that can be transported past the external memory interface in one second. It is calculated by multiplying the card's interface width by the speed of its memory. In the case of DDR type RAM, it must be multiplied by 2 once again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the bandwidth is, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, High Dynamic Range and higher screen resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum texture map elements (texels) that are applied in one second. This is worked out 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 applied in one second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels that the graphics card can possibly record to the local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is worked out by multiplying the amount of Render Output Units by the clock speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - sometimes also referred to as Render Output Units) are responsible for outputting the pixels (image) to the screen. The actual pixel rate also depends on many other factors, especially the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to get to the max fill rate.