GeForce 9600 GT 512MB vs GeForce GT 430

Intro

Compare all that to the GeForce GT 430, which has a clock frequency of 700 MHz and a GDDR3 memory frequency of 900 MHz. It also makes use of a 128-bit memory bus, and makes use of a 40 nm design. It features 96 SPUs, 16 TAUs, and 4 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GT 430		60 Watts
GeForce 9600 GT 512MB		95 Watts
	Difference: 35 Watts (58%)

Memory Bandwidth

Theoretically, the GeForce 9600 GT 512MB should perform a lot faster than the GeForce GT 430 in general. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GT 512MB		57600 MB/sec
GeForce GT 430		28800 MB/sec
	Difference: 28800 (100%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 9600 GT 512MB should be much (more or less 86%) better at AF than the GeForce GT 430. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GT 512MB		20800 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GT 430		11200 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 9600 (86%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce 9600 GT 512MB will be much (about 271%) better at anti-aliasing than the GeForce GT 430, and should be capable of handling higher screen resolutions while still performing well. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GT 512MB		10400 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GT 430		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 largest amount of information (in units of MB per second) that can be transported across the external memory interface in a second. The number is calculated by multiplying the bus width by the speed of its memory. In the case of DDR type memory, the result should be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, High Dynamic Range and high resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum texture map elements (texels) that are processed per second. This figure is calculated by multiplying the total amount of texture units by the core clock speed of the chip. The better the texel rate, the better the video card will be at texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels processed in a second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most pixels that the graphics chip can possibly record to the local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is worked out 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 fill rate also depends on quite a few other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the max fill rate.