GeForce 9400 GT 256MB vs GeForce GT 430

Intro

Compare all of that to the GeForce GT 430, which features core speeds of 700 MHz on the GPU, and 900 MHz on the 512 MB of GDDR3 memory. 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 9400 GT 256MB		50 Watts
GeForce GT 430		60 Watts
	Difference: 10 Watts (20%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce GT 430 should be quite a bit faster than the GeForce 9400 GT 256MB overall. (explain)

GeForce GT 430		28800 MB/sec
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 16000 (125%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GT 430 will be much (approximately 155%) more effective at texture filtering than the GeForce 9400 GT 256MB. (explain)

GeForce GT 430		11200 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		4400 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 6800 (155%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GT 430 should be a lot (approximately 27%) faster with regards to AA than the GeForce 9400 GT 256MB, and also able to handle higher resolutions more effectively. (explain)

GeForce GT 430		2800 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		2200 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 600 (27%)

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 largest amount of data (measured in megabytes per second) that can be transported over the external memory interface in a second. It is worked out by multiplying the card's interface width by its memory speed. In the case of DDR RAM, it must be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The higher the bandwidth is, the better 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 number of texture map elements (texels) that are processed 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 most pixels the video card could possibly write to the local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is calculated by multiplying the number of colour ROPs by the the core speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - sometimes also referred to as Render Output Units) are responsible for drawing the pixels (image) on the screen. The actual pixel rate is also dependant on quite a few other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the maximum fill rate.