GeForce 8800 GT 512MB vs GeForce GT 430

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce GT 430, which uses a 40 nm design. nVidia has clocked the core speed at 700 MHz. The GDDR3 memory runs at a frequency of 900 MHz on this specific card. It features 96 SPUs along with 16 TAUs and 4 Rasterization Operator Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GT 430		60 Watts
GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		105 Watts
	Difference: 45 Watts (75%)

Memory Bandwidth

Performance-wise, the GeForce 8800 GT 512MB should theoretically be a lot superior to the GeForce GT 430 overall. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		57600 MB/sec
GeForce GT 430		28800 MB/sec
	Difference: 28800 (100%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 8800 GT 512MB will be a lot (more or less 200%) more effective at anisotropic filtering than the GeForce GT 430. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		33600 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GT 430		11200 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 22400 (200%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce 8800 GT 512MB should be quite a bit (about 243%) faster with regards to full screen anti-aliasing than the GeForce GT 430, and should be able to handle higher resolutions while still performing well. (explain)

GeForce 8800 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: Bandwidth is the largest amount of information (counted in megabytes per second) that can be transferred across the external memory interface in one second. The number is calculated by multiplying the card's bus width by its memory clock speed. In the case of DDR memory, it should be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The higher the memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, HDR and high resolutions.

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

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels that the graphics card can possibly write to its local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is calculated by multiplying the number of Render Output Units by the the card's clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - aka Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel output rate is also dependant on quite a few other factors, especially the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to reach the max fill rate.