GeForce GT 430 1GB vs Radeon HD 3470 512MB

Intro

Compare those specs to the Radeon HD 3470 512MB, which makes use of a 55 nm design. AMD has clocked the core speed at 800 MHz. The GDDR3 RAM runs at a speed of 950 MHz on this model. It features 40(8x5) SPUs along with 4 TAUs and 4 Rasterization Operator Units.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Memory Bandwidth

The Radeon HD 3470 512MB should theoretically perform a little bit faster than the GeForce GT 430 1GB overall. (explain)

Radeon HD 3470 512MB		30400 MB/sec
GeForce GT 430 1GB		28800 MB/sec
	Difference: 1600 (6%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GT 430 1GB will be a lot (more or less 250%) faster with regards to AF than the Radeon HD 3470 512MB. (explain)

GeForce GT 430 1GB		11200 Mtexels/sec
Radeon HD 3470 512MB		3200 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 8000 (250%)

Pixel Rate

The Radeon HD 3470 512MB will be a bit (more or less 14%) faster with regards to full screen anti-aliasing than the GeForce GT 430 1GB, and capable of handling higher screen resolutions while still performing well. (explain)

Radeon HD 3470 512MB		3200 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GT 430 1GB		2800 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 400 (14%)

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 maximum amount of data (measured in MB per second) that can be moved across the external memory interface within a second. The number is calculated by multiplying the card's bus width by its memory clock speed. In the case of DDR type memory, the result should be multiplied by 2 once again. If DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The higher 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 number of texture map elements (texels) that can be processed in one second. This figure is calculated by multiplying the total texture units by the core speed of the chip. The higher this number, the better the video card will be at texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels in one second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most pixels the video card can possibly write to its local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is calculated by multiplying the amount of ROPs by the the card's clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also sometimes called Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel rate also depends on lots of other factors, especially the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to get to the maximum fill rate.