GeForce 8800 GT 256MB vs GeForce GT 430 1GB

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce GT 430 1GB, which features a GPU core clock speed of 700 MHz, and 1024 MB of GDDR3 memory set to run at 900 MHz through a 128-bit bus. It also features 96 Stream Processors, 16 Texture Address Units, and 4 ROPs.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GT 430 1GB		60 Watts
GeForce 8800 GT 256MB		105 Watts
	Difference: 45 Watts (75%)

Memory Bandwidth

Performance-wise, the GeForce 8800 GT 256MB should theoretically be a lot superior to the GeForce GT 430 1GB overall. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GT 256MB		44800 MB/sec
GeForce GT 430 1GB		28800 MB/sec
	Difference: 16000 (56%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 8800 GT 256MB is a lot (approximately 200%) more effective at anisotropic filtering than the GeForce GT 430 1GB. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GT 256MB		33600 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GT 430 1GB		11200 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 22400 (200%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce 8800 GT 256MB will be a lot (more or less 243%) better at AA than the GeForce GT 430 1GB, and also able to handle higher screen resolutions without losing too much performance. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GT 256MB		9600 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GT 430 1GB		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 largest amount of information (in units of megabytes per second) that can be moved over the external memory interface in a second. It is calculated by multiplying the card's interface width by its memory clock speed. If the card has DDR memory, it must be multiplied by 2 once again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the card's memory bandwidth, 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 number of texture map elements (texels) that are processed in one second. This is worked out by multiplying the total amount of texture units of the card by the core clock speed of the chip. The higher this number, the better the 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 maximum number of pixels that the graphics card can possibly record to its local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is calculated by multiplying the amount 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 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 ability to get to the max fill rate.