GeForce 9600 GT 1GB vs GeForce GT 430 1GB

Intro

Compare all that to the GeForce GT 430 1GB, which features GPU core speed of 700 MHz, and 1024 MB of GDDR3 memory set to run at 900 MHz through a 128-bit bus. It also is made up of 96 Stream Processors, 16 TAUs, and 4 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GT 430 1GB		60 Watts
GeForce 9600 GT 1GB		95 Watts
	Difference: 35 Watts (58%)

Memory Bandwidth

As far as performance goes, the GeForce 9600 GT 1GB should in theory be much better than the GeForce GT 430 1GB in general. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GT 1GB		57600 MB/sec
GeForce GT 430 1GB		28800 MB/sec
	Difference: 28800 (100%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 9600 GT 1GB is much (more or less 86%) faster with regards to AF than the GeForce GT 430 1GB. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GT 1GB		20800 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GT 430 1GB		11200 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 9600 (86%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce 9600 GT 1GB should be a lot (approximately 271%) more effective at full screen anti-aliasing than the GeForce GT 430 1GB, and will be capable of handling higher resolutions without slowing down too much. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GT 1GB		10400 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GT 430 1GB		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: Bandwidth is the max amount of data (in units of MB per second) that can be transferred over the external memory interface within a second. It's worked out by multiplying the bus width by its memory speed. In the case of DDR RAM, it should be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The higher the memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, High Dynamic Range and high resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum amount of texture map elements (texels) that can be applied in one second. This number is worked out by multiplying the total number of texture units by the core clock speed of the chip. The better the texel rate, the better the video card will be at handling texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels per second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most pixels that the graphics card can possibly write to the local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is worked out by multiplying the number of ROPs by the clock speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - aka Render Output Units) are responsible for drawing the pixels (image) on the screen. The actual pixel fill rate is also dependant on lots of other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the maximum fill rate.