GeForce 9800 GT 512MB vs GeForce GT 440 1.5GB

Intro

Compare all of that to the GeForce GT 440 1.5GB, which features a core clock frequency of 594 MHz and a GDDR3 memory speed of 900 MHz. It also features a 192-bit bus, and makes use of a 40 nm design. It is made up of 144 SPUs, 24 Texture Address Units, and 24 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GT 440 1.5GB		56 Watts
GeForce 9800 GT 512MB		105 Watts
	Difference: 49 Watts (88%)

Memory Bandwidth

Performance-wise, the GeForce 9800 GT 512MB should in theory be much superior to the GeForce GT 440 1.5GB overall. (explain)

GeForce 9800 GT 512MB		57600 MB/sec
GeForce GT 440 1.5GB		43200 MB/sec
	Difference: 14400 (33%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 9800 GT 512MB will be a lot (more or less 136%) more effective at AF than the GeForce GT 440 1.5GB. (explain)

GeForce 9800 GT 512MB		33600 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GT 440 1.5GB		14256 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 19344 (136%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GT 440 1.5GB is much (approximately 49%) better at AA than the GeForce 9800 GT 512MB, and also capable of handling higher screen resolutions more effectively. (explain)

GeForce GT 440 1.5GB		14256 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9800 GT 512MB		9600 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 4656 (49%)

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 maximum amount of data (counted in megabytes per second) that can be transported over the external memory interface within a second. The number is worked out by multiplying the card's bus width by its memory clock speed. If it uses DDR type RAM, the result should be multiplied by 2 once again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the card's memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, High Dynamic Range and higher screen resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum amount of texture map elements (texels) that are processed in one second. This is calculated by multiplying the total number of texture units of the card by the core speed of the chip. The better this number, the better the video card will be at handling 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 chip could possibly record to its local memory in a 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 - also sometimes called Render Output Units) are responsible for outputting the pixels (image) to the screen. The actual pixel fill rate also depends on many other factors, especially the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the maximum fill rate.