GeForce GT 310 vs GeForce GT 440 3GB

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GT 440 3GB, which comes with a GPU core clock speed of 594 MHz, and 3072 MB of GDDR3 memory running at 900 MHz through a 192-bit bus. It also is comprised of 144 SPUs, 24 TAUs, and 24 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GT 310		31 Watts
GeForce GT 440 3GB		56 Watts
	Difference: 25 Watts (81%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce GT 440 3GB should be much faster than the GeForce GT 310 overall. (explain)

GeForce GT 440 3GB		43200 MB/sec
GeForce GT 310		16000 MB/sec
	Difference: 27200 (170%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GT 440 3GB will be quite a bit (more or less 203%) more effective at AF than the GeForce GT 310. (explain)

GeForce GT 440 3GB		14256 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GT 310		4712 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 9544 (203%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GT 440 3GB is quite a bit (about 505%) better at AA than the GeForce GT 310, and also will be capable of handling higher screen resolutions more effectively. (explain)

GeForce GT 440 3GB		14256 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GT 310		2356 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 11900 (505%)

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 information (measured in megabytes per second) that can be transferred past the external memory interface in one second. The number is calculated by multiplying the card's interface width by its memory speed. In the case of DDR type RAM, it must be multiplied by 2 once again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The higher the memory bandwidth, the faster 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 are processed in one second. This figure is worked out by multiplying the total number of texture units of the card by the core clock speed of the chip. The higher the texel rate, the better the graphics card will be at handling texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels in one second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels the graphics card could possibly record to its local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is calculated by multiplying the amount of colour ROPs by the the core 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 many other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to reach the max fill rate.