GeForce 8800 GT 256MB vs GeForce GT 440 3GB

Intro

Compare all of that to the GeForce GT 440 3GB, which has core speeds of 594 MHz on the GPU, and 900 MHz on the 3072 MB of GDDR3 RAM. It features 144 SPUs along with 24 TAUs and 24 Rasterization Operator Units.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GT 440 3GB		56 Watts
GeForce 8800 GT 256MB		105 Watts
	Difference: 49 Watts (88%)

Memory Bandwidth

The GeForce 8800 GT 256MB should in theory perform just a bit faster than the GeForce GT 440 3GB overall. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GT 256MB		44800 MB/sec
GeForce GT 440 3GB		43200 MB/sec
	Difference: 1600 (4%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 8800 GT 256MB will be a lot (more or less 136%) more effective at texture filtering than the GeForce GT 440 3GB. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GT 256MB		33600 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GT 440 3GB		14256 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 19344 (136%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GT 440 3GB should be a lot (about 49%) better at AA than the GeForce 8800 GT 256MB, and also should be able to handle higher resolutions more effectively. (explain)

GeForce GT 440 3GB		14256 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8800 GT 256MB		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 max amount of information (in units of megabytes per second) that can be transported over the external memory interface in a second. It's worked out by multiplying the card's interface width by its memory clock speed. In the case of DDR RAM, it must be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The higher the memory bandwidth, the better 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 texture map elements (texels) that can be processed in one second. This number is calculated by multiplying the total amount of texture units of the card by the core clock speed of the chip. The better the texel rate, the better the graphics 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 that the graphics chip can possibly record to the local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. Pixel rate is worked out by multiplying the number of ROPs by the clock speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also called Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel output rate also depends on lots of other factors, especially the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the potential to get to the max fill rate.