GeForce 9600 GT 512MB vs GeForce GT 450 (OEM)

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GT 450 (OEM), which features a core clock speed of 790 MHz and a GDDR5 memory speed of 1000 MHz. It also uses a 192-bit memory bus, and uses a 40 nm design. It features 144 SPUs, 24 TAUs, and 24 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 9600 GT 512MB		95 Watts
GeForce GT 450 (OEM)		106 Watts
	Difference: 11 Watts (12%)

Memory Bandwidth

Performance-wise, the GeForce GT 450 (OEM) should theoretically be much better than the GeForce 9600 GT 512MB overall. (explain)

GeForce GT 450 (OEM)		96000 MB/sec
GeForce 9600 GT 512MB		57600 MB/sec
	Difference: 38400 (67%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 9600 GT 512MB should be a bit (approximately 10%) faster with regards to anisotropic filtering than the GeForce GT 450 (OEM). (explain)

GeForce 9600 GT 512MB		20800 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GT 450 (OEM)		18960 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 1840 (10%)

Pixel Rate

If running with high levels of AA is important to you, then the GeForce GT 450 (OEM) is a better choice, by far. (explain)

GeForce GT 450 (OEM)		18960 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9600 GT 512MB		10400 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 8560 (82%)

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 max amount of information (in units of megabytes per second) that can be transported past the external memory interface in a second. The number is calculated by multiplying the card's bus width by its memory speed. If it uses DDR type memory, the result should be multiplied by 2 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 texture map elements (texels) that can be processed per second. This figure is worked out 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 handling texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels in one second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels the video card could possibly record to the local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is worked out by multiplying the amount 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 quite a few other factors, especially the memory bandwidth - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the max fill rate.