GeForce GTS 450 1GB vs GeForce GTX 280

Intro

Compare all that to the GeForce GTX 280, which features a clock frequency of 602 MHz and a GDDR3 memory frequency of 1107 MHz. It also makes use of a 512-bit bus, and makes use of a 65 nm design. It is made up of 240 SPUs, 80 TAUs, and 32 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GTS 450 1GB		106 Watts
GeForce GTX 280		236 Watts
	Difference: 130 Watts (123%)

Memory Bandwidth

The GeForce GTX 280 should theoretically be quite a bit faster than the GeForce GTS 450 1GB overall. (explain)

GeForce GTX 280		141696 MB/sec
GeForce GTS 450 1GB		57728 MB/sec
	Difference: 83968 (145%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 280 will be a lot (about 92%) better at texture filtering than the GeForce GTS 450 1GB. (explain)

GeForce GTX 280		48160 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GTS 450 1GB		25056 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 23104 (92%)

Pixel Rate

If using a high resolution is important to you, then the GeForce GTX 280 is superior to the GeForce GTS 450 1GB, by a large margin. (explain)

GeForce GTX 280		19264 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GTS 450 1GB		12528 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 6736 (54%)

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 largest amount of data (measured in MB per second) that can be moved past the external memory interface in one second. The number is worked out by multiplying the interface width by its memory speed. If it uses DDR type memory, it must be multiplied by 2 once again. If 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 number of texture map elements (texels) that can be processed in one second. This is calculated by multiplying the total texture units of the card by the core speed of the chip. The higher this number, 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 that the graphics card 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 amount of Raster Operations Pipelines by the the card's clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - sometimes also referred to as Render Output Units) are responsible for outputting the pixels (image) to the screen. The actual pixel fill rate also depends on lots of other factors, especially the memory bandwidth - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the maximum fill rate.