GeForce 9800 GTX vs GeForce GTS 450 1GB

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GTS 450 1GB, which features GPU core speed of 783 MHz, and 1024 MB of GDDR5 memory running at 902 MHz through a 128-bit bus. It also is comprised of 192 SPUs, 32 TAUs, and 16 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GTS 450 1GB		106 Watts
GeForce 9800 GTX		140 Watts
	Difference: 34 Watts (32%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce 9800 GTX should perform a lot faster than the GeForce GTS 450 1GB overall. (explain)

GeForce 9800 GTX		70400 MB/sec
GeForce GTS 450 1GB		57728 MB/sec
	Difference: 12672 (22%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 9800 GTX will be a lot (approximately 72%) faster with regards to texture filtering than the GeForce GTS 450 1GB. (explain)

GeForce 9800 GTX		43200 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GTS 450 1GB		25056 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 18144 (72%)

Pixel Rate

If using lots of anti-aliasing is important to you, then the GeForce GTS 450 1GB is a better choice, not by a very large margin though. (explain)

GeForce GTS 450 1GB		12528 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9800 GTX		10800 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 1728 (16%)

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 a second. The number is worked out by multiplying the bus width by its memory speed. If it uses DDR RAM, the result should be multiplied by 2 once again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The higher the bandwidth is, the faster 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 number of texture map elements (texels) that are applied per second. This number is calculated by multiplying the total number of texture units by the core clock 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 in a second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels that the graphics card can possibly write to its local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is calculated by multiplying the amount of colour ROPs by the the core clock speed. 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 lots of other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the max fill rate.