GeForce 8800 GT 256MB vs GeForce GTS 450 1GB

Intro

Compare that to the GeForce GTS 450 1GB, which uses a 40 nm design. nVidia has set the core speed at 783 MHz. The GDDR5 memory runs at a speed of 902 MHz on this specific model. It features 192 SPUs as well as 32 TAUs and 16 Rasterization Operator Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8800 GT 256MB		105 Watts
GeForce GTS 450 1GB		106 Watts
	Difference: 1 Watts (1%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce GTS 450 1GB should be quite a bit faster than the GeForce 8800 GT 256MB overall. (explain)

GeForce GTS 450 1GB		57728 MB/sec
GeForce 8800 GT 256MB		44800 MB/sec
	Difference: 12928 (29%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 8800 GT 256MB should be quite a bit (about 34%) better at AF than the GeForce GTS 450 1GB. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GT 256MB		33600 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GTS 450 1GB		25056 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 8544 (34%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTS 450 1GB is a lot (approximately 31%) more effective at AA than the GeForce 8800 GT 256MB, and will be able to handle higher screen resolutions without slowing down too much. (explain)

GeForce GTS 450 1GB		12528 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8800 GT 256MB		9600 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 2928 (31%)

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 maximum amount of data (counted in megabytes per second) that can be transferred over the external memory interface within a second. The number is calculated by multiplying the card's bus width by its memory speed. If the card has DDR memory, it must be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The higher the memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, HDR and higher screen resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum texture map elements (texels) that are processed in one second. This number is calculated by multiplying the total texture units by the core clock speed of the chip. The better this number, the better the 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 amount of pixels that the graphics chip can possibly record to the local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is calculated 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 - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to reach the max fill rate.