GeForce 8800 GT 256MB vs GeForce GTS 450 1GB

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GTS 450 1GB, which features GPU clock speed of 783 MHz, and 1024 MB of GDDR5 memory set to run at 902 MHz through a 128-bit bus. It also features 192 SPUs, 32 TAUs, and 16 Raster Operation 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 will be 29% quicker than the GeForce 8800 GT 256MB overall, because of its higher bandwidth. (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 is quite a bit (about 34%) more effective 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

If running with a high screen resolution is important to you, then the GeForce GTS 450 1GB is superior to the GeForce 8800 GT 256MB, by a large margin. (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: Memory bandwidth is the max amount of information (in units of megabytes per second) that can be moved across the external memory interface in one second. It's calculated by multiplying the interface width by the speed of its memory. In the case of DDR RAM, it must be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the card's memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, HDR and higher screen resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum texture map elements (texels) that can be applied per second. This is calculated by multiplying the total amount of texture units by the core clock speed of the chip. The better the texel rate, the better the video card will be at texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels applied per second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels the graphics card could possibly record to its local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is calculated by multiplying the number of colour ROPs by the the core speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - aka Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel fill rate is also dependant on lots of other factors, especially the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the potential to reach the maximum fill rate.