GeForce 9800 GT 1GB vs GeForce GTX 460 SE

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GTX 460 SE, which features a core clock frequency of 650 MHz and a GDDR5 memory frequency of 850 MHz. It also features a 256-bit memory bus, and makes use of a 40 nm design. It features 288 SPUs, 48 TAUs, and 32 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 9800 GT 1GB		105 Watts
GeForce GTX 460 SE		150 Watts
	Difference: 45 Watts (43%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce GTX 460 SE is 89% faster than the GeForce 9800 GT 1GB overall, due to its higher bandwidth. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 SE		108800 MB/sec
GeForce 9800 GT 1GB		57600 MB/sec
	Difference: 51200 (89%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 9800 GT 1GB will be just a bit (more or less 8%) better at texture filtering than the GeForce GTX 460 SE. (explain)

GeForce 9800 GT 1GB		33600 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GTX 460 SE		31200 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 2400 (8%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 460 SE will be quite a bit (approximately 117%) more effective at anti-aliasing than the GeForce 9800 GT 1GB, and will be able to handle higher resolutions more effectively. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 SE		20800 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9800 GT 1GB		9600 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 11200 (117%)

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 information (measured in MB per second) that can be transported past the external memory interface within a second. It's calculated by multiplying the card's interface width by its memory clock speed. In the case of DDR memory, it must be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses 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 high resolutions.

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

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels the video card can possibly write to the local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number 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 filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel rate also depends on many other factors, especially the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the max fill rate.