GeForce GTX 285 1GB vs GeForce GTX 460

Intro

Compare all that to the GeForce GTX 460, which uses a 40 nm design. nVidia has clocked the core frequency at 675 MHz. The GDDR5 RAM works at a frequency of 900 MHz on this card. It features 336 SPUs as well as 56 TAUs and 24 Rasterization Operator Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GTX 460		150 Watts
GeForce GTX 285 1GB		204 Watts
	Difference: 54 Watts (36%)

Memory Bandwidth

Performance-wise, the GeForce GTX 285 1GB should in theory be quite a bit superior to the GeForce GTX 460 overall. (explain)

GeForce GTX 285 1GB		158976 MB/sec
GeForce GTX 460		86400 MB/sec
	Difference: 72576 (84%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 285 1GB will be a lot (more or less 37%) more effective at texture filtering than the GeForce GTX 460. (explain)

GeForce GTX 285 1GB		51840 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GTX 460		37800 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 14040 (37%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 285 1GB should be much (about 28%) faster with regards to FSAA than the GeForce GTX 460, and also able to handle higher resolutions more effectively. (explain)

GeForce GTX 285 1GB		20736 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GTX 460		16200 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 4536 (28%)

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 maximum amount of data (measured in megabytes per second) that can be transferred across the external memory interface in one second. It's worked out by multiplying the card's bus width by its memory speed. In the case of DDR type RAM, it should be multiplied by 2 once 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 AA, HDR and high resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum texture map elements (texels) that are processed in one second. This figure is worked out by multiplying the total texture units of the card by the core clock speed of the chip. The higher the texel rate, the better the card will be at 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 chip could possibly record to the local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is calculated by multiplying the amount of colour ROPs by the clock 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 also depends on quite a few other factors, especially the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to reach the maximum fill rate.