GeForce GT 420 vs GeForce GTX 460 1GB

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce GTX 460 1GB, which uses a 40 nm design. nVidia has set the core speed at 675 MHz. The GDDR5 memory is set to run at a frequency of 900 MHz on this particular model. It features 336 SPUs along with 56 TAUs and 32 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GT 420		50 Watts
GeForce GTX 460 1GB		160 Watts
	Difference: 110 Watts (220%)

Memory Bandwidth

As far as performance goes, the GeForce GTX 460 1GB should in theory be a lot better than the GeForce GT 420 overall. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 1GB		115200 MB/sec
GeForce GT 420		28800 MB/sec
	Difference: 86400 (300%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 460 1GB is much (more or less 575%) faster with regards to AF than the GeForce GT 420. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 1GB		37800 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GT 420		5600 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 32200 (575%)

Pixel Rate

If using lots of anti-aliasing is important to you, then the GeForce GTX 460 1GB is the winner, and very much so. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 1GB		21600 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GT 420		2800 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 18800 (671%)

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 max amount of data (counted in megabytes per second) that can be transferred past the external memory interface in a second. The number is worked out by multiplying the card's bus width by the speed of its memory. If it uses DDR type RAM, the result should be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the card's memory bandwidth, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, HDR and higher screen resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum amount of texture map elements (texels) that are processed per second. This figure is worked out by multiplying the total texture units of the card by the core 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 amount of pixels the graphics card can possibly write to the local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is worked out by multiplying the number of Render Output Units 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 rate is also dependant on many other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to reach the maximum fill rate.