GeForce GTX 285 1GB vs GeForce GTX 460 1GB

Intro

Compare all that to the GeForce GTX 460 1GB, which comes with a clock speed of 675 MHz and a GDDR5 memory frequency of 900 MHz. It also features a 256-bit bus, and makes use of a 40 nm design. It features 336 SPUs, 56 TAUs, and 32 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GTX 460 1GB		160 Watts
GeForce GTX 285 1GB		204 Watts
	Difference: 44 Watts (28%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce GTX 285 1GB should perform much faster than the GeForce GTX 460 1GB overall. (explain)

GeForce GTX 285 1GB		158976 MB/sec
GeForce GTX 460 1GB		115200 MB/sec
	Difference: 43776 (38%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 285 1GB is much (more or less 37%) faster with regards to anisotropic filtering than the GeForce GTX 460 1GB. (explain)

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

Pixel Rate

If running with lots of anti-aliasing is important to you, then the GeForce GTX 460 1GB is a better choice, though not by far. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 1GB		21600 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GTX 285 1GB		20736 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 864 (4%)

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 MB per second) that can be transported across the external memory interface within a second. The number is worked out by multiplying the card's interface width by the speed of its memory. In the case of DDR type memory, it should be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the memory bandwidth, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, HDR and high resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum number of texture map elements (texels) that are processed in one second. This is calculated by multiplying the total number of texture units by the core speed of the chip. The better this number, the better the video 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 most pixels that the graphics chip can possibly write to its local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is calculated by multiplying the number of Render Output Units by the the card's clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also sometimes called Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel output rate is also dependant on many other factors, especially the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the max fill rate.