GeForce GTS 250 512MB vs GeForce GTX 460 1GB

Intro

Compare all of that to the GeForce GTX 460 1GB, which has a GPU core clock speed of 675 MHz, and 1024 MB of GDDR5 memory set to run at 900 MHz through a 256-bit bus. It also is comprised of 336 Stream Processors, 56 Texture Address Units, and 32 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GTS 250 512MB		145 Watts
GeForce GTX 460 1GB		160 Watts
	Difference: 15 Watts (10%)

Memory Bandwidth

As far as performance goes, the GeForce GTX 460 1GB should theoretically be quite a bit superior to the GeForce GTS 250 512MB overall. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 1GB		115200 MB/sec
GeForce GTS 250 512MB		70400 MB/sec
	Difference: 44800 (64%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTS 250 512MB should be a lot (approximately 25%) more effective at AF than the GeForce GTX 460 1GB. (explain)

GeForce GTS 250 512MB		47232 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GTX 460 1GB		37800 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 9432 (25%)

Pixel Rate

If using high levels of AA is important to you, then the GeForce GTX 460 1GB is superior to the GeForce GTS 250 512MB, and very much so. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 1GB		21600 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GTS 250 512MB		11808 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 9792 (83%)

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 information (in units of megabytes per second) that can be transported across the external memory interface within a second. It's calculated by multiplying the bus width by its memory speed. In the case of DDR type memory, the result should be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the card's memory bandwidth, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, High Dynamic Range and high resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum number of texture map elements (texels) that can be processed in one second. This figure is worked out by multiplying the total number of texture units by the core speed of the chip. The better this number, the better the card will be at handling texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels applied in one second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels the graphics card could possibly record to its local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is calculated by multiplying the amount of ROPs by the the card's clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also 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, most notably the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the maximum fill rate.