GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3 vs GeForce GTX 460 1GB

Intro

Compare all that to the GeForce GTX 460 1GB, which features a core clock speed of 675 MHz and a GDDR5 memory speed of 900 MHz. It also uses a 256-bit bus, and uses a 40 nm design. It is comprised of 336 SPUs, 56 TAUs, and 32 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3		50 Watts
GeForce GTX 460 1GB		160 Watts
	Difference: 110 Watts (220%)

Memory Bandwidth

Theoretically speaking, the GeForce GTX 460 1GB should perform much faster than the GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3 overall. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 1GB		115200 MB/sec
GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3		25600 MB/sec
	Difference: 89600 (350%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 460 1GB should be quite a bit (about 330%) faster with regards to texture filtering than the GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 1GB		37800 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3		8800 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 29000 (330%)

Pixel Rate

If using high levels of AA is important to you, then the GeForce GTX 460 1GB is superior to the GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3, and very much so. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 1GB		21600 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3		4400 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 17200 (391%)

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 max amount of information (in units of megabytes per second) that can be moved across the external memory interface in one second. It is worked out by multiplying the interface width by its memory speed. If the card has DDR RAM, it should be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The higher the memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, High Dynamic Range and higher screen resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum number of texture map elements (texels) that can be applied in one second. This number is calculated 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 graphics card will be at texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels in a second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels the graphics card could possibly record to its local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is worked out by multiplying the amount of Render Output Units by the the core clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also called Render Output Units) are responsible for outputting the pixels (image) to the screen. The actual pixel rate also depends on many other factors, especially the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the max fill rate.