GeForce 9600 GSO 768MB vs GeForce GTX 460 1GB

Intro

Compare that to the GeForce GTX 460 1GB, which features a clock speed of 675 MHz and a GDDR5 memory frequency of 900 MHz. It also makes use of 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 9600 GSO 768MB		84 Watts
GeForce GTX 460 1GB		160 Watts
	Difference: 76 Watts (90%)

Memory Bandwidth

The GeForce GTX 460 1GB should theoretically be quite a bit faster than the GeForce 9600 GSO 768MB overall. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 1GB		115200 MB/sec
GeForce 9600 GSO 768MB		38400 MB/sec
	Difference: 76800 (200%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 460 1GB will be much (more or less 43%) more effective at AF than the GeForce 9600 GSO 768MB. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 1GB		37800 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 9600 GSO 768MB		26400 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 11400 (43%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 460 1GB should be a lot (about 227%) better at full screen anti-aliasing than the GeForce 9600 GSO 768MB, and will be able to handle higher resolutions while still performing well. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 1GB		21600 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9600 GSO 768MB		6600 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 15000 (227%)

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 (counted in megabytes per second) that can be transported past the external memory interface in one second. The number is calculated by multiplying the bus width by its memory clock speed. If it uses DDR type RAM, 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 texture map elements (texels) that are applied in one second. This figure is calculated by multiplying the total number of texture units by the core clock speed of the chip. The better the texel rate, the better the card will be at handling texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels processed per second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most pixels the graphics card could possibly write to its local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is calculated by multiplying the amount of ROPs by the the core speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - sometimes also referred to as Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel output rate is also dependant on quite a few other factors, especially the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the maximum fill rate.