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GeForce 9800 GX2 vs GeForce GTX 460 2GB

Intro

The GeForce 9800 GX2 features a core clock frequency of 600 MHz and a GDDR3 memory speed of 1000 MHz. It also uses a 256-bit memory bus, and makes use of a 65 nm design. It features 128 SPUs, 64 TAUs, and 16 Raster Operation Units.

Compare that to the GeForce GTX 460 2GB, which makes use of a 40 nm design. nVidia has clocked the core speed at 675 MHz. The GDDR5 memory is set to run at a frequency of 900 MHz on this specific card. It features 336 SPUs along with 56 Texture Address Units and 32 ROPs.

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GTX 460 2GB 160 Watts
GeForce 9800 GX2 197 Watts
Difference: 37 Watts (23%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce 9800 GX2 should be a little bit faster than the GeForce GTX 460 2GB in general. (explain)

GeForce 9800 GX2 128000 MB/sec
GeForce GTX 460 2GB 115200 MB/sec
Difference: 12800 (11%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 9800 GX2 should be quite a bit (approximately 103%) more effective at texture filtering than the GeForce GTX 460 2GB. (explain)

GeForce 9800 GX2 76800 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GTX 460 2GB 37800 Mtexels/sec
Difference: 39000 (103%)

Pixel Rate

If using a high resolution is important to you, then the GeForce GTX 460 2GB is the winner, but only just. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 2GB 21600 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9800 GX2 19200 Mpixels/sec
Difference: 2400 (13%)

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.

One or more cards in this comparison are multi-core. This means that their bandwidth, texel and pixel rates are theoretically doubled - this does not mean the card will actually perform twice as fast, but only that it should in theory be able to. Actual game benchmarks will give a more accurate idea of what it's capable of.

Price Comparison

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GeForce 9800 GX2

Amazon.com

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GeForce GTX 460 2GB

Amazon.com

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Please note that the price comparisons are based on search keywords - sometimes it might show cards with very similar names that are not exactly the same as the one chosen in the comparison. We do try to filter out the wrong results as best we can, though.

Specifications

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Model GeForce 9800 GX2 GeForce GTX 460 2GB
Manufacturer nVidia nVidia
Year Mar 2008 July 2010
Code Name G92 GF104
Memory 512 MB (x2) 2048 MB
Core Speed 600 MHz (x2) 675 MHz
Memory Speed 2000 MHz (x2) 3600 MHz
Power (Max TDP) 197 watts 160 watts
Bandwidth 128000 MB/sec 115200 MB/sec
Texel Rate 76800 Mtexels/sec 37800 Mtexels/sec
Pixel Rate 19200 Mpixels/sec 21600 Mpixels/sec
Unified Shaders 128 (x2) 336
Texture Mapping Units 64 (x2) 56
Render Output Units 16 (x2) 32
Bus Type GDDR3 GDDR5
Bus Width 256-bit (x2) 256-bit
Fab Process 65 nm 40 nm
Transistors 754 million 1950 million
Bus PCIe x16 2.0 PCIe x16
DirectX Version DirectX 10 DirectX 11
OpenGL Version OpenGL 3.0 OpenGL 4.1

Memory Bandwidth: Memory bandwidth is the maximum amount of data (counted in megabytes per second) that can be moved across the external memory interface in a second. It is worked out by multiplying the card's bus width by its memory clock speed. If the card has DDR RAM, it should be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the bandwidth is, the better 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 amount of texture map elements (texels) that can be processed in one second. This is calculated by multiplying the total texture units of the card by the core clock 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 applied per 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 number is calculated by multiplying the amount of Render Output Units by the clock speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also sometimes called Render Output Units) are responsible for outputting the pixels (image) to the screen. The actual pixel output rate is also dependant on many other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the potential to get to the maximum fill rate.

Display Prices

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GeForce 9800 GX2

Amazon.com

Check prices at:

GeForce GTX 460 2GB

Amazon.com

Check prices at:

Please note that the price comparisons are based on search keywords - sometimes it might show cards with very similar names that are not exactly the same as the one chosen in the comparison. We do try to filter out the wrong results as best we can, though.

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