GeForce GTX 280 vs GeForce GTX 460 2GB

Intro

Compare all that to the GeForce GTX 460 2GB, which features a GPU core clock speed of 675 MHz, and 2048 MB of GDDR5 RAM set to run at 900 MHz through a 256-bit bus. It also is comprised of 336 Stream Processors, 56 TAUs, and 32 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GTX 460 2GB		160 Watts
GeForce GTX 280		236 Watts
	Difference: 76 Watts (48%)

Memory Bandwidth

The GeForce GTX 280 should theoretically be a lot faster than the GeForce GTX 460 2GB overall. (explain)

GeForce GTX 280		141696 MB/sec
GeForce GTX 460 2GB		115200 MB/sec
	Difference: 26496 (23%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 280 should be quite a bit (approximately 27%) better at texture filtering than the GeForce GTX 460 2GB. (explain)

GeForce GTX 280		48160 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GTX 460 2GB		37800 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 10360 (27%)

Pixel Rate

If using a high resolution is important to you, then the GeForce GTX 460 2GB is superior to the GeForce GTX 280, but it probably won't make a huge difference. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 2GB		21600 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GTX 280		19264 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 2336 (12%)

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

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

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