GeForce 9400 GT 256MB vs GeForce GTX 460 2GB

Intro

Compare that to the GeForce GTX 460 2GB, which comes with GPU clock speed of 675 MHz, and 2048 MB of GDDR5 RAM running at 900 MHz through a 256-bit bus. It also is made up 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 9400 GT 256MB		50 Watts
GeForce GTX 460 2GB		160 Watts
	Difference: 110 Watts (220%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce GTX 460 2GB should be 800% faster than the GeForce 9400 GT 256MB in general, because of its higher data rate. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 2GB		115200 MB/sec
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 102400 (800%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 460 2GB will be much (about 759%) better at AF than the GeForce 9400 GT 256MB. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 2GB		37800 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		4400 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 33400 (759%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 460 2GB is a lot (approximately 882%) faster with regards to full screen anti-aliasing than the GeForce 9400 GT 256MB, and also should be able to handle higher screen resolutions better. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 2GB		21600 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		2200 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 19400 (882%)

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 MB per second) that can be transported across the external memory interface in a second. It's calculated by multiplying the interface width by the speed of its memory. In the case of DDR type memory, it should be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The higher the card's memory bandwidth, the better 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 can be applied in one second. This is worked out by multiplying the total amount of texture units by the core speed of the chip. The better this number, the better the video card will be at texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels applied in one second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most pixels that the graphics card can possibly write to its local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is worked out by multiplying the amount of colour ROPs by the the card's clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - sometimes also referred to as Render Output Units) are responsible for outputting the pixels (image) to the screen. The actual pixel 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 potential to reach the max fill rate.