GeForce GTX 285 1GB vs GeForce GTX 470

Intro

Compare all that to the GeForce GTX 470, which comes with a clock frequency of 607 MHz and a GDDR5 memory speed of 837 MHz. It also uses a 320-bit memory bus, and makes use of a 40 nm design. It is made up of 448 SPUs, 56 TAUs, and 40 Raster Operation Units.

Avatar

Settings:	Ultra High Quality
AA:	8x
AF:	none
Resolution:	1920x1200
Test Machine:	Tom's Hardware Test Machine (Source)

GeForce GTX 470		61 FPS
GeForce GTX 285 1GB		42 FPS
	Difference: 19 FPS (45%)

Battlefield Bad Company 2

Settings:	High Quality
AA:	4x
AF:	8x
Resolution:	1920x1200
Test Machine:	Tom's Hardware Test Machine (Source)

GeForce GTX 470		52 FPS
GeForce GTX 285 1GB		40 FPS
	Difference: 12 FPS (30%)

Mass Effect 2

Settings:	Maximum Quality
AA:	none
AF:	8x
Resolution:	1920x1200
Test Machine:	Tom's Hardware Test Machine (Source)

GeForce GTX 470		125 FPS
GeForce GTX 285 1GB		121 FPS
	Difference: 4 FPS (3%)

Supreme Commander 2

Settings:	High
AA:	8x
AF:	16x
Resolution:	1920x1200
Test Machine:	Tom's Hardware Test Machine (Source)

GeForce GTX 470		99 FPS
GeForce GTX 285 1GB		44 FPS
	Difference: 55 FPS (125%)

---

GeForce GTX 470 wins

(Based entirely on the benchmarks listed above)

When combining all game benchmark scores on this page together, the GeForce GTX 470 wins overall, by 90 FPS. Please note that we do not have the results of every benchmark ever done for these cards, so the results may differ wildly in different games.

GeForce GTX 470		337 FPS
GeForce GTX 285 1GB		247 FPS
	Difference: 90 FPS (36%)

---

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GTX 285 1GB		204 Watts
GeForce GTX 470		215 Watts
	Difference: 11 Watts (5%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce GTX 285 1GB should be a small bit faster than the GeForce GTX 470 overall. (explain)

GeForce GTX 285 1GB		158976 MB/sec
GeForce GTX 470		133920 MB/sec
	Difference: 25056 (19%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 285 1GB will be a lot (more or less 53%) more effective at texture filtering than the GeForce GTX 470. (explain)

GeForce GTX 285 1GB		51840 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GTX 470		33992 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 17848 (53%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 470 should be just a bit (more or less 17%) faster with regards to full screen anti-aliasing than the GeForce GTX 285 1GB, and will be able to handle higher screen resolutions while still performing well. (explain)

GeForce GTX 470		24280 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GTX 285 1GB		20736 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 3544 (17%)

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 maximum amount of information (counted in megabytes per second) that can be moved past the external memory interface within a second. It's calculated by multiplying the interface width by its memory clock speed. In the case of DDR RAM, it should be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the bandwidth is, 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 number of texture map elements (texels) that are applied per second. This is calculated by multiplying the total texture units of the card 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 processed per second.

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