GeForce GTX 285 2GB vs GeForce GTX 470

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GTX 470, which features core speeds of 607 MHz on the GPU, and 837 MHz on the 1280 MB of GDDR5 RAM. It features 448 SPUs as well as 56 TAUs and 40 Rasterization Operator Units.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GTX 285 2GB		204 Watts
GeForce GTX 470		215 Watts
	Difference: 11 Watts (5%)

Memory Bandwidth

Theoretically speaking, the GeForce GTX 285 2GB should be 19% faster than the GeForce GTX 470 in general, due to its greater bandwidth. (explain)

GeForce GTX 285 2GB		158976 MB/sec
GeForce GTX 470		133920 MB/sec
	Difference: 25056 (19%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 285 2GB will be a lot (more or less 53%) better at texture filtering than the GeForce GTX 470. (explain)

GeForce GTX 285 2GB		51840 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GTX 470		33992 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 17848 (53%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 470 will be a bit (more or less 17%) more effective at FSAA than the GeForce GTX 285 2GB, and will be capable of handling higher screen resolutions without slowing down too much. (explain)

GeForce GTX 470		24280 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GTX 285 2GB		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: Memory bandwidth is the maximum amount of data (in units of megabytes per second) that can be transferred across the external memory interface within a second. It is calculated by multiplying the card's interface width by the speed of its memory. In the case of DDR RAM, the result should be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the memory bandwidth, the faster 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 are processed per second. This is calculated by multiplying the total number of texture units of the card by the core clock speed of the chip. The higher this number, the better the graphics card will be at texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels in one second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels the video card can possibly write to the local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. Pixel rate is calculated by multiplying the number 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 drawing the pixels (image) on the screen. The actual pixel fill rate also depends on quite a few other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the max fill rate.