GeForce GTX 285 1GB vs GeForce GTX 480

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GTX 480, which comes with GPU core speed of 700 MHz, and 1536 MB of GDDR5 memory running at 924 MHz through a 384-bit bus. It also features 480 Stream Processors, 60 Texture Address Units, and 48 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GTX 285 1GB		204 Watts
GeForce GTX 480		250 Watts
	Difference: 46 Watts (23%)

Memory Bandwidth

The GeForce GTX 480, in theory, should be a little bit faster than the GeForce GTX 285 1GB in general. (explain)

GeForce GTX 480		177408 MB/sec
GeForce GTX 285 1GB		158976 MB/sec
	Difference: 18432 (12%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 285 1GB is a lot (about 23%) faster with regards to texture filtering than the GeForce GTX 480. (explain)

GeForce GTX 285 1GB		51840 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GTX 480		42000 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 9840 (23%)

Pixel Rate

If using a high screen resolution is important to you, then the GeForce GTX 480 is the winner, by a large margin. (explain)

GeForce GTX 480		33600 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GTX 285 1GB		20736 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 12864 (62%)

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 largest amount of data (counted in megabytes per second) that can be transferred over the external memory interface in a second. The number is worked out by multiplying the card's bus width by its memory clock speed. If the card has DDR type memory, it should be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The higher the card's memory bandwidth, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, High Dynamic Range and higher screen resolutions.

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

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels that the graphics card can possibly write to its local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is calculated by multiplying the amount of ROPs by the the core speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - aka Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel fill rate is also dependant on lots of other factors, especially the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the max fill rate.