GeForce 9800 GT 512MB vs GeForce GTX 480

Intro

Compare all that to the GeForce GTX 480, which uses a 40 nm design. nVidia has clocked the core frequency at 700 MHz. The GDDR5 memory runs at a frequency of 924 MHz on this specific card. It features 480 SPUs as well as 60 TAUs and 48 Rasterization Operator Units.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 9800 GT 512MB		105 Watts
GeForce GTX 480		250 Watts
	Difference: 145 Watts (138%)

Memory Bandwidth

Theoretically speaking, the GeForce GTX 480 will be 208% quicker than the GeForce 9800 GT 512MB in general, due to its greater data rate. (explain)

GeForce GTX 480		177408 MB/sec
GeForce 9800 GT 512MB		57600 MB/sec
	Difference: 119808 (208%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 480 should be much (approximately 25%) faster with regards to anisotropic filtering than the GeForce 9800 GT 512MB. (explain)

GeForce GTX 480		42000 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 9800 GT 512MB		33600 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 8400 (25%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 480 is quite a bit (more or less 250%) better at full screen anti-aliasing than the GeForce 9800 GT 512MB, and should be capable of handling higher screen resolutions without losing too much performance. (explain)

GeForce GTX 480		33600 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9800 GT 512MB		9600 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 24000 (250%)

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 max amount of information (in units of megabytes per second) that can be transferred past the external memory interface in a second. The number is worked out by multiplying the card's bus width by its memory speed. If it uses DDR memory, the result should be multiplied by 2 once again. If DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the memory bandwidth, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, High Dynamic Range and higher screen resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum number of texture map elements (texels) that can be processed per second. This figure is calculated by multiplying the total texture units by the core clock speed of the chip. The better this number, the better the graphics card will be at texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels in a second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels the video card can possibly write to the local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is calculated by multiplying the number of ROPs by the clock 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 output rate also depends on many other factors, especially the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to get to the maximum fill rate.