GeForce 8800 GTX vs GeForce GTX 480

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce GTX 480, which features GPU core speed of 700 MHz, and 1536 MB of GDDR5 RAM running at 924 MHz through a 384-bit bus. It also is made up of 480 SPUs, 60 TAUs, and 48 ROPs.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8800 GTX		155 Watts
GeForce GTX 480		250 Watts
	Difference: 95 Watts (61%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce GTX 480 should be 105% quicker than the GeForce 8800 GTX overall, because of its higher bandwidth. (explain)

GeForce GTX 480		177408 MB/sec
GeForce 8800 GTX		86400 MB/sec
	Difference: 91008 (105%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 480 is just a bit (approximately 14%) better at anisotropic filtering than the GeForce 8800 GTX. (explain)

GeForce GTX 480		42000 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8800 GTX		36800 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 5200 (14%)

Pixel Rate

If running with a high resolution is important to you, then the GeForce GTX 480 is a better choice, by far. (explain)

GeForce GTX 480		33600 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8800 GTX		13800 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 19800 (143%)

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

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels the video card can possibly write to the local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is worked out by multiplying the amount 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 fill rate also depends on quite a few other factors, especially the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the potential to reach the max fill rate.