GeForce GTX 570 vs Radeon HD 4550 256MB

Intro

Compare all that to the Radeon HD 4550 256MB, which makes use of a 55 nm design. AMD has set the core frequency at 600 MHz. The DDR3 RAM runs at a frequency of 800 MHz on this model. It features 80(16x5) SPUs as well as 8 Texture Address Units and 4 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

Radeon HD 4550 256MB		25 Watts
GeForce GTX 570		219 Watts
	Difference: 194 Watts (776%)

Memory Bandwidth

The GeForce GTX 570 should theoretically be quite a bit faster than the Radeon HD 4550 256MB in general. (explain)

GeForce GTX 570		152000 MB/sec
Radeon HD 4550 256MB		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 139200 (1088%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 570 should be quite a bit (more or less 815%) more effective at texture filtering than the Radeon HD 4550 256MB. (explain)

GeForce GTX 570		43920 Mtexels/sec
Radeon HD 4550 256MB		4800 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 39120 (815%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 570 will be quite a bit (more or less 1120%) better at full screen anti-aliasing than the Radeon HD 4550 256MB, and capable of handling higher screen resolutions while still performing well. (explain)

GeForce GTX 570		29280 Mpixels/sec
Radeon HD 4550 256MB		2400 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 26880 (1120%)

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 information (measured in MB per second) that can be transferred over the external memory interface within a second. It's worked out by multiplying the card's bus width by its memory clock speed. In the case of DDR type RAM, the result should be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the card's memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, HDR and higher screen resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum amount of texture map elements (texels) that can be applied in one second. This figure is worked out by multiplying the total amount of texture units of the card 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 processed in one second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels the video card can possibly record to the local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is calculated by multiplying the amount of colour ROPs by the the core clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - aka Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel output rate is also dependant on lots of other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the potential to reach the max fill rate.