GeForce 9600 GSO 384MB vs GeForce GTX 570

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce GTX 570, which features GPU clock speed of 732 MHz, and 1280 MB of GDDR5 memory set to run at 950 MHz through a 320-bit bus. It also features 480 SPUs, 60 TAUs, and 40 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 9600 GSO 384MB		84 Watts
GeForce GTX 570		219 Watts
	Difference: 135 Watts (161%)

Memory Bandwidth

As far as performance goes, the GeForce GTX 570 should in theory be quite a bit better than the GeForce 9600 GSO 384MB overall. (explain)

GeForce GTX 570		152000 MB/sec
GeForce 9600 GSO 384MB		38400 MB/sec
	Difference: 113600 (296%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 570 should be quite a bit (approximately 66%) faster with regards to texture filtering than the GeForce 9600 GSO 384MB. (explain)

GeForce GTX 570		43920 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 9600 GSO 384MB		26400 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 17520 (66%)

Pixel Rate

If running with high levels of AA is important to you, then the GeForce GTX 570 is a better choice, and very much so. (explain)

GeForce GTX 570		29280 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9600 GSO 384MB		6600 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 22680 (344%)

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 (counted in MB per second) that can be moved over the external memory interface within a second. It's worked out by multiplying the bus width by its memory speed. If it uses DDR RAM, it must be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The higher the memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, HDR and high resolutions.

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

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels that the graphics chip could possibly record to the local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is calculated by multiplying the amount of Raster Operations Pipelines by the the core clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - sometimes also referred to as Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel rate also depends on quite a few other factors, especially the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the max fill rate.