GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB vs GeForce GTX 580

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce GTX 580, which has a clock frequency of 772 MHz and a GDDR5 memory speed of 1002 MHz. It also makes use of a 384-bit bus, and makes use of a 40 nm design. It features 512 SPUs, 64 TAUs, and 48 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB		90 Watts
GeForce GTX 580		244 Watts
	Difference: 154 Watts (171%)

Memory Bandwidth

Performance-wise, the GeForce GTX 580 should in theory be a lot better than the GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB in general. (explain)

GeForce GTX 580		192384 MB/sec
GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB		57600 MB/sec
	Difference: 134784 (234%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 580 is quite a bit (more or less 58%) faster with regards to anisotropic filtering than the GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB. (explain)

GeForce GTX 580		49408 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB		31200 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 18208 (58%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 580 should be quite a bit (approximately 256%) more effective at anti-aliasing than the GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB, and capable of handling higher screen resolutions better. (explain)

GeForce GTX 580		37056 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB		10400 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 26656 (256%)

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: Bandwidth is the maximum amount of information (counted in MB per second) that can be moved over the external memory interface in a second. It is worked out by multiplying the interface width by the speed of its memory. If the card has 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 anti-aliasing, HDR and higher screen resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum amount of texture map elements (texels) that are processed in one second. This is worked out by multiplying the total texture units of the card by the core clock 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 in a second.

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