GeForce GTX 280 vs GeForce GTX 580 3GB

Intro

Compare that to the GeForce GTX 580 3GB, which features GPU clock speed of 772 MHz, and 3072 MB of GDDR5 RAM set to run at 1002 MHz through a 384-bit bus. It also features 512 Stream Processors, 64 Texture Address Units, and 48 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GTX 280		236 Watts
GeForce GTX 580 3GB		244 Watts
	Difference: 8 Watts (3%)

Memory Bandwidth

As far as performance goes, the GeForce GTX 580 3GB should in theory be a lot better than the GeForce GTX 280 in general. (explain)

GeForce GTX 580 3GB		192384 MB/sec
GeForce GTX 280		141696 MB/sec
	Difference: 50688 (36%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 580 3GB will be a little bit (about 3%) more effective at AF than the GeForce GTX 280. (explain)

GeForce GTX 580 3GB		49408 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GTX 280		48160 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 1248 (3%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 580 3GB is quite a bit (approximately 92%) more effective at AA than the GeForce GTX 280, and will be capable of handling higher resolutions while still performing well. (explain)

GeForce GTX 580 3GB		37056 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GTX 280		19264 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 17792 (92%)

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 data (in units of MB per second) that can be transferred over the external memory interface in a second. The number is worked out by multiplying the interface width by the speed of its memory. If the card has DDR type memory, the result should be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the bandwidth is, the faster 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 is calculated by multiplying the total number of texture units of the card by the core speed of the chip. The better this number, the better the graphics card will be at handling texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels applied in one second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most pixels the graphics card can possibly write to its local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is calculated by multiplying the amount of ROPs by the the card's clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - aka Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel 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 get to the maximum fill rate.