GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 vs GeForce GTX 580 3GB

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GTX 580 3GB, which makes use of a 40 nm design. nVidia has set the core frequency at 772 MHz. The GDDR5 RAM runs at a frequency of 1002 MHz on this specific model. It features 512 SPUs as well as 64 TAUs and 48 Rasterization Operator Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GTX 260 Core 216		202 Watts
GeForce GTX 580 3GB		244 Watts
	Difference: 42 Watts (21%)

Memory Bandwidth

Theoretically, the GeForce GTX 580 3GB should perform much faster than the GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 in general. (explain)

GeForce GTX 580 3GB		192384 MB/sec
GeForce GTX 260 Core 216		111888 MB/sec
	Difference: 80496 (72%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 580 3GB should be just a bit (approximately 19%) faster with regards to AF than the GeForce GTX 260 Core 216. (explain)

GeForce GTX 580 3GB		49408 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GTX 260 Core 216		41472 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 7936 (19%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 580 3GB should be much (approximately 130%) better at full screen anti-aliasing than the GeForce GTX 260 Core 216, and also should be able to handle higher screen resolutions while still performing well. (explain)

GeForce GTX 580 3GB		37056 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GTX 260 Core 216		16128 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 20928 (130%)

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 max amount of data (counted in megabytes per second) that can be moved across the external memory interface in a second. It is worked out by multiplying the interface width by its memory speed. In the case of DDR type RAM, it should be multiplied by 2 once again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The higher the bandwidth is, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, High Dynamic Range 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 number is calculated by multiplying the total texture units by the core clock 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 in a second.

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