GeForce 9500 GT DDR2 vs GeForce GTX 580 3GB

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce GTX 580 3GB, which features a clock frequency of 772 MHz and a GDDR5 memory speed of 1002 MHz. It also features a 384-bit memory bus, and uses a 40 nm design. It features 512 SPUs, 64 TAUs, and 48 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 9500 GT DDR2		50 Watts
GeForce GTX 580 3GB		244 Watts
	Difference: 194 Watts (388%)

Memory Bandwidth

The GeForce GTX 580 3GB should theoretically perform a lot faster than the GeForce 9500 GT DDR2 overall. (explain)

GeForce GTX 580 3GB		192384 MB/sec
GeForce 9500 GT DDR2		16000 MB/sec
	Difference: 176384 (1102%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 580 3GB will be a lot (more or less 461%) better at texture filtering than the GeForce 9500 GT DDR2. (explain)

GeForce GTX 580 3GB		49408 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 9500 GT DDR2		8800 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 40608 (461%)

Pixel Rate

If running with a high screen resolution is important to you, then the GeForce GTX 580 3GB is superior to the GeForce 9500 GT DDR2, and very much so. (explain)

GeForce GTX 580 3GB		37056 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9500 GT DDR2		4400 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 32656 (742%)

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 megabytes per second) that can be transferred across the external memory interface within a second. It's worked out by multiplying the interface width by its memory clock speed. If it uses DDR 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 faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, High Dynamic Range and high resolutions.

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

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most pixels the graphics card can possibly write to the local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is worked out by multiplying the number of Raster Operations Pipelines by the clock speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also sometimes called Render Output Units) are responsible for outputting the pixels (image) to the screen. The actual pixel output rate also depends on quite a few other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the max fill rate.