GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3 vs GeForce GTX 580 3GB

Intro

Compare that to the GeForce GTX 580 3GB, which has a GPU core 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 SPUs, 64 TAUs, and 48 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3		50 Watts
GeForce GTX 580 3GB		244 Watts
	Difference: 194 Watts (388%)

Memory Bandwidth

Theoretically, the GeForce GTX 580 3GB should be quite a bit faster than the GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3 overall. (explain)

GeForce GTX 580 3GB		192384 MB/sec
GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3		25600 MB/sec
	Difference: 166784 (652%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 580 3GB is quite a bit (about 461%) more effective at anisotropic filtering than the GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3. (explain)

GeForce GTX 580 3GB		49408 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3		8800 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 40608 (461%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 580 3GB is a lot (about 742%) faster with regards to AA than the GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3, and also capable of handling higher resolutions better. (explain)

GeForce GTX 580 3GB		37056 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3		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: Bandwidth is the max amount of information (in units of megabytes per second) that can be transferred past the external memory interface in one second. The number is worked out by multiplying the card's bus width by its memory clock speed. In the case of DDR type memory, it must be multiplied by 2 once again. If DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The higher the bandwidth is, the better 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 texture map elements (texels) that are applied in one second. This figure is calculated by multiplying the total texture units by the core clock speed of the chip. The better this number, the better the video card will be at handling texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels processed in a second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most pixels that the graphics card could possibly write to the local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is worked out by multiplying the amount of Render Output Units by the clock speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - aka Render Output Units) are responsible for drawing the pixels (image) on the screen. The actual pixel rate also depends on lots of other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the max fill rate.