GeForce GTX 460 1GB vs GeForce GTX 590

Intro

Compare that to the GeForce GTX 590, which uses a 40 nm design. nVidia has set the core frequency at 607 MHz. The GDDR5 memory is set to run at a frequency of 855 MHz on this specific model. It features 512 SPUs as well as 64 TAUs and 48 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GTX 460 1GB		160 Watts
GeForce GTX 590		365 Watts
	Difference: 205 Watts (128%)

Memory Bandwidth

The GeForce GTX 590 should in theory be a lot faster than the GeForce GTX 460 1GB overall. (explain)

GeForce GTX 590		328320 MB/sec
GeForce GTX 460 1GB		115200 MB/sec
	Difference: 213120 (185%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 590 is a lot (approximately 106%) better at anisotropic filtering than the GeForce GTX 460 1GB. (explain)

GeForce GTX 590		77696 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GTX 460 1GB		37800 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 39896 (106%)

Pixel Rate

If running with high levels of AA is important to you, then the GeForce GTX 590 is superior to the GeForce GTX 460 1GB, by a large margin. (explain)

GeForce GTX 590		58272 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GTX 460 1GB		21600 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 36672 (170%)

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.

One or more cards in this comparison are multi-core. This means that their bandwidth, texel and pixel rates are theoretically doubled - this does not mean the card will actually perform twice as fast, but only that it should in theory be able to. Actual game benchmarks will give a more accurate idea of what it's capable of.

Price Comparison

Specifications

Memory Bandwidth: Bandwidth is the maximum amount of data (counted in megabytes per second) that can be transported across the external memory interface within a second. It's worked out by multiplying the card's bus width by its memory clock speed. In the case of DDR RAM, it should be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better 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 can be processed in one second. This number is worked out by multiplying the total texture units by the core clock speed of the chip. The better this number, the better the card will be at texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels applied in a second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most pixels that the graphics chip can possibly record to its local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is worked out by multiplying the number of Render Output Units by the clock speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - sometimes also referred to as 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 of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the maximum fill rate.