GeForce GTS 250 512MB vs GeForce GTX 560

Intro

Compare that to the GeForce GTX 560, which features core speeds of 810 MHz on the GPU, and 1001 MHz on the 1024 MB of GDDR5 RAM. It features 336 SPUs as well as 56 Texture Address Units and 32 ROPs.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GTS 250 512MB		145 Watts
GeForce GTX 560		150 Watts
	Difference: 5 Watts (3%)

Memory Bandwidth

The GeForce GTX 560, in theory, should be quite a bit faster than the GeForce GTS 250 512MB overall. (explain)

GeForce GTX 560		128128 MB/sec
GeForce GTS 250 512MB		70400 MB/sec
	Difference: 57728 (82%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTS 250 512MB should be a bit (approximately 4%) more effective at texture filtering than the GeForce GTX 560. (explain)

GeForce GTS 250 512MB		47232 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GTX 560		45360 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 1872 (4%)

Pixel Rate

If using a high screen resolution is important to you, then the GeForce GTX 560 is a better choice, by far. (explain)

GeForce GTX 560		25920 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GTS 250 512MB		11808 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 14112 (120%)

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 largest amount of information (in units of MB per second) that can be transported past the external memory interface in a second. It's worked out by multiplying the bus width by its memory speed. If it uses DDR type memory, the result should be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, 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 figure is worked out by multiplying the total amount of texture units 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 maximum amount of pixels the graphics card can possibly write to its local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is worked out by multiplying the number of ROPs by the the card's clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also sometimes called Render Output Units) are responsible for outputting the pixels (image) to the screen. The actual pixel rate is also dependant on lots of other factors, especially the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to get to the maximum fill rate.