GeForce 9400 GT 256MB vs GeForce GTX 560

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce GTX 560, which has a core clock frequency of 810 MHz and a GDDR5 memory speed of 1001 MHz. It also uses a 256-bit bus, and uses a 40 nm design. It features 336 SPUs, 56 TAUs, and 32 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		50 Watts
GeForce GTX 560		150 Watts
	Difference: 100 Watts (200%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce GTX 560 is 901% faster than the GeForce 9400 GT 256MB overall, due to its greater bandwidth. (explain)

GeForce GTX 560		128128 MB/sec
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 115328 (901%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 560 is quite a bit (more or less 931%) faster with regards to AF than the GeForce 9400 GT 256MB. (explain)

GeForce GTX 560		45360 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		4400 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 40960 (931%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 560 is quite a bit (approximately 1078%) better at AA than the GeForce 9400 GT 256MB, and also able to handle higher resolutions without slowing down too much. (explain)

GeForce GTX 560		25920 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		2200 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 23720 (1078%)

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 maximum amount of data (counted in MB per second) that can be moved across the external memory interface in a second. It's calculated by multiplying the card's bus width by the speed of its memory. If it uses DDR memory, the result should be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The higher the card's memory bandwidth, the faster 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 number of 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 video card will be at handling texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels applied per second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most pixels that the graphics card can possibly record to the local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is worked out by multiplying the amount of ROPs 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, most notably the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the potential to get to the max fill rate.