GeForce 9600 GT 1GB vs GeForce GTX 560

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce GTX 560, which comes with a GPU core clock speed of 810 MHz, and 1024 MB of GDDR5 memory running at 1001 MHz through a 256-bit bus. It also features 336 SPUs, 56 TAUs, and 32 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 9600 GT 1GB		95 Watts
GeForce GTX 560		150 Watts
	Difference: 55 Watts (58%)

Memory Bandwidth

The GeForce GTX 560 should in theory perform quite a bit faster than the GeForce 9600 GT 1GB in general. (explain)

GeForce GTX 560		128128 MB/sec
GeForce 9600 GT 1GB		57600 MB/sec
	Difference: 70528 (122%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 560 is quite a bit (approximately 118%) more effective at anisotropic filtering than the GeForce 9600 GT 1GB. (explain)

GeForce GTX 560		45360 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 9600 GT 1GB		20800 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 24560 (118%)

Pixel Rate

If running with high levels of AA is important to you, then the GeForce GTX 560 is the winner, by far. (explain)

GeForce GTX 560		25920 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9600 GT 1GB		10400 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 15520 (149%)

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 max amount of data (in units of megabytes per second) that can be transported across the external memory interface in one second. The number is calculated by multiplying the interface width by its memory speed. In the case of DDR type RAM, it should be multiplied by 2 once again. If DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the bandwidth is, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, HDR and high resolutions.

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

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most pixels the video 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 amount of colour ROPs by the the card's clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also sometimes called Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel output rate also depends on many other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the maximum fill rate.