GeForce 9600 GT 512MB vs GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 1GB

Intro

Compare that to the GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 1GB, which comes with GPU clock speed of 550 MHz, and 1024 MB of GDDR5 RAM set to run at 850 MHz through a 128-bit bus. It also is comprised of 96 SPUs, 32 Texture Address Units, and 8 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 1GB		70 Watts
GeForce 9600 GT 512MB		95 Watts
	Difference: 25 Watts (36%)

Memory Bandwidth

As far as performance goes, the GeForce 9600 GT 512MB should theoretically be a little bit better than the GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 1GB overall. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GT 512MB		57600 MB/sec
GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 1GB		54400 MB/sec
	Difference: 3200 (6%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 9600 GT 512MB is a small bit (approximately 18%) better at texture filtering than the GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 1GB. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GT 512MB		20800 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 1GB		17600 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 3200 (18%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce 9600 GT 512MB should be much (more or less 136%) faster with regards to AA than the GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 1GB, and also will be capable of handling higher resolutions more effectively. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GT 512MB		10400 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 1GB		4400 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 6000 (136%)

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 information (in units of MB per second) that can be transported over the external memory interface within a second. It is worked out by multiplying the interface width by its memory clock speed. In the case of DDR RAM, it must be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The higher the memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, High Dynamic Range and high resolutions.

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

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels that the graphics chip can possibly write to the local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is calculated by multiplying the number of Raster Operations Pipelines by the the core 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 is also dependant on many other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the max fill rate.