GeForce 9400 GT 256MB vs GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 1GB

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 1GB, which features a core clock frequency of 550 MHz and a GDDR5 memory speed of 850 MHz. It also makes use of a 128-bit bus, and uses a 40 nm design. It features 96 SPUs, 32 TAUs, and 8 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		50 Watts
GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 1GB		70 Watts
	Difference: 20 Watts (40%)

Memory Bandwidth

As far as performance goes, the GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 1GB should theoretically be much superior to the GeForce 9400 GT 256MB overall. (explain)

GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 1GB		54400 MB/sec
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 41600 (325%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 1GB is a lot (approximately 300%) more effective at AF than the GeForce 9400 GT 256MB. (explain)

GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 1GB		17600 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		4400 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 13200 (300%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 1GB will be a lot (more or less 100%) better at FSAA than the GeForce 9400 GT 256MB, and also able to handle higher screen resolutions better. (explain)

GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 1GB		4400 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		2200 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 2200 (100%)

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 max amount of data (counted in MB per second) that can be transported over the external memory interface in a second. It's worked out by multiplying the card's interface width by its memory speed. In the case of DDR type RAM, it 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 high resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum texture map elements (texels) that are applied per second. This number is calculated by multiplying the total amount of texture units by the core clock speed of the chip. The better this number, the better the video 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 could possibly write to its local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is calculated by multiplying the number of Raster Operations Pipelines by the clock speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also sometimes called Render Output Units) are responsible for drawing the pixels (image) on the screen. The actual pixel rate also depends on quite a few other factors, especially the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to reach the maximum fill rate.