GeForce 9400 GT 256MB vs GeForce GT 130

Intro

Compare all that to the GeForce GT 130, which features a core clock speed of 500 MHz and a DDR2 memory frequency of 250 MHz. It also uses a 192-bit bus, and makes use of a 55 nm design. It features 48 SPUs, 24 TAUs, and 16 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		50 Watts
GeForce GT 130		75 Watts
	Difference: 25 Watts (50%)

Memory Bandwidth

Theoretically speaking, the GeForce 9400 GT 256MB will be 7% quicker than the GeForce GT 130 in general, due to its higher bandwidth. (explain)

GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		12800 MB/sec
GeForce GT 130		12000 MB/sec
	Difference: 800 (7%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GT 130 is a lot (more or less 173%) more effective at anisotropic filtering than the GeForce 9400 GT 256MB. (explain)

GeForce GT 130		12000 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		4400 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 7600 (173%)

Pixel Rate

If running with lots of anti-aliasing is important to you, then the GeForce GT 130 is the winner, and very much so. (explain)

GeForce GT 130		8000 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		2200 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 5800 (264%)

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 information (measured in megabytes per second) that can be transferred past the external memory interface within a second. It is worked out by multiplying the interface width by the speed of its memory. If it uses DDR type memory, the result should be multiplied by 2 once again. If DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The higher the card's memory bandwidth, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, High Dynamic Range and higher screen resolutions.

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

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels the video card can possibly record to the local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is worked out by multiplying the number of colour ROPs by the clock speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - aka Render Output Units) are responsible for outputting the pixels (image) to the screen. The actual pixel fill rate is also dependant on lots of other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the maximum fill rate.