GeForce 8800 GT 512MB vs GeForce GTS 250 1GB

Intro

Compare all that to the GeForce GTS 250 1GB, which makes use of a 65/55 nm design. nVidia has clocked the core frequency at 738 MHz. The GDDR3 memory works at a speed of 1100 MHz on this model. It features 128 SPUs along with 64 TAUs and 16 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		105 Watts
GeForce GTS 250 1GB		145 Watts
	Difference: 40 Watts (38%)

Memory Bandwidth

As far as performance goes, the GeForce GTS 250 1GB should in theory be much superior to the GeForce 8800 GT 512MB overall. (explain)

GeForce GTS 250 1GB		70400 MB/sec
GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		57600 MB/sec
	Difference: 12800 (22%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTS 250 1GB should be a lot (more or less 41%) better at texture filtering than the GeForce 8800 GT 512MB. (explain)

GeForce GTS 250 1GB		47232 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		33600 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 13632 (41%)

Pixel Rate

If using a high resolution is important to you, then the GeForce GTS 250 1GB is a better choice, by a large margin. (explain)

GeForce GTS 250 1GB		11808 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		9600 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 2208 (23%)

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 maximum amount of information (in units of megabytes per second) that can be moved over the external memory interface in a second. It is worked out by multiplying the card's interface width by its memory clock speed. If it uses DDR type memory, it must be multiplied by 2 once again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the bandwidth is, 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 in one second. This figure is calculated by multiplying the total number of texture units of the card 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 in one second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels the graphics card could possibly write to the local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is calculated by multiplying the amount of colour ROPs by the the core clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also called Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel output rate is also dependant on quite a few other factors, especially the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the maximum fill rate.