Compare any two graphics cards:
VS

GeForce 9400 GT 256MB vs GeForce 9500 GT DDR2

Intro

The GeForce 9400 GT 256MB features a core clock frequency of 550 MHz and a GDDR2 memory frequency of 400 MHz. It also uses a 128-bit bus, and uses a 65 nm design. It is made up of 16 SPUs, 8 Texture Address Units, and 4 ROPs.

Compare that to the GeForce 9500 GT DDR2, which comes with GPU core speed of 550 MHz, and 256 MB of DDR2 memory running at 500 MHz through a 128-bit bus. It also features 32 SPUs, 16 TAUs, and 8 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Both cards have the same power consumption.

Memory Bandwidth

As far as performance goes, the GeForce 9500 GT DDR2 should in theory be quite a bit superior to the GeForce 9400 GT 256MB in general. (explain)

GeForce 9500 GT DDR2 16000 MB/sec
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB 12800 MB/sec
Difference: 3200 (25%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 9500 GT DDR2 will be quite a bit (about 100%) more effective at AF than the GeForce 9400 GT 256MB. (explain)

GeForce 9500 GT DDR2 8800 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB 4400 Mtexels/sec
Difference: 4400 (100%)

Pixel Rate

If using lots of anti-aliasing is important to you, then the GeForce 9500 GT DDR2 is superior to the GeForce 9400 GT 256MB, and very much so. (explain)

GeForce 9500 GT DDR2 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

Display Prices

Hide Prices

GeForce 9400 GT 256MB

Amazon.com

Check prices at:

GeForce 9500 GT DDR2

Amazon.com

Check prices at:

Please note that the price comparisons are based on search keywords - sometimes it might show cards with very similar names that are not exactly the same as the one chosen in the comparison. We do try to filter out the wrong results as best we can, though.

Specifications

Display Specifications

Hide Specifications

Model GeForce 9400 GT 256MB GeForce 9500 GT DDR2
Manufacturer nVidia nVidia
Year August 2008 July 2008
Code Name G96a G96a
Memory 256 MB 256 MB
Core Speed 550 MHz 550 MHz
Memory Speed 800 MHz 1000 MHz
Power (Max TDP) 50 watts 50 watts
Bandwidth 12800 MB/sec 16000 MB/sec
Texel Rate 4400 Mtexels/sec 8800 Mtexels/sec
Pixel Rate 2200 Mpixels/sec 4400 Mpixels/sec
Unified Shaders 16 32
Texture Mapping Units 8 16
Render Output Units 4 8
Bus Type GDDR2 DDR2
Bus Width 128-bit 128-bit
Fab Process 65 nm 65 nm
Transistors 314 million 314 million
Bus PCIe x16 2.0, PCI PCIe x16 2.0, PCI
DirectX Version DirectX 10 DirectX 10
OpenGL Version OpenGL 3.0 OpenGL 3.0

Memory Bandwidth: Memory bandwidth is the max amount of information (in units of MB per second) that can be transferred over the external memory interface within a second. It is calculated by multiplying the interface width by its memory clock speed. In the case of DDR memory, it must be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The higher the bandwidth is, the faster 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 are processed in one second. This figure is calculated by multiplying the total number of texture units of the card by the core clock 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 applied in one second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most pixels the graphics card could 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 the core speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also sometimes called Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel fill rate is also dependant on lots of other factors, especially the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the max fill rate.

Display Prices

Hide Prices

GeForce 9400 GT 256MB

Amazon.com

Check prices at:

GeForce 9500 GT DDR2

Amazon.com

Check prices at:

Please note that the price comparisons are based on search keywords - sometimes it might show cards with very similar names that are not exactly the same as the one chosen in the comparison. We do try to filter out the wrong results as best we can, though.

Comments

Be the first to leave a comment!

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


*

WordPress Anti Spam by WP-SpamShield