GeForce 8500 GT vs GeForce 9500 GT DDR2

Intro

Compare all that to the GeForce 9500 GT DDR2, which uses a 65 nm design. nVidia has set the core frequency at 550 MHz. The DDR2 memory is set to run at a speed of 500 MHz on this specific model. It features 32 SPUs as well as 16 TAUs and 8 Rasterization Operator Units.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8500 GT		45 Watts
GeForce 9500 GT DDR2		50 Watts
	Difference: 5 Watts (11%)

Memory Bandwidth

The GeForce 9500 GT DDR2 should theoretically perform a lot faster than the GeForce 8500 GT in general. (explain)

GeForce 9500 GT DDR2		16000 MB/sec
GeForce 8500 GT		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 3200 (25%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 9500 GT DDR2 is quite a bit (more or less 144%) faster with regards to anisotropic filtering than the GeForce 8500 GT. (explain)

GeForce 9500 GT DDR2		8800 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8500 GT		3600 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 5200 (144%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce 9500 GT DDR2 should be quite a bit (more or less 144%) better at full screen anti-aliasing than the GeForce 8500 GT, and should be able to handle higher resolutions better. (explain)

GeForce 9500 GT DDR2		4400 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8500 GT		1800 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 2600 (144%)

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 MB per second) that can be transferred across the external memory interface in one second. The number is worked out by multiplying the bus width by the speed of its memory. In the case of DDR memory, it must be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The higher the memory bandwidth, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, HDR and high resolutions.

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

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