GeForce 8800 GT 256MB vs GeForce 8800 GTS (G80) 320MB

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce 8800 GTS (G80) 320MB, which features clock speeds of 513 MHz on the GPU, and 792 MHz on the 320 MB of GDDR3 memory. It features 96 SPUs as well as 48 TAUs and 20 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8800 GT 256MB		105 Watts
GeForce 8800 GTS (G80) 320MB		143 Watts
	Difference: 38 Watts (36%)

Memory Bandwidth

Theoretically speaking, the GeForce 8800 GTS (G80) 320MB should be much faster than the GeForce 8800 GT 256MB in general. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GTS (G80) 320MB		63360 MB/sec
GeForce 8800 GT 256MB		44800 MB/sec
	Difference: 18560 (41%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 8800 GT 256MB is much (about 36%) better at anisotropic filtering than the GeForce 8800 GTS (G80) 320MB. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GT 256MB		33600 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8800 GTS (G80) 320MB		24624 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 8976 (36%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce 8800 GTS (G80) 320MB is just a bit (about 7%) more effective at AA than the GeForce 8800 GT 256MB, and also should be capable of handling higher screen resolutions without slowing down too much. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GTS (G80) 320MB		10260 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8800 GT 256MB		9600 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 660 (7%)

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 data (in units of megabytes per second) that can be transported past the external memory interface in one second. It's worked out by multiplying the interface width by its memory clock speed. If it uses DDR type memory, it must be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the card's memory bandwidth, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, High Dynamic Range and higher screen resolutions.

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

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels that the graphics card can possibly write to the local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is calculated by multiplying the number of ROPs by the clock 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 rate is also dependant on quite a few other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the potential to reach the maximum fill rate.