GeForce 8400 GS 512MB vs GeForce 9600 GT 1GB

Intro

Compare all that to the GeForce 9600 GT 1GB, which has a core clock frequency of 650 MHz and a GDDR3 memory speed of 900 MHz. It also features a 256-bit memory bus, and uses a 65/55 nm design. It is made up of 64 SPUs, 32 TAUs, and 16 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8400 GS 512MB		40 Watts
GeForce 9600 GT 1GB		95 Watts
	Difference: 55 Watts (138%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce 9600 GT 1GB should be 800% faster than the GeForce 8400 GS 512MB in general, because of its higher bandwidth. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GT 1GB		57600 MB/sec
GeForce 8400 GS 512MB		6400 MB/sec
	Difference: 51200 (800%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 9600 GT 1GB should be a lot (about 300%) faster with regards to AF than the GeForce 8400 GS 512MB. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GT 1GB		20800 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8400 GS 512MB		5200 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 15600 (300%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce 9600 GT 1GB should be a lot (approximately 300%) better at AA than the GeForce 8400 GS 512MB, and also will be capable of handling higher screen resolutions more effectively. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GT 1GB		10400 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8400 GS 512MB		2600 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 7800 (300%)

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 max amount of data (measured in megabytes per second) that can be transferred past the external memory interface in one second. The number is worked out by multiplying the interface width by the speed of its memory. In the case of DDR RAM, it should be multiplied by 2 once again. If DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, HDR and higher screen resolutions.

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

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most pixels the video card could possibly write to the local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is calculated by multiplying the amount of Raster Operations Pipelines by the the core speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - sometimes also referred to as Render Output Units) are responsible for drawing the pixels (image) on the screen. The actual pixel output rate is also dependant on lots of other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the maximum fill rate.