GeForce 8800 GT 1GB vs GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3

Intro

Compare that to the GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3, which features a core clock speed of 550 MHz and a GDDR3 memory speed of 800 MHz. It also features a 128-bit bus, and makes use of a 55 nm design. It features 32 SPUs, 16 Texture Address Units, and 8 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3		50 Watts
GeForce 8800 GT 1GB		105 Watts
	Difference: 55 Watts (110%)

Memory Bandwidth

Theoretically speaking, the GeForce 8800 GT 1GB should be much faster than the GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3 overall. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GT 1GB		57600 MB/sec
GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3		25600 MB/sec
	Difference: 32000 (125%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 8800 GT 1GB is much (about 282%) faster with regards to texture filtering than the GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GT 1GB		33600 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3		8800 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 24800 (282%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce 8800 GT 1GB should be quite a bit (more or less 118%) faster with regards to AA than the GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3, and capable of handling higher screen resolutions without slowing down too much. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GT 1GB		9600 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3		4400 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 5200 (118%)

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: Bandwidth is the maximum amount of information (counted in megabytes per second) that can be transported over the external memory interface in one second. It's worked out by multiplying the interface width by the speed of its memory. If it uses DDR type 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 AA, HDR 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 worked out by multiplying the total texture units of the card by the core clock speed of the chip. The better 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 per second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels that the graphics chip can 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 Render Output Units 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 quite a few other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the maximum fill rate.