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

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce 9500 GT 1GB GDDR3, which has a clock speed of 550 MHz and a GDDR3 memory frequency of 800 MHz. It also features a 128-bit memory bus, and makes use of a 55 nm design. It features 32 SPUs, 16 TAUs, and 8 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

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

Memory Bandwidth

Theoretically, the GeForce 8800 GT 512MB should be quite a bit faster than the GeForce 9500 GT 1GB GDDR3 in general. (explain)

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

Texel Rate

The GeForce 8800 GT 512MB will be a lot (about 282%) better at anisotropic filtering than the GeForce 9500 GT 1GB GDDR3. (explain)

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

Pixel Rate

The GeForce 8800 GT 512MB is a lot (about 118%) better at anti-aliasing than the GeForce 9500 GT 1GB GDDR3, and should be able to handle higher screen resolutions more effectively. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		9600 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9500 GT 1GB 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 MB per second) that can be transported past the external memory interface in one second. It is worked out by multiplying the card's bus width by its memory clock speed. In the case of DDR type memory, it should be multiplied by 2 once again. If DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the bandwidth is, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, 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 figure is worked out by multiplying the total number of 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 per second.

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