GeForce 9600 GT 512MB vs GeForce GT 320

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce GT 320, which has a GPU core clock speed of 540 MHz, and 1024 MB of GDDR3 RAM set to run at 790 MHz through a 128-bit bus. It also is made up of 72 Stream Processors, 24 TAUs, and 8 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GT 320		43 Watts
GeForce 9600 GT 512MB		95 Watts
	Difference: 52 Watts (121%)

Memory Bandwidth

Performance-wise, the GeForce 9600 GT 512MB should theoretically be a lot better than the GeForce GT 320 overall. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GT 512MB		57600 MB/sec
GeForce GT 320		25280 MB/sec
	Difference: 32320 (128%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 9600 GT 512MB should be much (approximately 60%) faster with regards to texture filtering than the GeForce GT 320. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GT 512MB		20800 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GT 320		12960 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 7840 (60%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce 9600 GT 512MB should be quite a bit (more or less 141%) faster with regards to anti-aliasing than the GeForce GT 320, and also will be capable of handling higher resolutions more effectively. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GT 512MB		10400 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GT 320		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 6080 (141%)

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 largest amount of data (measured in megabytes per second) that can be transported across the external memory interface within a second. The number is worked out by multiplying the interface width by its memory speed. In the case of DDR RAM, it should be multiplied by 2 once again. If DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The higher the card's memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, HDR and higher screen resolutions.

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

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels that the graphics chip could possibly record to its local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is worked out by multiplying the number of Raster Operations Pipelines 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 output rate also depends on lots of other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the max fill rate.