GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3 vs GeForce GT 320

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GT 320, which features GPU core speed of 540 MHz, and 1024 MB of GDDR3 memory set to run at 790 MHz through a 128-bit bus. It also is made up of 72 Stream Processors, 24 Texture Address Units, and 8 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GT 320		43 Watts
GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3		50 Watts
	Difference: 7 Watts (16%)

Memory Bandwidth

Theoretically, the GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3 should perform a little bit faster than the GeForce GT 320 in general. (explain)

GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3		25600 MB/sec
GeForce GT 320		25280 MB/sec
	Difference: 320 (1%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GT 320 is a lot (approximately 47%) more effective at AF than the GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3. (explain)

GeForce GT 320		12960 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3		8800 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 4160 (47%)

Pixel Rate

If running with a high screen resolution is important to you, then the GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3 is a better choice, but only just. (explain)

GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3		4400 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GT 320		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 80 (2%)

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 data (in units of megabytes per second) that can be transported past the external memory interface within a second. It is calculated by multiplying the card's interface width by its memory speed. If the card has DDR RAM, it must be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The higher the memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, High Dynamic Range and higher screen resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum texture map elements (texels) that are applied in one second. This figure is calculated by multiplying the total texture units by the core clock speed of the chip. The higher 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 most pixels the graphics card could possibly record to the local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. Pixel rate is calculated by multiplying the amount of Render Output Units by the the core clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - sometimes also referred to as 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.