GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3 vs GeForce GT 320

Intro

Compare all that to the GeForce GT 320, which uses a 40 nm design. nVidia has set the core frequency at 540 MHz. The GDDR3 RAM is set to run at a frequency of 790 MHz on this model. It features 72 SPUs as well as 24 TAUs and 8 Rasterization Operator 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 speaking, the GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3 should be a small bit faster than the GeForce GT 320 overall. (explain)

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

Texel Rate

The GeForce GT 320 will be much (about 47%) faster with regards to texture filtering 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 using high levels of AA is important to you, then the GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3 is the winner, but it probably won't make a huge difference. (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 max amount of information (in units of megabytes per second) that can be transported across the external memory interface in a second. It's calculated by multiplying the card's interface width by its memory speed. If it uses DDR RAM, it must be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the bandwidth is, 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 calculated by multiplying the total amount of texture units by the core clock 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 per second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels the video card could possibly write to the local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is worked out by multiplying the amount of Raster Operations Pipelines by the clock speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also sometimes called Render Output Units) are responsible for drawing the pixels (image) on the screen. The actual pixel rate also depends on lots of other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to reach the maximum fill rate.