GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB vs GeForce GT 340 1GB

Intro

Compare that to the GeForce GT 340 1GB, which comes with GPU clock speed of 550 MHz, and 1024 MB of GDDR5 RAM set to run at 850 MHz through a 128-bit bus. It also is comprised of 96 SPUs, 32 TAUs, and 8 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GT 340 1GB		69 Watts
GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB		90 Watts
	Difference: 21 Watts (30%)

Memory Bandwidth

As far as performance goes, the GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB should in theory be a bit superior to the GeForce GT 340 1GB overall. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB		57600 MB/sec
GeForce GT 340 1GB		54400 MB/sec
	Difference: 3200 (6%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB should be much (about 77%) more effective at anisotropic filtering than the GeForce GT 340 1GB. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB		31200 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GT 340 1GB		17600 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 13600 (77%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB should be much (about 136%) better at anti-aliasing than the GeForce GT 340 1GB, and also capable of handling higher resolutions while still performing well. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB		10400 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GT 340 1GB		4400 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 6000 (136%)

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: Memory bandwidth is the max amount of data (counted in MB per second) that can be moved past the external memory interface in one second. It's worked out by multiplying the card's bus width by its memory speed. In the case of DDR type memory, it must be multiplied by 2 once again. If DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the bandwidth is, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, HDR and higher screen resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum amount of texture map elements (texels) that are processed in one second. This number is calculated by multiplying the total number of texture units of the card by the core clock speed of the chip. The higher the texel rate, the better the 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 that the graphics chip can possibly write to the local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is worked out by multiplying the number of colour ROPs by the clock speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also called Render Output Units) are responsible for outputting the pixels (image) to the screen. The actual pixel output rate also depends on lots of other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the max fill rate.