GeForce 9600 GSO 768MB vs GeForce GT 340

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GT 340, which comes with GPU core speed of 550 MHz, and 512 MB of GDDR5 memory running at 850 MHz through a 128-bit bus. It also features 96 Stream Processors, 32 TAUs, and 8 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GT 340		69 Watts
GeForce 9600 GSO 768MB		84 Watts
	Difference: 15 Watts (22%)

Memory Bandwidth

As far as performance goes, the GeForce GT 340 should in theory be much superior to the GeForce 9600 GSO 768MB in general. (explain)

GeForce GT 340		54400 MB/sec
GeForce 9600 GSO 768MB		38400 MB/sec
	Difference: 16000 (42%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 9600 GSO 768MB will be quite a bit (approximately 50%) faster with regards to anisotropic filtering than the GeForce GT 340. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GSO 768MB		26400 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GT 340		17600 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 8800 (50%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce 9600 GSO 768MB should be much (approximately 50%) faster with regards to AA than the GeForce GT 340, and should be capable of handling higher screen resolutions without losing too much performance. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GSO 768MB		6600 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GT 340		4400 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 2200 (50%)

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 maximum amount of data (counted in megabytes per second) that can be transported across the external memory interface in a second. The number is calculated by multiplying the card's bus width by its memory speed. If it uses DDR memory, it should be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the bandwidth is, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, HDR and higher screen resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum texture map elements (texels) that can be processed per 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 better the texel rate, the better the video card will be at texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels in a second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels the graphics card can possibly record to its local memory per 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 - aka Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel output rate is also dependant on lots of other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the max fill rate.