GeForce 9500 GT 1GB GDDR3 vs GeForce GT 315

Intro

Compare all of that to the GeForce GT 315, which comes with a core clock frequency of 625 MHz and a DDR3 memory speed of 790 MHz. It also features a 128-bit bus, and uses a 40 nm design. It is comprised of 48 SPUs, 16 TAUs, and 8 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 9500 GT 1GB GDDR3		50 Watts
GeForce GT 315		52 Watts
	Difference: 2 Watts (4%)

Memory Bandwidth

Performance-wise, the GeForce 9500 GT 1GB GDDR3 should in theory be a bit better than the GeForce GT 315 in general. (explain)

GeForce 9500 GT 1GB GDDR3		25600 MB/sec
GeForce GT 315		25280 MB/sec
	Difference: 320 (1%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GT 315 should be a bit (more or less 14%) better at AF than the GeForce 9500 GT 1GB GDDR3. (explain)

GeForce GT 315		10000 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 9500 GT 1GB GDDR3		8800 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 1200 (14%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GT 315 is a bit (approximately 14%) more effective at anti-aliasing than the GeForce 9500 GT 1GB GDDR3, and also able to handle higher screen resolutions without losing too much performance. (explain)

GeForce GT 315		5000 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9500 GT 1GB GDDR3		4400 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 600 (14%)

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 largest amount of information (measured in MB per second) that can be transported across the external memory interface within a second. It's worked out by multiplying the card's bus width by the speed of its memory. If the card has DDR type memory, the result should be multiplied by 2 once again. If DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The higher the bandwidth is, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, High Dynamic Range and high resolutions.

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

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels that the graphics card can possibly write to its local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. Pixel rate is calculated by multiplying the number of Render Output Units by the the core clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - aka Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel fill 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 maximum fill rate.