GeForce GT 440 3GB vs GeForce GTS 250 512MB

Intro

Compare all of that to the GeForce GTS 250 512MB, which features a GPU core clock speed of 738 MHz, and 512 MB of GDDR3 memory set to run at 1100 MHz through a 256-bit bus. It also is made up of 128 SPUs, 64 TAUs, and 16 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GT 440 3GB		56 Watts
GeForce GTS 250 512MB		145 Watts
	Difference: 89 Watts (159%)

Memory Bandwidth

Theoretically speaking, the GeForce GTS 250 512MB should be 63% faster than the GeForce GT 440 3GB overall, because of its greater bandwidth. (explain)

GeForce GTS 250 512MB		70400 MB/sec
GeForce GT 440 3GB		43200 MB/sec
	Difference: 27200 (63%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTS 250 512MB should be a lot (more or less 231%) more effective at texture filtering than the GeForce GT 440 3GB. (explain)

GeForce GTS 250 512MB		47232 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GT 440 3GB		14256 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 32976 (231%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GT 440 3GB will be quite a bit (about 21%) better at FSAA than the GeForce GTS 250 512MB, and capable of handling higher resolutions while still performing well. (explain)

GeForce GT 440 3GB		14256 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GTS 250 512MB		11808 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 2448 (21%)

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 information (in units of MB per second) that can be transferred across the external memory interface in one second. The number is worked out by multiplying the interface width by its memory speed. If the card has DDR type memory, it should be multiplied by 2 once again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the bandwidth is, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, High Dynamic Range and higher screen resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum number of texture map elements (texels) that are processed in one second. This figure is calculated by multiplying the total texture units of the card 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 processed in one second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels the graphics card can possibly write to the local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. Pixel rate is worked out by multiplying the amount of colour ROPs by the clock speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - aka 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, especially the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the max fill rate.