GeForce 9600 GT 1GB vs GeForce GTX 460 SE

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GTX 460 SE, which comes with GPU core speed of 650 MHz, and 1024 MB of GDDR5 RAM set to run at 850 MHz through a 256-bit bus. It also features 288 SPUs, 48 TAUs, and 32 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 9600 GT 1GB		95 Watts
GeForce GTX 460 SE		150 Watts
	Difference: 55 Watts (58%)

Memory Bandwidth

Performance-wise, the GeForce GTX 460 SE should in theory be a lot superior to the GeForce 9600 GT 1GB overall. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 SE		108800 MB/sec
GeForce 9600 GT 1GB		57600 MB/sec
	Difference: 51200 (89%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 460 SE will be a lot (more or less 50%) better at anisotropic filtering than the GeForce 9600 GT 1GB. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 SE		31200 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 9600 GT 1GB		20800 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 10400 (50%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 460 SE will be much (about 100%) more effective at FSAA than the GeForce 9600 GT 1GB, and capable of handling higher resolutions without losing too much performance. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 SE		20800 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9600 GT 1GB		10400 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 10400 (100%)

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 data (measured in megabytes per second) that can be transported past the external memory interface in one second. It is calculated by multiplying the 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 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, High Dynamic Range and higher screen resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum number of texture map elements (texels) that can be applied in one second. This is worked out 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 graphics 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 most pixels that the graphics chip can possibly record to its local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is calculated by multiplying the number of colour ROPs by the the core 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 fill rate also depends on quite a few 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.