GeForce 9800 GT 512MB vs GeForce GTX 460 (OEM)

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce GTX 460 (OEM), which makes use of a 40 nm design. nVidia has clocked the core frequency at 650 MHz. The GDDR5 memory works at a frequency of 850 MHz on this model. It features 336 SPUs as well as 56 TAUs and 32 Rasterization Operator Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 9800 GT 512MB		105 Watts
GeForce GTX 460 (OEM)		150 Watts
	Difference: 45 Watts (43%)

Memory Bandwidth

As far as performance goes, the GeForce GTX 460 (OEM) should in theory be a lot superior to the GeForce 9800 GT 512MB overall. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 (OEM)		108800 MB/sec
GeForce 9800 GT 512MB		57600 MB/sec
	Difference: 51200 (89%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 460 (OEM) will be a bit (more or less 8%) better at texture filtering than the GeForce 9800 GT 512MB. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 (OEM)		36400 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 9800 GT 512MB		33600 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 2800 (8%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 460 (OEM) will be much (more or less 117%) faster with regards to full screen anti-aliasing than the GeForce 9800 GT 512MB, and also should be able to handle higher resolutions without losing too much performance. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 (OEM)		20800 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9800 GT 512MB		9600 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 11200 (117%)

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 max amount of data (measured in megabytes per second) that can be transported past the external memory interface in one second. The number is calculated by multiplying the card's bus width by its memory clock speed. If the card has DDR RAM, it must be multiplied by 2 once again. If 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 high resolutions.

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

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels that the graphics chip could possibly record to the local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure 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 output 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 reach the maximum fill rate.