GeForce 9800 GT 1GB vs GeForce GTX 460 1GB

Intro

Compare all of that to the GeForce GTX 460 1GB, which comes with a core clock frequency of 675 MHz and a GDDR5 memory frequency of 900 MHz. It also features a 256-bit bus, and makes use of a 40 nm design. It features 336 SPUs, 56 TAUs, and 32 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 9800 GT 1GB		105 Watts
GeForce GTX 460 1GB		160 Watts
	Difference: 55 Watts (52%)

Memory Bandwidth

The GeForce GTX 460 1GB should theoretically be a lot faster than the GeForce 9800 GT 1GB in general. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 1GB		115200 MB/sec
GeForce 9800 GT 1GB		57600 MB/sec
	Difference: 57600 (100%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 460 1GB will be a bit (approximately 13%) more effective at AF than the GeForce 9800 GT 1GB. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 1GB		37800 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 9800 GT 1GB		33600 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 4200 (13%)

Pixel Rate

If using high levels of AA is important to you, then the GeForce GTX 460 1GB is superior to the GeForce 9800 GT 1GB, by a large margin. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 1GB		21600 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9800 GT 1GB		9600 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 12000 (125%)

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 (in units of MB per second) that can be transported past the external memory interface in one second. It's worked out by multiplying the card's bus width by its memory speed. In the case of DDR RAM, the result should be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the card's memory bandwidth, 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 amount of texture map elements (texels) that are processed in one second. This figure is worked out by multiplying the total number of texture units of the card by the core clock speed of the chip. The higher this number, the better the card will be at handling texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels processed per second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels the graphics card can possibly record to its local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is worked out by multiplying the number of Render Output Units by the clock speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also sometimes called 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, most notably the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the max fill rate.