GeForce GT 230 vs GeForce GTX 460 2GB

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce GTX 460 2GB, which has a GPU core clock speed of 675 MHz, and 2048 MB of GDDR5 memory running at 900 MHz through a 256-bit bus. It also is comprised of 336 SPUs, 56 Texture Address Units, and 32 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GT 230		65 Watts
GeForce GTX 460 2GB		160 Watts
	Difference: 95 Watts (146%)

Memory Bandwidth

Performance-wise, the GeForce GTX 460 2GB should in theory be much better than the GeForce GT 230 in general. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 2GB		115200 MB/sec
GeForce GT 230		38400 MB/sec
	Difference: 76800 (200%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 460 2GB will be quite a bit (about 330%) better at AF than the GeForce GT 230. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 2GB		37800 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GT 230		8800 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 29000 (330%)

Pixel Rate

If running with a high screen resolution is important to you, then the GeForce GTX 460 2GB is superior to the GeForce GT 230, by a large margin. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 2GB		21600 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GT 230		4400 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 17200 (391%)

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 (in units of MB per second) that can be transferred across the external memory interface in one second. The number is calculated by multiplying the interface width by its memory speed. If the card has DDR type memory, the result should be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The higher the memory bandwidth, 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 texture map elements (texels) that are processed in one second. This number is worked out by multiplying the total amount of texture units of the card by the core clock speed of the chip. The higher the texel rate, 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 that the graphics card could possibly write to its local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. Pixel rate is calculated by multiplying the amount of Render Output Units by the the core speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also sometimes called Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel output rate also depends on lots of other factors, especially the memory bandwidth - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the max fill rate.