GeForce 8400 GS 512MB vs GeForce GTX 460 2GB

Intro

Compare that to the GeForce GTX 460 2GB, which uses a 40 nm design. nVidia has set the core frequency at 675 MHz. The GDDR5 memory works at a frequency of 900 MHz on this specific model. It features 336 SPUs as well as 56 Texture Address Units and 32 Rasterization Operator Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8400 GS 512MB		40 Watts
GeForce GTX 460 2GB		160 Watts
	Difference: 120 Watts (300%)

Memory Bandwidth

As far as performance goes, the GeForce GTX 460 2GB should theoretically be quite a bit better than the GeForce 8400 GS 512MB overall. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 2GB		115200 MB/sec
GeForce 8400 GS 512MB		6400 MB/sec
	Difference: 108800 (1700%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 460 2GB will be a lot (more or less 627%) faster with regards to AF than the GeForce 8400 GS 512MB. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 2GB		37800 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8400 GS 512MB		5200 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 32600 (627%)

Pixel Rate

If using high levels of AA is important to you, then the GeForce GTX 460 2GB is a better choice, by a large margin. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 2GB		21600 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8400 GS 512MB		2600 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 19000 (731%)

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 max amount of information (measured in MB per second) that can be transferred across the external memory interface in one second. The number is calculated by multiplying the bus width by its memory clock speed. In the case of DDR type RAM, it must be multiplied by 2 once again. If DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The higher the card's memory bandwidth, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, HDR and higher screen resolutions.

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

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels the graphics card could possibly write to the local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is worked out by multiplying the amount of Render Output Units by the the card's clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also sometimes called Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel rate also depends on many other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the maximum fill rate.