GeForce GTX 280 vs GeForce GTX 560

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GTX 560, which has GPU core speed of 810 MHz, and 1024 MB of GDDR5 RAM set to run at 1001 MHz through a 256-bit bus. It also is comprised of 336 SPUs, 56 TAUs, and 32 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GTX 560		150 Watts
GeForce GTX 280		236 Watts
	Difference: 86 Watts (57%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce GTX 280 is 11% faster than the GeForce GTX 560 overall, because of its higher data rate. (explain)

GeForce GTX 280		141696 MB/sec
GeForce GTX 560		128128 MB/sec
	Difference: 13568 (11%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 280 should be a bit (approximately 6%) faster with regards to texture filtering than the GeForce GTX 560. (explain)

GeForce GTX 280		48160 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GTX 560		45360 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 2800 (6%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 560 should be quite a bit (approximately 35%) better at anti-aliasing than the GeForce GTX 280, and also will be able to handle higher resolutions better. (explain)

GeForce GTX 560		25920 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GTX 280		19264 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 6656 (35%)

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 information (in units of megabytes per second) that can be transported over 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 type memory, it should be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The higher the bandwidth is, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, High Dynamic Range and high resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum texture map elements (texels) that can be applied in one second. This figure is worked out by multiplying the total amount of texture units of the card by the core 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 applied in a second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels that the graphics card could possibly record to the local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. Pixel rate is worked out by multiplying the amount 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 memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the max fill rate.