GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB vs GeForce GT 640 DDR3

Intro

Compare all that to the GeForce GT 640 DDR3, which has core clock speeds of 900 MHz on the GPU, and 1782 MHz on the 2048 MB of DDR3 memory. It features 384 SPUs as well as 32 Texture Address Units and 16 Rasterization Operator Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GT 640 DDR3		65 Watts
GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB		90 Watts
	Difference: 25 Watts (38%)

Memory Bandwidth

As far as performance goes, the GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB should theoretically be just a bit superior to the GeForce GT 640 DDR3 overall. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB		57600 MB/sec
GeForce GT 640 DDR3		57024 MB/sec
	Difference: 576 (1%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB is just a bit (approximately 8%) more effective at texture filtering than the GeForce GT 640 DDR3. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB		31200 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GT 640 DDR3		28800 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 2400 (8%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GT 640 DDR3 is a lot (approximately 38%) better at AA than the GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB, and also capable of handling higher screen resolutions without losing too much performance. (explain)

GeForce GT 640 DDR3		14400 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB		10400 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 4000 (38%)

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 (measured in MB per second) that can be transferred across the external memory interface within a second. It's worked out by multiplying the bus width by its memory speed. If it uses DDR memory, it must be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the memory bandwidth, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, High Dynamic Range and higher screen resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum texture map elements (texels) that are applied in one second. This is worked out by multiplying the total texture units of the card by the core speed of the chip. The better 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 a second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most pixels that the graphics chip 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 amount of Render Output Units by the the core clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also called Render Output Units) are responsible for drawing the pixels (image) on the screen. The actual pixel rate is also dependant on lots of other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to get to the max fill rate.