GeForce 8500 GT vs GeForce 9400 GT 256MB

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce 9400 GT 256MB, which comes with a core clock frequency of 550 MHz and a GDDR2 memory frequency of 400 MHz. It also makes use of a 128-bit bus, and uses a 65 nm design. It is comprised of 16 SPUs, 8 Texture Address Units, and 4 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8500 GT		45 Watts
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		50 Watts
	Difference: 5 Watts (11%)

Memory Bandwidth

Both cards have exactly the same memory bandwidth, so in theory they should perform the same. (explain)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 9400 GT 256MB is quite a bit (about 22%) more effective at anisotropic filtering than the GeForce 8500 GT. (explain)

GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		4400 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8500 GT		3600 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 800 (22%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce 9400 GT 256MB should be quite a bit (about 22%) faster with regards to full screen anti-aliasing than the GeForce 8500 GT, and capable of handling higher screen resolutions without losing too much performance. (explain)

GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		2200 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8500 GT		1800 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 400 (22%)

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 data (counted in megabytes per second) that can be transferred across the external memory interface in a second. The number is calculated by multiplying the bus width by the speed of its memory. In the case of DDR RAM, it must be multiplied by 2 once again. If DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The higher the card's memory bandwidth, the better 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 number of texture map elements (texels) that are applied per second. This figure is calculated by multiplying the total texture units by the core speed of the chip. The better the texel rate, the better the graphics card will be at handling texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels applied in one second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels the graphics card can possibly record to the local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is calculated by multiplying the amount of colour ROPs by the the core speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - aka Render Output Units) are responsible for drawing the pixels (image) on the screen. The actual pixel fill rate also depends on quite a few other factors, especially the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the maximum fill rate.