GeForce 8800 GT 512MB vs GeForce 8800 GTS (G92)

Intro

Compare all that to the GeForce 8800 GTS (G92), which comes with a clock frequency of 650 MHz and a GDDR3 memory speed of 970 MHz. It also uses a 256-bit bus, and makes use of a 65 nm design. It is made up of 128 SPUs, 64 TAUs, and 16 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		105 Watts
GeForce 8800 GTS (G92)		135 Watts
	Difference: 30 Watts (29%)

Memory Bandwidth

Theoretically speaking, the GeForce 8800 GTS (G92) should perform a small bit faster than the GeForce 8800 GT 512MB overall. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GTS (G92)		62080 MB/sec
GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		57600 MB/sec
	Difference: 4480 (8%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 8800 GTS (G92) should be much (more or less 24%) better at texture filtering than the GeForce 8800 GT 512MB. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GTS (G92)		41600 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		33600 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 8000 (24%)

Pixel Rate

If using lots of anti-aliasing is important to you, then the GeForce 8800 GTS (G92) is a better choice, not by a very large margin though. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GTS (G92)		10400 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8800 GT 512MB		9600 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 800 (8%)

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 transported across the external memory interface in a second. The number is calculated by multiplying the bus width by its memory speed. If the card has DDR memory, it must be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the memory bandwidth, 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 per second. This is calculated by multiplying the total texture units 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 applied per second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels the video card can possibly write to its local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is calculated 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 fill rate is also dependant on lots of other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the max fill rate.