GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3 vs GeForce GT 320

Intro

Compare that to the GeForce GT 320, which has a clock frequency of 540 MHz and a GDDR3 memory speed of 790 MHz. It also features a 128-bit bus, and makes use of a 40 nm design. It is made up of 72 SPUs, 24 Texture Address Units, and 8 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GT 320		43 Watts
GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3		50 Watts
	Difference: 7 Watts (16%)

Memory Bandwidth

The GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3 should theoretically be a bit faster than the GeForce GT 320 in general. (explain)

GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3		25600 MB/sec
GeForce GT 320		25280 MB/sec
	Difference: 320 (1%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GT 320 is a lot (approximately 47%) more effective at anisotropic filtering than the GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3. (explain)

GeForce GT 320		12960 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3		8800 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 4160 (47%)

Pixel Rate

If using lots of anti-aliasing is important to you, then the GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3 is superior to the GeForce GT 320, but it probably won't make a huge difference. (explain)

GeForce 9500 GT 512MB GDDR3		4400 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GT 320		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 80 (2%)

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 (counted in megabytes per second) that can be transferred across the external memory interface in a second. It is worked out by multiplying the card's interface width by the speed of its memory. In the case of DDR type RAM, it should be multiplied by 2 once again. If DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better 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 amount of texture map elements (texels) that are processed per second. This number is worked out by multiplying the total texture units by the core clock speed of the chip. The better this number, the better the video card will be at texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels per second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels the video card could possibly write to its 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 core speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - aka 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, especially the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to get to the maximum fill rate.