GeForce 9400 GT 256MB vs GeForce GT 210

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce GT 210, which comes with core speeds of 589 MHz on the GPU, and 800 MHz on the 512 MB of DDR3 memory. It features 16 SPUs as well as 8 Texture Address Units and 4 Rasterization Operator Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GT 210		31 Watts
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		50 Watts
	Difference: 19 Watts (61%)

Memory Bandwidth

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

Texel Rate

The GeForce GT 210 is just a bit (approximately 7%) faster with regards to texture filtering than the GeForce 9400 GT 256MB. (explain)

GeForce GT 210		4712 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		4400 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 312 (7%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GT 210 will be a small bit (approximately 7%) faster with regards to anti-aliasing than the GeForce 9400 GT 256MB, and will be able to handle higher resolutions without slowing down too much. (explain)

GeForce GT 210		2356 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		2200 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 156 (7%)

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 maximum amount of information (measured in MB per second) that can be transported across the external memory interface in a second. It is calculated by multiplying the interface width by its memory clock speed. In the case of DDR RAM, it should be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The higher the bandwidth is, 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 processed per second. This figure is worked out by multiplying the total number of texture units of the card by the core speed of the chip. The better the texel rate, the better the card will be at texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels in a second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels the graphics card could possibly write to its local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. Pixel rate is worked out by multiplying the amount of ROPs by the the core speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - sometimes also referred to as Render Output Units) are responsible for outputting the pixels (image) to the screen. The actual pixel fill rate is also dependant on many other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to reach the max fill rate.