Shaders vs TMUs vs ROPs...

[Vitric9]

I have looked this up few times but am still a bit at a loss as to which is the most important for gaming. There a number of older GPU's which contradict some of what I have read. And the wiki info is interesting but sometimes gives me more questions to ask. Look at the 8800GT which is 112/56/16 for Shaders/TMUs/ROPs .And another GPU from that time from an ATI HD 3870: 320/16/16. More shaders but the 8800GT spanks it in most games. Again Another two from arounbd the beginning f 2011, GTX 560 ti 384/64/32 vs the similarly priced HD 6850: 960/48/32 and I really don't have to say how well the GTX 560 ti performs against it's AMD counterpart. That is all I want to add right now but feel free to give me some insight on this.

 

[RobCrezz]

You can only compare specs like that from the same architecture. As "shaders" from one type wont perform the same as others.

The only way to compare different architectures is benchmarks really.

 

[ak47jar3d]

In simple terms, this what they mean:
Shader: A software used to tell gpu how to render light and color. (ie directx 11)
Texture mapping unit: a physical processor that is meant to rotate and resize bitmaps of 3d objects.
Render output unit: a pixel pipeline that performs transactions between relevant memory and local memory.
I have to agree RobCrezz, it has little relevant when architectures are different.