GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2 vs GeForce GTX 560

Intro

Compare that to the GeForce GTX 560, which features clock speeds of 810 MHz on the GPU, and 1001 MHz on the 1024 MB of GDDR5 memory. It features 336 SPUs as well as 56 TAUs and 32 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		47 Watts
GeForce GTX 560		150 Watts
	Difference: 103 Watts (219%)

Memory Bandwidth

The GeForce GTX 560 should theoretically be quite a bit faster than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2 overall. (explain)

GeForce GTX 560		128128 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 115328 (901%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 560 should be much (about 425%) more effective at AF than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2. (explain)

GeForce GTX 560		45360 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 36720 (425%)

Pixel Rate

If using high levels of AA is important to you, then the GeForce GTX 560 is superior to the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2, and very much so. (explain)

GeForce GTX 560		25920 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 21600 (500%)

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 largest amount of data (counted in MB per second) that can be transferred over the external memory interface in one second. It's worked out by multiplying the interface width by the speed of its memory. If it uses DDR memory, it should be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the card's memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, High Dynamic Range and higher screen resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum texture map elements (texels) that can be applied in one second. This is worked out by multiplying the total number of texture units by the core speed of the chip. The better this number, the better the card will be at texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels per second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most pixels that the graphics card can possibly write to its local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is calculated by multiplying the amount of colour ROPs by the the card's clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - aka Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel rate also depends on many other factors, especially the memory bandwidth - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the max fill rate.