GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3 vs GeForce GTX 560

Intro

Compare that to the GeForce GTX 560, which comes with a core clock frequency of 810 MHz and a GDDR5 memory speed of 1001 MHz. It also makes use of a 256-bit memory bus, and uses a 40 nm design. It features 336 SPUs, 56 Texture Address Units, and 32 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3		47 Watts
GeForce GTX 560		150 Watts
	Difference: 103 Watts (219%)

Memory Bandwidth

Theoretically speaking, the GeForce GTX 560 should perform a lot faster than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3 overall. (explain)

GeForce GTX 560		128128 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3		22400 MB/sec
	Difference: 105728 (472%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 560 should be a lot (approximately 425%) faster with regards to AF than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3. (explain)

GeForce GTX 560		45360 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 36720 (425%)

Pixel Rate

If using a high resolution is important to you, then the GeForce GTX 560 is the winner, by far. (explain)

GeForce GTX 560		25920 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3		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 max amount of data (measured in MB per second) that can be transferred past the external memory interface in one second. It is worked out by multiplying the card's interface width by the speed of its memory. In the case of DDR RAM, the result should be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, HDR and high resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum number of texture map elements (texels) that can be processed in one second. This number is calculated by multiplying the total number of texture units of the card by the core clock speed of the chip. The higher the texel rate, the better the graphics card will be at handling texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels in a second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels that the graphics card can possibly record to the local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is calculated by multiplying the number of Raster Operations Pipelines by the the core clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - aka Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel output rate also depends on lots of other factors, especially the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to reach the maximum fill rate.