GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 vs GeForce GTX 560

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce GTX 560, which has a GPU core clock speed of 810 MHz, and 1024 MB of GDDR5 RAM running at 1001 MHz through a 256-bit bus. It also is comprised of 336 SPUs, 56 TAUs, and 32 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		47 Watts
GeForce GTX 560		150 Watts
	Difference: 103 Watts (219%)

Memory Bandwidth

Performance-wise, the GeForce GTX 560 should in theory be a lot superior to the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 overall. (explain)

GeForce GTX 560		128128 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 115328 (901%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 560 will be a lot (about 425%) faster with regards to AF than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2. (explain)

GeForce GTX 560		45360 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 36720 (425%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 560 should be much (about 500%) faster with regards to FSAA than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2, and also will be able to handle higher screen resolutions more effectively. (explain)

GeForce GTX 560		25920 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB 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 information (in units of MB per second) that can be moved across the external memory interface in a second. It's calculated by multiplying the card's interface width by its memory speed. In the case of DDR type memory, it must be multiplied by 2 once again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the bandwidth is, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, HDR and high resolutions.

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

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