GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 vs GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448, which makes use of a 40 nm design. nVidia has set the core frequency at 732 MHz. The GDDR5 RAM works at a frequency of 900 MHz on this particular card. It features 448 SPUs as well as 56 TAUs and 40 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 Ti 448		210 Watts
	Difference: 163 Watts (347%)

Memory Bandwidth

As far as performance goes, the GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 should in theory be a lot superior to the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 in general. (explain)

GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448		144000 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 131200 (1025%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 is a lot (more or less 374%) faster with regards to texture filtering than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2. (explain)

GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448		40992 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 32352 (374%)

Pixel Rate

If running with high levels of AA is important to you, then the GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 is the winner, and very much so. (explain)

GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448		29280 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 24960 (578%)

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 maximum amount of information (counted in megabytes per second) that can be transported over the external memory interface in one second. The number is worked out by multiplying the interface width by its memory speed. In the case of DDR memory, the result should be multiplied by 2 once again. If DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the bandwidth is, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, High Dynamic Range and high resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum texture map elements (texels) that can be processed in one second. This is calculated 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 video 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 chip could possibly record to its local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. Pixel rate is calculated by multiplying the amount of Render Output Units 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 rate is also dependant on lots of other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the max fill rate.