GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3 vs Geforce GTX 680

Intro

Compare those specifications to the Geforce GTX 680, which comes with a core clock speed of 1006 MHz and a GDDR5 memory frequency of 1502 MHz. It also features a 256-bit bus, and makes use of a 28 nm design. It features 1536 SPUs, 128 TAUs, and 32 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3		47 Watts
Geforce GTX 680		195 Watts
	Difference: 148 Watts (315%)

Memory Bandwidth

The Geforce GTX 680, in theory, should perform much faster than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3 in general. (explain)

Geforce GTX 680		192256 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3		22400 MB/sec
	Difference: 169856 (758%)

Texel Rate

The Geforce GTX 680 should be a lot (about 1390%) better at texture filtering than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3. (explain)

Geforce GTX 680		128768 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 120128 (1390%)

Pixel Rate

If running with a high screen resolution is important to you, then the Geforce GTX 680 is superior to the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3, by a large margin. (explain)

Geforce GTX 680		32192 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 27872 (645%)

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 (in units of megabytes per second) that can be moved past the external memory interface within a second. It's worked out by multiplying the bus width by its memory clock speed. If it uses DDR RAM, it must be multiplied by 2 once again. If DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, High Dynamic Range and high resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum amount of texture map elements (texels) that are processed per second. This figure is calculated by multiplying the total texture units of the card by the core speed of the chip. The higher this number, the better the 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 the graphics card could possibly write to its local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. Pixel rate is calculated by multiplying the amount of Render Output Units by the the core speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also called Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel output rate also depends on quite a few other factors, especially the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the maximum fill rate.