GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2 vs GeForce GTX 660 Ti

Intro

Compare that to the GeForce GTX 660 Ti, which comes with clock speeds of 915 MHz on the GPU, and 1500 MHz on the 2048 MB of GDDR5 RAM. It features 1344 SPUs as well as 112 TAUs and 24 ROPs.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		47 Watts
GeForce GTX 660 Ti		150 Watts
	Difference: 103 Watts (219%)

Memory Bandwidth

As far as performance goes, the GeForce GTX 660 Ti should theoretically be quite a bit superior to the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2 overall. (explain)

GeForce GTX 660 Ti		144000 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 131200 (1025%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 660 Ti should be quite a bit (approximately 1086%) faster with regards to texture filtering than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2. (explain)

GeForce GTX 660 Ti		102480 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 93840 (1086%)

Pixel Rate

If using lots of anti-aliasing is important to you, then the GeForce GTX 660 Ti is the winner, and very much so. (explain)

GeForce GTX 660 Ti		21960 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 17640 (408%)

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 megabytes per second) that can be transferred across the external memory interface in one second. The number is calculated by multiplying the card's interface width by its memory speed. In the case of DDR memory, the result should be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the card's memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, High Dynamic Range and higher screen resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum texture map elements (texels) that can be applied per second. This number 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 graphics card will be at texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels applied in one second.

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