GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 vs GeForce GTX 650

Intro

Compare that to the GeForce GTX 650, which has clock speeds of 1058 MHz on the GPU, and 1250 MHz on the 1024 MB of GDDR5 memory. It features 384 SPUs as well as 32 Texture Address Units and 16 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 650		64 Watts
	Difference: 17 Watts (36%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce GTX 650 should be quite a bit faster than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 overall. (explain)

GeForce GTX 650		80000 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 67200 (525%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 650 should be much (about 292%) better at texture filtering than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2. (explain)

GeForce GTX 650		33856 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 25216 (292%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 650 should be quite a bit (approximately 292%) faster with regards to FSAA than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2, and also will be able to handle higher screen resolutions without losing too much performance. (explain)

GeForce GTX 650		16928 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 12608 (292%)

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 data (measured in megabytes per second) that can be transferred past the external memory interface in one second. It's worked out by multiplying the bus width by its memory clock speed. If the card has DDR type RAM, it must 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, HDR and higher screen resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum number of texture map elements (texels) that can be applied in one second. This figure is calculated by multiplying the total texture units of the card by the core 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 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 one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is worked out by multiplying the number of colour ROPs by the the card's clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also sometimes called Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel fill rate also depends on quite a few other factors, especially the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to reach the max fill rate.