GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2 vs GeForce GTX 650 Ti

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce GTX 650 Ti, which uses a 28 nm design. nVidia has clocked the core frequency at 928 MHz. The GDDR5 memory is set to run at a frequency of 1350 MHz on this model. It features 768 SPUs as well as 64 TAUs and 16 Rasterization Operator Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		47 Watts
GeForce GTX 650 Ti		110 Watts
	Difference: 63 Watts (134%)

Memory Bandwidth

As far as performance goes, the GeForce GTX 650 Ti should theoretically be quite a bit better than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2 in general. (explain)

GeForce GTX 650 Ti		86400 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 73600 (575%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 650 Ti is quite a bit (more or less 587%) better at AF than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2. (explain)

GeForce GTX 650 Ti		59392 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 50752 (587%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 650 Ti will be a lot (approximately 244%) more effective at full screen anti-aliasing than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2, and also able to handle higher resolutions better. (explain)

GeForce GTX 650 Ti		14848 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 10528 (244%)

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 MB per second) that can be transported across the external memory interface within a second. The number is calculated by multiplying the card's bus width by its memory speed. If it uses DDR type memory, the result should be multiplied by 2 once again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The higher the card's memory bandwidth, the faster 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 texture map elements (texels) that are processed in one second. This 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 card will be at texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels applied in a second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most pixels that the graphics card could possibly write to its local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is calculated by multiplying the number of Render Output Units 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 output rate also depends on quite a few other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the maximum fill rate.