GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3 vs GeForce GTX 650 Ti 2GB

Intro

Compare that to the GeForce GTX 650 Ti 2GB, which features a clock speed of 928 MHz and a GDDR5 memory frequency of 1350 MHz. It also uses a 128-bit memory bus, and uses a 28 nm design. It is made up of 768 SPUs, 64 TAUs, and 16 ROPs.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3		47 Watts
GeForce GTX 650 Ti 2GB		110 Watts
	Difference: 63 Watts (134%)

Memory Bandwidth

Performance-wise, the GeForce GTX 650 Ti 2GB should in theory be much superior to the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3 in general. (explain)

GeForce GTX 650 Ti 2GB		86400 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3		22400 MB/sec
	Difference: 64000 (286%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 650 Ti 2GB is much (approximately 587%) faster with regards to texture filtering than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3. (explain)

GeForce GTX 650 Ti 2GB		59392 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 50752 (587%)

Pixel Rate

If using a high screen resolution is important to you, then the GeForce GTX 650 Ti 2GB is a better choice, by far. (explain)

GeForce GTX 650 Ti 2GB		14848 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3		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: Memory bandwidth is the max amount of information (measured in MB per second) that can be transferred over the external memory interface within a second. The number is worked out by multiplying the bus width by its memory clock speed. If it uses DDR 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 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 processed in one second. This is worked out by multiplying the total texture units by the core speed of the chip. The better the texel rate, the better the graphics 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 maximum number of pixels the graphics card could possibly record to the local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is calculated by multiplying the amount of colour ROPs by the the core clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - sometimes also referred to as Render Output Units) are responsible for drawing the pixels (image) on the screen. The actual pixel fill 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.