GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2 vs GeForce GTX 650 Ti 2GB

Intro

Compare that to the GeForce GTX 650 Ti 2GB, which features a GPU core clock speed of 928 MHz, and 2048 MB of GDDR5 memory running at 1350 MHz through a 128-bit bus. It also is made up of 768 SPUs, 64 TAUs, and 16 ROPs.

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 2GB		110 Watts
	Difference: 63 Watts (134%)

Memory Bandwidth

Theoretically, the GeForce GTX 650 Ti 2GB should perform quite a bit faster than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2 in general. (explain)

GeForce GTX 650 Ti 2GB		86400 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 73600 (575%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 650 Ti 2GB is a lot (approximately 587%) more effective at texture filtering than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2. (explain)

GeForce GTX 650 Ti 2GB		59392 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 50752 (587%)

Pixel Rate

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

GeForce GTX 650 Ti 2GB		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: Memory bandwidth is the maximum amount of data (in units of megabytes per second) that can be moved over the external memory interface in one second. It's worked out by multiplying the interface width by its memory clock speed. In the case of DDR memory, it must be multiplied by 2 once again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. 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 texture map elements (texels) that are processed in one second. This number is worked out by multiplying the total number of texture units by the core clock 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 amount of pixels that the graphics card can possibly write to its local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is worked out by multiplying the amount of ROPs by the the core clock speed. 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 many other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the potential to reach the max fill rate.