GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 vs GeForce GTX 260 Core 216

Intro

Compare all that to the GeForce GTX 260 Core 216, which has GPU core speed of 576 MHz, and 896 MB of GDDR3 RAM running at 999 MHz through a 448-bit bus. It also is comprised of 216 Stream Processors, 72 TAUs, and 28 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		47 Watts
GeForce GTX 260 Core 216		202 Watts
	Difference: 155 Watts (330%)

Memory Bandwidth

As far as performance goes, the GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 should theoretically be quite a bit better than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 in general. (explain)

GeForce GTX 260 Core 216		111888 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 99088 (774%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 is a lot (approximately 380%) faster with regards to AF than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2. (explain)

GeForce GTX 260 Core 216		41472 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 32832 (380%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 will be quite a bit (about 273%) better at anti-aliasing than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2, and also will be capable of handling higher screen resolutions without slowing down too much. (explain)

GeForce GTX 260 Core 216		16128 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 11808 (273%)

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 max amount of information (in units of MB per second) that can be moved across the external memory interface within a second. The number is worked out by multiplying the bus width by its memory clock speed. In the case of DDR type RAM, it must be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The higher the memory bandwidth, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, HDR and high resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum texture map elements (texels) that are applied in one second. This number is worked out 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 in a second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most pixels that the graphics chip can possibly write to the local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is calculated by multiplying the number of Render Output Units by the the core speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - sometimes also referred to as Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel rate also depends on many other factors, especially the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to get to the maximum fill rate.