GeForce 8600 GT 1GB DDR2 vs GeForce GTX 980

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce GTX 980, which uses a 28 nm design. nVidia has set the core speed at 1126 MHz. The GDDR5 RAM is set to run at a speed of 1750 MHz on this specific card. It features 2048 SPUs as well as 128 TAUs and 64 ROPs.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GT 1GB DDR2		47 Watts
GeForce GTX 980		165 Watts
	Difference: 118 Watts (251%)

Memory Bandwidth

The GeForce GTX 980 should theoretically be a lot faster than the GeForce 8600 GT 1GB DDR2 in general. (explain)

GeForce GTX 980		224000 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 1GB DDR2		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 211200 (1650%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 980 will be quite a bit (about 1568%) faster with regards to AF than the GeForce 8600 GT 1GB DDR2. (explain)

GeForce GTX 980		144128 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 1GB DDR2		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 135488 (1568%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 980 should be a lot (about 1568%) better at AA than the GeForce 8600 GT 1GB DDR2, and will be capable of handling higher screen resolutions without losing too much performance. (explain)

GeForce GTX 980		72064 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 1GB DDR2		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 67744 (1568%)

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 largest amount of data (measured in megabytes per second) that can be transported past the external memory interface within a second. It's worked out by multiplying the card's interface width by the speed of its memory. In the case of DDR type RAM, it must be multiplied by 2 again. If 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 texture map elements (texels) that can be processed in one second. This number is worked out by multiplying the total amount of texture units of the card by the core clock speed of the chip. The higher the texel rate, the better the graphics card will be at texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels per second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels that the graphics chip can possibly write to the local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is calculated by multiplying the amount of Render Output Units by the the core speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also called Render Output Units) are responsible for drawing the pixels (image) on the screen. The actual pixel output rate also depends on lots of other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the maximum fill rate.