GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3 vs GeForce 930M

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce 930M, which comes with GPU clock speed of 928 MHz, and 2048 MB of DDR3 memory set to run at 900 MHz through a 64-bit bus. It also is comprised of 384 SPUs, 24 TAUs, and 8 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Memory Bandwidth

Performance-wise, the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3 should theoretically be much superior to the GeForce 930M overall. (explain)

GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3		22400 MB/sec
GeForce 930M		14400 MB/sec
	Difference: 8000 (56%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 930M should be quite a bit (about 158%) better at AF than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3. (explain)

GeForce 930M		22272 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 13632 (158%)

Pixel Rate

If using high levels of AA is important to you, then the GeForce 930M is the winner, by far. (explain)

GeForce 930M		7424 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 3104 (72%)

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 megabytes per second) that can be transferred over the external memory interface within a second. It's calculated by multiplying the bus width by the speed of its memory. If it uses DDR type memory, the result should be multiplied by 2 once again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the bandwidth is, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, High Dynamic Range 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 number is worked out by multiplying the total amount of texture units 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 processed in a second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels the video card could possibly record to its local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is worked out by multiplying the number of Raster Operations Pipelines by the the core speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also sometimes called Render Output Units) are responsible for drawing the pixels (image) on the screen. The actual pixel fill rate is also dependant on quite a few other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the maximum fill rate.