GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3 vs GeForce GTX 950M

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GTX 950M, which uses a 28 nm design. nVidia has clocked the core speed at 914 MHz. The DDR3 memory runs at a speed of 1000 MHz on this particular model. It features 640 SPUs along with 40 TAUs and 16 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3		47 Watts
GeForce GTX 950M		55 Watts
	Difference: 8 Watts (17%)

Memory Bandwidth

As far as performance goes, the GeForce GTX 950M should in theory be quite a bit better than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3 overall. (explain)

GeForce GTX 950M		32000 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3		22400 MB/sec
	Difference: 9600 (43%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 950M should be a lot (about 323%) more effective at texture filtering than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3. (explain)

GeForce GTX 950M		36560 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 27920 (323%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 950M is a lot (more or less 239%) more effective at full screen anti-aliasing than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3, and able to handle higher screen resolutions without slowing down too much. (explain)

GeForce GTX 950M		14624 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 10304 (239%)

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 (measured in MB per second) that can be transported past the external memory interface in a second. The number is calculated 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 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, High Dynamic Range and high resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum amount of texture map elements (texels) that are processed per second. This number is calculated by multiplying the total texture units by the core clock speed of the chip. The better the texel rate, the better the 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 record to the local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is worked out by multiplying the number of colour ROPs 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 quite a few other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the maximum fill rate.