GeForce 825M vs GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2, which makes use of a 80 nm design. nVidia has clocked the core frequency at 540 MHz. The DDR2 RAM runs at a frequency of 400 MHz on this specific card. It features 32 SPUs as well as 16 TAUs and 8 Rasterization Operator Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 825M		33 Watts
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		47 Watts
	Difference: 14 Watts (42%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce 825M should be 13% faster than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2 overall, because of its greater bandwidth. (explain)

GeForce 825M		14400 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 1600 (13%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 825M will be a lot (about 57%) better at AF than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2. (explain)

GeForce 825M		13600 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 4960 (57%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce 825M is a lot (more or less 57%) better at AA than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2, and also should be capable of handling higher screen resolutions better. (explain)

GeForce 825M		6800 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 2480 (57%)

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 max amount of data (measured in megabytes per second) that can be transferred across the external memory interface in one second. It's calculated by multiplying the card's bus width by the speed of its memory. If it uses DDR type memory, it should 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 AA, HDR and higher screen resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum number of texture map elements (texels) that can be applied per second. This figure is calculated by multiplying the total texture units of the card by the core speed of the chip. The better this number, the better the 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 number of pixels the graphics card can possibly record to its local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is worked out by multiplying the number of Render Output Units by the the card's clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - sometimes also referred to as Render Output Units) are responsible for drawing the pixels (image) on the screen. The actual pixel output rate also depends on quite a few other factors, especially the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the max fill rate.