GeForce 8600 GT 1GB GDDR3 vs GeForce GT 1030

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GT 1030, which has a clock speed of 1265 MHz and a GDDR5 memory speed of 1502 MHz. It also uses a 64-bit memory bus, and makes use of a 16 nm design. It is made up of 384 SPUs, 32 TAUs, and 16 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GT 1030		30 Watts
GeForce 8600 GT 1GB GDDR3		47 Watts
	Difference: 17 Watts (57%)

Memory Bandwidth

As far as performance goes, the GeForce GT 1030 should in theory be much superior to the GeForce 8600 GT 1GB GDDR3 overall. (explain)

GeForce GT 1030		49152 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 1GB GDDR3		22400 MB/sec
	Difference: 26752 (119%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GT 1030 is much (about 369%) better at AF than the GeForce 8600 GT 1GB GDDR3. (explain)

GeForce GT 1030		40480 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 1GB GDDR3		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 31840 (369%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GT 1030 should be much (about 369%) better at FSAA than the GeForce 8600 GT 1GB GDDR3, and capable of handling higher screen resolutions more effectively. (explain)

GeForce GT 1030		20240 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 1GB GDDR3		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 15920 (369%)

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 (in units of MB per second) that can be transferred past the external memory interface within a second. It's calculated by multiplying the bus width by its memory speed. If the card has DDR memory, the result should be multiplied by 2 once again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the 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 texture map elements (texels) that can be processed per second. This figure is worked out by multiplying the total number of texture units 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 in a second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most pixels the video card can possibly write to the local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. Pixel rate is worked out by multiplying the number of ROPs by the clock 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 rate also depends on many other factors, especially the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to reach the max fill rate.