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GeForce 8600 GTS vs Radeon HD 3470 512MB

Intro

The GeForce 8600 GTS makes use of a 80 nm design. nVidia has clocked the core frequency at 675 MHz. The GDDR3 memory runs at a frequency of 1000 MHz on this particular model. It features 32 SPUs as well as 16 TAUs and 8 ROPs.

Compare those specs to the Radeon HD 3470 512MB, which features a core clock frequency of 800 MHz and a GDDR3 memory speed of 950 MHz. It also makes use of a 128-bit bus, and makes use of a 55 nm design. It is made up of 40(8x5) SPUs, 4 Texture Address Units, and 4 ROPs.

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce 8600 GTS should be 5% quicker than the Radeon HD 3470 512MB in general, due to its greater bandwidth. (explain)

GeForce 8600 GTS 32000 MB/sec
Radeon HD 3470 512MB 30400 MB/sec
Difference: 1600 (5%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 8600 GTS should be quite a bit (about 238%) better at AF than the Radeon HD 3470 512MB. (explain)

GeForce 8600 GTS 10800 Mtexels/sec
Radeon HD 3470 512MB 3200 Mtexels/sec
Difference: 7600 (238%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce 8600 GTS will be quite a bit (more or less 69%) better at FSAA than the Radeon HD 3470 512MB, and also capable of handling higher resolutions better. (explain)

GeForce 8600 GTS 5400 Mpixels/sec
Radeon HD 3470 512MB 3200 Mpixels/sec
Difference: 2200 (69%)

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

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GeForce 8600 GTS

Amazon.com

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Radeon HD 3470 512MB

Amazon.com

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Please note that the price comparisons are based on search keywords - sometimes it might show cards with very similar names that are not exactly the same as the one chosen in the comparison. We do try to filter out the wrong results as best we can, though.

Specifications

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Model GeForce 8600 GTS Radeon HD 3470 512MB
Manufacturer nVidia AMD
Year April 2007 2008
Code Name G84 RV620 PRO
Memory 512 MB 512 MB
Core Speed 675 MHz 800 MHz
Memory Speed 2000 MHz 1900 MHz
Power (Max TDP) 75 watts (Unknown) watts
Bandwidth 32000 MB/sec 30400 MB/sec
Texel Rate 10800 Mtexels/sec 3200 Mtexels/sec
Pixel Rate 5400 Mpixels/sec 3200 Mpixels/sec
Unified Shaders 32 40(8x5)
Texture Mapping Units 16 4
Render Output Units 8 4
Bus Type GDDR3 GDDR3
Bus Width 128-bit 128-bit
Fab Process 80 nm 55 nm
Transistors 289 million (Unknown) million
Bus PCIe x16 PCIe 2.0 x16
DirectX Version DirectX 10 DirectX 10.1
OpenGL Version OpenGL 3.0 OpenGL 3.0

Memory Bandwidth: Memory bandwidth is the largest amount of information (measured in megabytes per second) that can be transferred past the external memory interface in a second. It is worked out by multiplying the interface width by its memory clock speed. If it uses DDR type memory, it must be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, High Dynamic Range and higher screen resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum amount of texture map elements (texels) that can be applied in one second. This number is calculated by multiplying the total texture units of the card by the core speed of the chip. The better the texel rate, the better the card will be at handling texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels processed per second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels that the graphics card can possibly record to the local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is worked out by multiplying the amount of ROPs by the the card's clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - sometimes also referred to as Render Output Units) are responsible for outputting the pixels (image) to the screen. The actual pixel rate is also dependant on many other factors, especially the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the maximum fill rate.

Display Prices

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GeForce 8600 GTS

Amazon.com

Check prices at:

Radeon HD 3470 512MB

Amazon.com

Check prices at:

Please note that the price comparisons are based on search keywords - sometimes it might show cards with very similar names that are not exactly the same as the one chosen in the comparison. We do try to filter out the wrong results as best we can, though.

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