GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 vs GeForce 9800 GTX+

Intro

Compare that to the GeForce 9800 GTX+, which has a core clock frequency of 738 MHz and a GDDR3 memory frequency of 1100 MHz. It also uses a 256-bit bus, and uses a 55 nm design. It features 128 SPUs, 64 TAUs, and 16 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		47 Watts
GeForce 9800 GTX+		145 Watts
	Difference: 98 Watts (209%)

Memory Bandwidth

Theoretically speaking, the GeForce 9800 GTX+ is 450% quicker than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 overall, because of its greater bandwidth. (explain)

GeForce 9800 GTX+		70400 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 57600 (450%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 9800 GTX+ will be quite a bit (about 447%) more effective at AF than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2. (explain)

GeForce 9800 GTX+		47232 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 38592 (447%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce 9800 GTX+ should be a lot (approximately 173%) better at full screen anti-aliasing than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2, and should be capable of handling higher resolutions better. (explain)

GeForce 9800 GTX+		11808 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 7488 (173%)

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 information (measured in megabytes per second) that can be transported over the external memory interface within a second. The number is calculated by multiplying the card's interface width by the speed of its memory. If it uses DDR type RAM, it should be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the card's memory bandwidth, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, HDR and higher screen resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum texture map elements (texels) that are applied in one second. This number is worked out by multiplying the total texture units by the core clock speed of the chip. The better the texel rate, the better the video card will be at handling 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 write to its local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is calculated by multiplying the number of Raster Operations Pipelines by the the core speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - aka Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel output rate is also dependant on lots of other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the max fill rate.