GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 vs GeForce 9600 GSO 384MB

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce 9600 GSO 384MB, which comes with core speeds of 550 MHz on the GPU, and 800 MHz on the 384 MB of GDDR3 memory. It features 96 SPUs along with 48 TAUs and 12 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		47 Watts
GeForce 9600 GSO 384MB		84 Watts
	Difference: 37 Watts (79%)

Memory Bandwidth

Performance-wise, the GeForce 9600 GSO 384MB should theoretically be a lot better than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 overall. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GSO 384MB		38400 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 25600 (200%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 9600 GSO 384MB should be quite a bit (more or less 206%) more effective at texture filtering than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GSO 384MB		26400 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 17760 (206%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce 9600 GSO 384MB is quite a bit (approximately 53%) more effective at AA than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2, and also will be capable of handling higher screen resolutions without losing too much performance. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GSO 384MB		6600 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 2280 (53%)

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 (in units of MB per second) that can be transported over the external memory interface in a second. It's worked out by multiplying the card's interface width by its memory speed. In the case of DDR type RAM, the result should be multiplied by 2 once again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the memory bandwidth, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, 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 is worked out by multiplying the total amount of texture units of the card by the core speed of the chip. The higher 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 amount of pixels that the graphics chip could possibly write to its local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. Pixel rate is calculated by multiplying the amount of Render Output Units by the the core 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 rate is also dependant on lots of other factors, especially the memory bandwidth - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the max fill rate.