GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 vs GeForce 9500 GT DDR2

Intro

Compare that to the GeForce 9500 GT DDR2, which features core speeds of 550 MHz on the GPU, and 500 MHz on the 256 MB of DDR2 RAM. It features 32 SPUs as well as 16 Texture Address Units and 8 Rasterization Operator Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		47 Watts
GeForce 9500 GT DDR2		50 Watts
	Difference: 3 Watts (6%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce 9500 GT DDR2 should be 25% faster than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 overall, due to its higher data rate. (explain)

GeForce 9500 GT DDR2		16000 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 3200 (25%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 9500 GT DDR2 is just a bit (about 2%) better at texture filtering than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2. (explain)

GeForce 9500 GT DDR2		8800 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 160 (2%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce 9500 GT DDR2 will be just a bit (more or less 2%) more effective at FSAA than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2, and also capable of handling higher screen resolutions better. (explain)

GeForce 9500 GT DDR2		4400 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 80 (2%)

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 MB per second) that can be moved over the external memory interface in one second. The number is worked out by multiplying the bus width by its memory clock speed. If the card has DDR memory, it should be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the bandwidth is, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, HDR and high resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum texture map elements (texels) that can be applied in one second. This is calculated 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 handling texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels processed per second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most pixels the graphics card can possibly record to its local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is worked out by multiplying the amount of colour ROPs by the the card's clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also called Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel output rate also depends on quite a few other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the max fill rate.