GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3 vs GeForce 9400 GT 256MB

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce 9400 GT 256MB, which features a clock frequency of 550 MHz and a GDDR2 memory frequency of 400 MHz. It also makes use of a 128-bit memory bus, and uses a 65 nm design. It features 16 SPUs, 8 TAUs, and 4 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3		47 Watts
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		50 Watts
	Difference: 3 Watts (6%)

Memory Bandwidth

As far as performance goes, the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3 should in theory be much better than the GeForce 9400 GT 256MB in general. (explain)

GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3		22400 MB/sec
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 9600 (75%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3 should be quite a bit (about 96%) better at anisotropic filtering than the GeForce 9400 GT 256MB. (explain)

GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3		8640 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		4400 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 4240 (96%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3 will be quite a bit (more or less 96%) faster with regards to full screen anti-aliasing than the GeForce 9400 GT 256MB, and should be capable of handling higher resolutions while still performing well. (explain)

GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3		4320 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		2200 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 2120 (96%)

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 information (in units of megabytes per second) that can be transferred past the external memory interface in a second. It's calculated by multiplying the interface width by its memory clock speed. In the case of DDR type memory, the result should be multiplied by 2 once again. If DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The higher the bandwidth is, 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 amount of texture map elements (texels) that can be applied per second. This is worked out by multiplying the total texture units of the card by the core clock speed of the chip. The better this number, the better the video card will be at texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels applied in one second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels that the graphics chip could possibly write to its local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is calculated by multiplying the amount of colour ROPs by the the core speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also sometimes called Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel rate is also dependant on many other factors, especially the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to reach the max fill rate.