GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3 vs GeForce 8800 GS

Intro

Compare that to the GeForce 8800 GS, which uses a 65 nm design. nVidia has set the core speed at 550 MHz. The GDDR3 memory runs at a frequency of 800 MHz on this card. It features 96 SPUs along with 48 TAUs and 12 Rasterization Operator Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3		47 Watts
GeForce 8800 GS		105 Watts
	Difference: 58 Watts (123%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce 8800 GS should be 71% quicker than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3 overall, because of its greater data rate. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GS		38400 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3		22400 MB/sec
	Difference: 16000 (71%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 8800 GS should be much (more or less 206%) faster with regards to AF than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GS		26400 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 17760 (206%)

Pixel Rate

If using a high resolution is important to you, then the GeForce 8800 GS is the winner, by far. (explain)

GeForce 8800 GS		6600 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3		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 maximum amount of data (measured in MB per second) that can be moved over the external memory interface in a second. The number is calculated by multiplying the card's interface width by its memory clock speed. If the card has DDR type RAM, it must be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the bandwidth is, 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 number of texture map elements (texels) that can be processed in one second. This figure is worked out by multiplying the total texture units by the core clock speed of the chip. The higher the texel rate, the better the graphics card will be at texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels applied in a second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels the video card could possibly write to its local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is calculated by multiplying the amount of Raster Operations Pipelines by the the core clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also sometimes 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, especially the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the potential to reach the max fill rate.