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GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3 vs GeForce 9500 GT 1GB GDDR3

Intro

The GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3 features core clock speeds of 540 MHz on the GPU, and 700 MHz on the 512 MB of GDDR3 RAM. It features 32 SPUs along with 16 TAUs and 8 ROPs.

Compare those specifications to the GeForce 9500 GT 1GB GDDR3, which uses a 55 nm design. nVidia has set the core frequency at 550 MHz. The GDDR3 memory is set to run at a frequency of 800 MHz on this particular card. It features 32 SPUs as well as 16 TAUs and 8 ROPs.

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3 47 Watts
GeForce 9500 GT 1GB GDDR3 50 Watts
Difference: 3 Watts (6%)

Memory Bandwidth

As far as performance goes, the GeForce 9500 GT 1GB GDDR3 should theoretically be just a bit better than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3 in general. (explain)

GeForce 9500 GT 1GB GDDR3 25600 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3 22400 MB/sec
Difference: 3200 (14%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 9500 GT 1GB GDDR3 is a small bit (about 2%) better at texture filtering than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3. (explain)

GeForce 9500 GT 1GB GDDR3 8800 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3 8640 Mtexels/sec
Difference: 160 (2%)

Pixel Rate

If running with lots of anti-aliasing is important to you, then the GeForce 9500 GT 1GB GDDR3 is superior to the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3, but it probably won't make a huge difference. (explain)

GeForce 9500 GT 1GB GDDR3 4400 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3 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

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GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3

Amazon.com

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GeForce 9500 GT 1GB GDDR3

Amazon.com

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Please note that the price comparisons are based on search keywords - sometimes it might show cards with very similar names that are not exactly the same as the one chosen in the comparison. We do try to filter out the wrong results as best we can, though.

Specifications

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Model GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3 GeForce 9500 GT 1GB GDDR3
Manufacturer nVidia nVidia
Year April 2007 July 2008
Code Name G84 G96b
Memory 512 MB 1024 MB
Core Speed 540 MHz 550 MHz
Memory Speed 1400 MHz 1600 MHz
Power (Max TDP) 47 watts 50 watts
Bandwidth 22400 MB/sec 25600 MB/sec
Texel Rate 8640 Mtexels/sec 8800 Mtexels/sec
Pixel Rate 4320 Mpixels/sec 4400 Mpixels/sec
Unified Shaders 32 32
Texture Mapping Units 16 16
Render Output Units 8 8
Bus Type GDDR3 GDDR3
Bus Width 128-bit 128-bit
Fab Process 80 nm 55 nm
Transistors 289 million 314 million
Bus PCIe x16 PCIe x16 2.0, PCI
DirectX Version DirectX 10 DirectX 10
OpenGL Version OpenGL 3.0 OpenGL 3.0

Memory Bandwidth: Memory bandwidth is the max amount of information (counted in megabytes per second) that can be moved past the external memory interface within a second. The number is calculated by multiplying the card's bus width by its memory clock speed. In the case of DDR type memory, it must be multiplied by 2 once again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, HDR and higher screen resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum amount of texture map elements (texels) that are processed per second. This number is worked out by multiplying the total number of texture units of the card by the core clock speed of the chip. The better the texel rate, the better the video card will be at texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels processed in a second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels that the graphics card can possibly write to its local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. Pixel rate is worked out by multiplying the amount of Raster Operations Pipelines by the the core clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - sometimes also referred to as Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel output rate is also dependant on quite a few other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the max fill rate.

Display Prices

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GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3

Amazon.com

Check prices at:

GeForce 9500 GT 1GB GDDR3

Amazon.com

Check prices at:

Please note that the price comparisons are based on search keywords - sometimes it might show cards with very similar names that are not exactly the same as the one chosen in the comparison. We do try to filter out the wrong results as best we can, though.

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