GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2 vs GeForce GT 340 1GB

Intro

Compare all of that to the GeForce GT 340 1GB, which has GPU clock speed of 550 MHz, and 1024 MB of GDDR5 memory set to run at 850 MHz through a 128-bit bus. It also is comprised of 96 Stream Processors, 32 Texture Address Units, and 8 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		47 Watts
GeForce GT 340 1GB		69 Watts
	Difference: 22 Watts (47%)

Memory Bandwidth

The GeForce GT 340 1GB should theoretically perform a lot faster than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2 in general. (explain)

GeForce GT 340 1GB		54400 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 41600 (325%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GT 340 1GB should be quite a bit (approximately 104%) faster with regards to AF than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2. (explain)

GeForce GT 340 1GB		17600 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 8960 (104%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GT 340 1GB is a small bit (more or less 2%) faster with regards to FSAA than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2, and able to handle higher screen resolutions better. (explain)

GeForce GT 340 1GB		4400 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB 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 maximum amount of information (in units of megabytes per second) that can be transported across the external memory interface in one second. It's worked out by multiplying the card's bus width by its memory speed. If the card has DDR type memory, it must be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the card's memory bandwidth, the better 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 processed in one second. This is worked out by multiplying the total texture units of the card by the core speed of the chip. The better the texel rate, the better the graphics card will be at handling texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels processed in one second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most pixels that the graphics card can possibly record to the local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. Pixel rate is calculated by multiplying the amount of Raster Operations Pipelines by the the card's 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 rate also depends on lots of other factors, especially the memory bandwidth - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the max fill rate.