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GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 vs GeForce GT 340 1GB

Intro

The GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 comes with a GPU core speed of 540 MHz, and the 512 MB of DDR2 RAM is set to run at 400 MHz through a 128-bit bus. It also features 32 SPUs, 16 TAUs, and 8 Raster Operation Units.

Compare that to the GeForce GT 340 1GB, which comes with GPU core speed of 550 MHz, and 1024 MB of GDDR5 memory set to run at 850 MHz through a 128-bit bus. It also is made up of 96 SPUs, 32 Texture Address Units, and 8 ROPs.

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 47 Watts
GeForce GT 340 1GB 69 Watts
Difference: 22 Watts (47%)

Memory Bandwidth

Theoretically speaking, the GeForce GT 340 1GB will be 325% quicker than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 in general, due to its higher bandwidth. (explain)

GeForce GT 340 1GB 54400 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 12800 MB/sec
Difference: 41600 (325%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GT 340 1GB should be much (about 104%) faster with regards to texture filtering than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2. (explain)

GeForce GT 340 1GB 17600 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 8640 Mtexels/sec
Difference: 8960 (104%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GT 340 1GB will be a bit (about 2%) better at anti-aliasing than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2, and also should be able to handle higher screen resolutions without losing too much performance. (explain)

GeForce GT 340 1GB 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

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GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2

Amazon.com

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GeForce GT 340 1GB

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 DDR2 GeForce GT 340 1GB
Manufacturer nVidia nVidia
Year April 2007 February 2010
Code Name G84 GT215
Memory 512 MB 1024 MB
Core Speed 540 MHz 550 MHz
Memory Speed 800 MHz 3400 MHz
Power (Max TDP) 47 watts 69 watts
Bandwidth 12800 MB/sec 54400 MB/sec
Texel Rate 8640 Mtexels/sec 17600 Mtexels/sec
Pixel Rate 4320 Mpixels/sec 4400 Mpixels/sec
Unified Shaders 32 96
Texture Mapping Units 16 32
Render Output Units 8 8
Bus Type DDR2 GDDR5
Bus Width 128-bit 128-bit
Fab Process 80 nm 40 nm
Transistors 289 million 727 million
Bus PCIe x16 PCIe x16
DirectX Version DirectX 10 DirectX 10.1
OpenGL Version OpenGL 3.0 OpenGL 3.3

Memory Bandwidth: Memory bandwidth is the max amount of data (counted in MB per second) that can be moved across the external memory interface in a second. It's worked out by multiplying the card's bus width by the speed of its memory. In the case of DDR memory, it must be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The higher the bandwidth is, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, High Dynamic Range and higher screen resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum texture map elements (texels) that are processed per second. This figure is calculated by multiplying the total amount of 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 processed per second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels the video card could possibly record to its local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is calculated by multiplying the number of colour ROPs by the the core speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also sometimes called Render Output Units) are responsible for outputting the pixels (image) to the screen. The actual pixel output rate is also dependant on quite a few other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to reach the maximum fill rate.

Display Prices

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GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2

Amazon.com

Check prices at:

GeForce GT 340 1GB

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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