GeForce 8600 GTS vs GeForce GT 430 1GB

Intro

Compare that to the GeForce GT 430 1GB, which comes with a GPU core clock speed of 700 MHz, and 1024 MB of GDDR3 memory running at 900 MHz through a 128-bit bus. It also features 96 Stream Processors, 16 TAUs, and 4 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GT 430 1GB		60 Watts
GeForce 8600 GTS		75 Watts
	Difference: 15 Watts (25%)

Memory Bandwidth

Theoretically speaking, the GeForce 8600 GTS should be a small bit faster than the GeForce GT 430 1GB in general. (explain)

GeForce 8600 GTS		32000 MB/sec
GeForce GT 430 1GB		28800 MB/sec
	Difference: 3200 (11%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GT 430 1GB is just a bit (more or less 4%) more effective at AF than the GeForce 8600 GTS. (explain)

GeForce GT 430 1GB		11200 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GTS		10800 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 400 (4%)

Pixel Rate

If using a high screen resolution is important to you, then the GeForce 8600 GTS is a better choice, by far. (explain)

GeForce 8600 GTS		5400 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GT 430 1GB		2800 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 2600 (93%)

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 max amount of data (measured in megabytes per second) that can be transferred over the external memory interface within a second. It's worked out by multiplying the card's bus width by the speed of its memory. In the case of DDR type memory, it should be multiplied by 2 once again. If DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The higher the card's memory bandwidth, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, HDR and higher screen resolutions.

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

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