GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3 vs GeForce GT 440 1.5GB

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GT 440 1.5GB, which uses a 40 nm design. nVidia has set the core speed at 594 MHz. The GDDR3 memory is set to run at a frequency of 900 MHz on this particular card. It features 144 SPUs as well as 24 TAUs and 24 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3		47 Watts
GeForce GT 440 1.5GB		56 Watts
	Difference: 9 Watts (19%)

Memory Bandwidth

The GeForce GT 440 1.5GB, in theory, should be much faster than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3 overall. (explain)

GeForce GT 440 1.5GB		43200 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3		22400 MB/sec
	Difference: 20800 (93%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GT 440 1.5GB will be much (about 65%) better at anisotropic filtering than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3. (explain)

GeForce GT 440 1.5GB		14256 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 5616 (65%)

Pixel Rate

If using a high screen resolution is important to you, then the GeForce GT 440 1.5GB is a better choice, by far. (explain)

GeForce GT 440 1.5GB		14256 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 9936 (230%)

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 (counted in MB per second) that can be transported over the external memory interface in one second. It's worked out by multiplying the bus width by the speed of its memory. If the card has DDR type memory, the result should be multiplied by 2 once 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 AA, High Dynamic Range and high resolutions.

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

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most pixels the video card can possibly write to the local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is worked out by multiplying the number of ROPs by the the core clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - sometimes also referred to as Render Output Units) are responsible for outputting the pixels (image) to the screen. The actual pixel rate is also dependant on lots of other factors, especially the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the maximum fill rate.