GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2 vs GeForce GT 440 3GB

Intro

Compare that to the GeForce GT 440 3GB, which features GPU core speed of 594 MHz, and 3072 MB of GDDR3 RAM set to run at 900 MHz through a 192-bit bus. It also is comprised of 144 Stream Processors, 24 TAUs, and 24 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		47 Watts
GeForce GT 440 3GB		56 Watts
	Difference: 9 Watts (19%)

Memory Bandwidth

Theoretically speaking, the GeForce GT 440 3GB will be 238% faster than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2 overall, due to its higher bandwidth. (explain)

GeForce GT 440 3GB		43200 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 30400 (238%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GT 440 3GB will be quite a bit (more or less 65%) better at texture filtering than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2. (explain)

GeForce GT 440 3GB		14256 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 5616 (65%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GT 440 3GB should be a lot (about 230%) more effective at AA than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2, and also will be able to handle higher resolutions more effectively. (explain)

GeForce GT 440 3GB		14256 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		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: Bandwidth is the max amount of information (counted in megabytes per second) that can be moved over the external memory interface in one second. It's worked out by multiplying the card's interface width by its memory clock speed. If the card has DDR memory, it must be multiplied by 2 once again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The higher the 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 amount of texture map elements (texels) that are processed per second. This figure is worked out by multiplying the total texture units of the card by the core clock 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 applied in one second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels that the graphics chip could possibly write to the local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is calculated by multiplying the amount of Raster Operations Pipelines by the the core speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also called 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 of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to get to the maximum fill rate.