GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 vs GeForce GT 440 3GB

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GT 440 3GB, which makes use of 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 model. 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 DDR2		47 Watts
GeForce GT 440 3GB		56 Watts
	Difference: 9 Watts (19%)

Memory Bandwidth

Theoretically speaking, the GeForce GT 440 3GB is 238% quicker than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 in general, due to its greater data rate. (explain)

GeForce GT 440 3GB		43200 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 30400 (238%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GT 440 3GB is much (approximately 65%) more effective at anisotropic filtering than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2. (explain)

GeForce GT 440 3GB		14256 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 5616 (65%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GT 440 3GB should be quite a bit (about 230%) more effective at AA than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2, and also should be capable of handling higher screen resolutions without slowing down too much. (explain)

GeForce GT 440 3GB		14256 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB 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: Memory bandwidth is the maximum amount of data (measured in megabytes per second) that can be transferred over the external memory interface in a second. It's calculated by multiplying the bus width by its memory speed. If it uses DDR type RAM, it must be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the memory bandwidth, 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 amount of texture map elements (texels) that can be applied per second. This figure is calculated by multiplying the total amount of texture units by the core speed of the chip. The better this number, the better the graphics card will be at handling texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels in a second.

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