GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3 vs GeForce GT 450 (OEM)

Intro

Compare all of that to the GeForce GT 450 (OEM), which makes use of a 40 nm design. nVidia has set the core frequency at 790 MHz. The GDDR5 memory runs at a speed of 1000 MHz on this specific card. It features 144 SPUs along with 24 Texture Address Units 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 450 (OEM)		106 Watts
	Difference: 59 Watts (126%)

Memory Bandwidth

The GeForce GT 450 (OEM) should theoretically perform much faster than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3 overall. (explain)

GeForce GT 450 (OEM)		96000 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3		22400 MB/sec
	Difference: 73600 (329%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GT 450 (OEM) will be much (more or less 119%) more effective at AF than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3. (explain)

GeForce GT 450 (OEM)		18960 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 10320 (119%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GT 450 (OEM) will be quite a bit (approximately 339%) better at FSAA than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3, and should be able to handle higher screen resolutions without losing too much performance. (explain)

GeForce GT 450 (OEM)		18960 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 14640 (339%)

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 maximum amount of data (measured in megabytes per second) that can be transferred past the external memory interface in one second. It's calculated by multiplying the interface width by its memory speed. In the case of DDR memory, the result should be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, High Dynamic Range and higher screen resolutions.

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

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels the graphics card could possibly record to the local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is calculated by multiplying the amount of colour ROPs by the the card's clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - aka Render Output Units) are responsible for outputting the pixels (image) to the screen. The actual pixel output rate also depends on many other factors, especially the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the maximum fill rate.