GeForce 8600 GTS vs GeForce GTX 460 SE

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce GTX 460 SE, which makes use of a 40 nm design. nVidia has clocked the core frequency at 650 MHz. The GDDR5 memory is set to run at a speed of 850 MHz on this particular model. It features 288 SPUs along with 48 TAUs and 32 Rasterization Operator Units.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GTS		75 Watts
GeForce GTX 460 SE		150 Watts
	Difference: 75 Watts (100%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce GTX 460 SE will be 240% quicker than the GeForce 8600 GTS in general, due to its greater data rate. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 SE		108800 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GTS		32000 MB/sec
	Difference: 76800 (240%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 460 SE should be quite a bit (approximately 189%) better at AF than the GeForce 8600 GTS. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 SE		31200 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GTS		10800 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 20400 (189%)

Pixel Rate

If using a high screen resolution is important to you, then the GeForce GTX 460 SE is the winner, and very much so. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 SE		20800 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GTS		5400 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 15400 (285%)

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 largest amount of data (measured in megabytes per second) that can be transferred across the external memory interface within a second. It's calculated by multiplying the interface width by its memory speed. If it uses DDR memory, it must be multiplied by 2 once again. If DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The higher the memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, HDR and high resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum amount of texture map elements (texels) that can be processed in one second. This figure is worked out by multiplying the total amount of texture units of the card by the core clock speed of the chip. The higher this number, the better the video 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 video card could possibly record to its local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is worked out by multiplying the number of ROPs by the the card's clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also called Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel fill rate also depends on quite a few other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to reach the maximum fill rate.