GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2 vs GeForce GTX 470

Intro

Compare all of that to the GeForce GTX 470, which features core clock speeds of 607 MHz on the GPU, and 837 MHz on the 1280 MB of GDDR5 memory. It features 448 SPUs as well as 56 TAUs and 40 ROPs.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		47 Watts
GeForce GTX 470		215 Watts
	Difference: 168 Watts (357%)

Memory Bandwidth

The GeForce GTX 470 should theoretically be quite a bit faster than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2 in general. (explain)

GeForce GTX 470		133920 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 121120 (946%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 470 is much (approximately 293%) faster with regards to AF than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2. (explain)

GeForce GTX 470		33992 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 25352 (293%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 470 should be much (more or less 462%) faster with regards to anti-aliasing than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2, and also able to handle higher resolutions more effectively. (explain)

GeForce GTX 470		24280 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 19960 (462%)

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 (measured in megabytes per second) that can be transported across the external memory interface within a second. The number is worked out by multiplying the bus width by its memory speed. In the case of DDR RAM, it must be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the bandwidth is, 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 can be applied in one second. This figure is calculated by multiplying the total amount of texture units by the core clock speed of the chip. The higher this number, the better the graphics card will be at handling texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels applied per second.

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