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GeForce 8600 GTS vs GeForce GTX 480

Intro

The GeForce 8600 GTS features a GPU core speed of 675 MHz, and the 512 MB of GDDR3 memory runs at 1000 MHz through a 128-bit bus. It also features 32 Stream Processors, 16 TAUs, and 8 Raster Operation Units.

Compare those specs to the GeForce GTX 480, which uses a 40 nm design. nVidia has set the core frequency at 700 MHz. The GDDR5 RAM is set to run at a frequency of 924 MHz on this specific model. It features 480 SPUs as well as 60 TAUs and 48 Rasterization Operator Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GTS 75 Watts
GeForce GTX 480 250 Watts
Difference: 175 Watts (233%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce GTX 480 should be a lot faster than the GeForce 8600 GTS in general. (explain)

GeForce GTX 480 177408 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GTS 32000 MB/sec
Difference: 145408 (454%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 480 will be a lot (approximately 289%) more effective at AF than the GeForce 8600 GTS. (explain)

GeForce GTX 480 42000 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GTS 10800 Mtexels/sec
Difference: 31200 (289%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 480 should be quite a bit (more or less 522%) better at full screen anti-aliasing than the GeForce 8600 GTS, and also should be able to handle higher resolutions without losing too much performance. (explain)

GeForce GTX 480 33600 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GTS 5400 Mpixels/sec
Difference: 28200 (522%)

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

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GeForce 8600 GTS

Amazon.com

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GeForce GTX 480

Amazon.com

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Please note that the price comparisons are based on search keywords - sometimes it might show cards with very similar names that are not exactly the same as the one chosen in the comparison. We do try to filter out the wrong results as best we can, though.

Specifications

Display Specifications

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Model GeForce 8600 GTS GeForce GTX 480
Manufacturer nVidia nVidia
Year April 2007 March 2010
Code Name G84 GF100
Memory 512 MB 1536 MB
Core Speed 675 MHz 700 MHz
Memory Speed 2000 MHz 3696 MHz
Power (Max TDP) 75 watts 250 watts
Bandwidth 32000 MB/sec 177408 MB/sec
Texel Rate 10800 Mtexels/sec 42000 Mtexels/sec
Pixel Rate 5400 Mpixels/sec 33600 Mpixels/sec
Unified Shaders 32 480
Texture Mapping Units 16 60
Render Output Units 8 48
Bus Type GDDR3 GDDR5
Bus Width 128-bit 384-bit
Fab Process 80 nm 40 nm
Transistors 289 million 3000 million
Bus PCIe x16 PCIe x16
DirectX Version DirectX 10 DirectX 11
OpenGL Version OpenGL 3.0 OpenGL 4.1

Memory Bandwidth: Memory bandwidth is the max amount of information (counted in megabytes per second) that can be transported over the external memory interface in a second. The number is calculated by multiplying the card's interface width by the speed of its memory. In the case of DDR type RAM, the result should be multiplied by 2 once again. If DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The higher the card's memory bandwidth, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, High Dynamic Range and high resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum texture map elements (texels) that are applied per second. This number is calculated by multiplying the total amount of texture units by the core speed of the chip. The better this number, the better the video card will be at texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels in one second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels the graphics card can possibly write to its local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is worked out by multiplying the amount of colour ROPs by the clock speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - sometimes also referred to as Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel fill rate also depends on lots of other factors, especially the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the potential to reach the maximum fill rate.

Display Prices

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GeForce 8600 GTS

Amazon.com

Check prices at:

GeForce GTX 480

Amazon.com

Check prices at:

Please note that the price comparisons are based on search keywords - sometimes it might show cards with very similar names that are not exactly the same as the one chosen in the comparison. We do try to filter out the wrong results as best we can, though.

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