GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2 vs GeForce GTX 560 Ti

Intro

Compare that to the GeForce GTX 560 Ti, which features a clock speed of 822 MHz and a GDDR5 memory speed of 1002 MHz. It also makes use of a 256-bit memory bus, and uses a 40 nm design. It is made up of 384 SPUs, 64 Texture Address Units, and 32 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		47 Watts
GeForce GTX 560 Ti		170 Watts
	Difference: 123 Watts (262%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce GTX 560 Ti should be 902% quicker than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2 in general, because of its higher data rate. (explain)

GeForce GTX 560 Ti		128256 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 115456 (902%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 560 Ti should be much (about 509%) faster with regards to texture filtering than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2. (explain)

GeForce GTX 560 Ti		52608 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 43968 (509%)

Pixel Rate

If running with lots of anti-aliasing is important to you, then the GeForce GTX 560 Ti is superior to the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2, and very much so. (explain)

GeForce GTX 560 Ti		26304 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 21984 (509%)

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 transported over the external memory interface in a second. The number is worked out 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 card's memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, HDR and high resolutions.

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

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels that the graphics card can possibly write to the local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. Pixel rate is calculated by multiplying the amount of colour ROPs by the the core 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 rate also depends on quite a few 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.