GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 vs GeForce GT 240 GDDR5

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GT 240 GDDR5, which features a clock frequency of 550 MHz and a GDDR5 memory frequency of 850 MHz. It also uses a 128-bit memory bus, and uses a 40 nm design. It features 96 SPUs, 32 TAUs, and 8 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		47 Watts
GeForce GT 240 GDDR5		70 Watts
	Difference: 23 Watts (49%)

Memory Bandwidth

Performance-wise, the GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 should theoretically be quite a bit better than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 in general. (explain)

GeForce GT 240 GDDR5		54400 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 41600 (325%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 is a lot (approximately 104%) better at texture filtering than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2. (explain)

GeForce GT 240 GDDR5		17600 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 8960 (104%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 is a small bit (approximately 2%) more effective at FSAA than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2, and will be able to handle higher resolutions while still performing well. (explain)

GeForce GT 240 GDDR5		4400 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 80 (2%)

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: Memory bandwidth is the largest amount of information (in units of megabytes per second) that can be transported past the external memory interface in one second. It is calculated by multiplying the card's interface width by its memory clock speed. If it uses DDR type RAM, the result should be multiplied by 2 once again. If DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the card's memory bandwidth, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, High Dynamic Range and higher screen resolutions.

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

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most pixels the video card can possibly record to its local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is calculated by multiplying the amount of Render Output Units by the the card's clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - sometimes also referred to as Render Output Units) are responsible for outputting the pixels (image) to the screen. The actual pixel 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 max fill rate.