GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2 vs GeForce GTX 560

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce GTX 560, which makes use of a 40 nm design. nVidia has clocked the core speed at 810 MHz. The GDDR5 memory runs at a speed of 1001 MHz on this model. It features 336 SPUs along with 56 TAUs and 32 Rasterization Operator Units.

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		150 Watts
	Difference: 103 Watts (219%)

Memory Bandwidth

The GeForce GTX 560 should in theory be quite a bit faster than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2 overall. (explain)

GeForce GTX 560		128128 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 115328 (901%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 560 is quite a bit (more or less 425%) better at AF than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2. (explain)

GeForce GTX 560		45360 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 36720 (425%)

Pixel Rate

If using a high screen resolution is important to you, then the GeForce GTX 560 is superior to the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2, by far. (explain)

GeForce GTX 560		25920 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 21600 (500%)

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 information (measured in megabytes per second) that can be moved across the external memory interface in one second. It's worked out by multiplying the card's bus width by its memory speed. If it uses DDR memory, it should be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The higher the 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 amount of texture map elements (texels) that are applied per second. This figure is calculated by multiplying the total texture units of the card by the core speed of the chip. The higher the texel rate, the better the video 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 the video card could possibly record to the local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is worked out by multiplying the amount of ROPs by the clock speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also sometimes called Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel output rate also depends on quite a few other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to reach the maximum fill rate.