GeForce 8600 GS (OEM) vs GeForce GTX 560

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GTX 560, which features GPU core speed of 810 MHz, and 1024 MB of GDDR5 RAM running at 1001 MHz through a 256-bit bus. It also is comprised of 336 Stream Processors, 56 TAUs, and 32 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GS (OEM)		47 Watts
GeForce GTX 560		150 Watts
	Difference: 103 Watts (219%)

Memory Bandwidth

Theoretically speaking, the GeForce GTX 560 is 901% faster than the GeForce 8600 GS (OEM) in general, because of its higher data rate. (explain)

GeForce GTX 560		128128 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GS (OEM)		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 115328 (901%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 560 is quite a bit (approximately 425%) faster with regards to anisotropic filtering than the GeForce 8600 GS (OEM). (explain)

GeForce GTX 560		45360 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GS (OEM)		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 36720 (425%)

Pixel Rate

If running with lots of anti-aliasing is important to you, then the GeForce GTX 560 is superior to the GeForce 8600 GS (OEM), by a large margin. (explain)

GeForce GTX 560		25920 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GS (OEM)		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: Memory bandwidth is the maximum amount of information (in units of MB per second) that can be moved over the external memory interface in one second. It's calculated by multiplying the card's bus width by its memory speed. In the case of DDR RAM, it should be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The higher the bandwidth is, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, High Dynamic Range and high resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum number of texture map elements (texels) that are processed in one second. This figure is worked out by multiplying the total amount of texture units by the core speed of the chip. The higher this number, the better the graphics 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 that the graphics chip can possibly record to its local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is worked out by multiplying the number of ROPs by the the card's clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also sometimes called Render Output Units) are responsible for drawing the pixels (image) on the screen. The actual pixel output 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 reach the max fill rate.