GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 vs GeForce GTX 260 Core 216

Intro

Compare that to the GeForce GTX 260 Core 216, which comes with a GPU core clock speed of 576 MHz, and 896 MB of GDDR3 RAM set to run at 999 MHz through a 448-bit bus. It also features 216 SPUs, 72 Texture Address Units, and 28 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		47 Watts
GeForce GTX 260 Core 216		202 Watts
	Difference: 155 Watts (330%)

Memory Bandwidth

Theoretically speaking, the GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 should perform much faster than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 overall. (explain)

GeForce GTX 260 Core 216		111888 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 99088 (774%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 should be quite a bit (about 380%) better at AF than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2. (explain)

GeForce GTX 260 Core 216		41472 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 32832 (380%)

Pixel Rate

If running with a high screen resolution is important to you, then the GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 is the winner, by far. (explain)

GeForce GTX 260 Core 216		16128 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 11808 (273%)

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 data (counted in MB per second) that can be transported across the external memory interface in a second. It is worked out by multiplying the card's interface width by its memory speed. In the case of DDR memory, it must be multiplied by 2 once again. If DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The higher the bandwidth is, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, HDR and higher screen resolutions.

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

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels the graphics card can possibly write to the local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. Pixel rate is worked out by multiplying the number 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 filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel output rate is also dependant on quite a few other factors, especially the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the max fill rate.