GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 vs GeForce GTX 260 216SP 55 nm

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce GTX 260 216SP 55 nm, which has core speeds of 576 MHz on the GPU, and 999 MHz on the 896 MB of GDDR3 RAM. It features 216 SPUs along with 72 TAUs and 28 Rasterization Operator Units.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		47 Watts
GeForce GTX 260 216SP 55 nm		171 Watts
	Difference: 124 Watts (264%)

Memory Bandwidth

The GeForce GTX 260 216SP 55 nm should theoretically perform a lot faster than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 in general. (explain)

GeForce GTX 260 216SP 55 nm		111888 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 99088 (774%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 260 216SP 55 nm is a lot (more or less 380%) more effective at texture filtering than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2. (explain)

GeForce GTX 260 216SP 55 nm		41472 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 32832 (380%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 260 216SP 55 nm is a lot (more or less 273%) faster with regards to AA than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2, and also will be able to handle higher screen resolutions without slowing down too much. (explain)

GeForce GTX 260 216SP 55 nm		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 information (counted in megabytes per second) that can be transported past the external memory interface in a second. It is worked out by multiplying the card's bus width by its memory clock speed. If the card has DDR RAM, it should be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the bandwidth is, 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 amount of texture map elements (texels) that are processed in one second. This figure is calculated by multiplying the total amount of texture units of the card by the core clock speed of the chip. The higher the texel rate, the better the video card will be at texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels processed in one second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels that the graphics card can possibly record to its local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is calculated by multiplying the amount of Raster Operations Pipelines by the the core 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 fill rate is also dependant on many other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the maximum fill rate.