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GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 vs GeForce GTS 250 512MB

Intro

The GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 features a GPU core clock speed of 540 MHz, and the 512 MB of DDR2 memory is set to run at 400 MHz through a 128-bit bus. It also features 32 Stream Processors, 16 Texture Address Units, and 8 Raster Operation Units.

Compare those specs to the GeForce GTS 250 512MB, which has a core clock speed of 738 MHz and a GDDR3 memory frequency of 1100 MHz. It also uses a 256-bit bus, and makes use of a 65/55 nm design. It is comprised of 128 SPUs, 64 Texture Address Units, and 16 ROPs.

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 47 Watts
GeForce GTS 250 512MB 145 Watts
Difference: 98 Watts (209%)

Memory Bandwidth

Performance-wise, the GeForce GTS 250 512MB should theoretically be a lot better than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 overall. (explain)

GeForce GTS 250 512MB 70400 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 12800 MB/sec
Difference: 57600 (450%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTS 250 512MB will be a lot (about 447%) more effective at AF than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2. (explain)

GeForce GTS 250 512MB 47232 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 8640 Mtexels/sec
Difference: 38592 (447%)

Pixel Rate

If running with a high screen resolution is important to you, then the GeForce GTS 250 512MB is a better choice, by a large margin. (explain)

GeForce GTS 250 512MB 11808 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 4320 Mpixels/sec
Difference: 7488 (173%)

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

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GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2

Amazon.com

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GeForce GTS 250 512MB

Amazon.com

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Please note that the price comparisons are based on search keywords - sometimes it might show cards with very similar names that are not exactly the same as the one chosen in the comparison. We do try to filter out the wrong results as best we can, though.

Specifications

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Model GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 GeForce GTS 250 512MB
Manufacturer nVidia nVidia
Year April 2007 March 3, 2009
Code Name G84 G92a/b
Memory 512 MB 512 MB
Core Speed 540 MHz 738 MHz
Memory Speed 800 MHz 2200 MHz
Power (Max TDP) 47 watts 145 watts
Bandwidth 12800 MB/sec 70400 MB/sec
Texel Rate 8640 Mtexels/sec 47232 Mtexels/sec
Pixel Rate 4320 Mpixels/sec 11808 Mpixels/sec
Unified Shaders 32 128
Texture Mapping Units 16 64
Render Output Units 8 16
Bus Type DDR2 GDDR3
Bus Width 128-bit 256-bit
Fab Process 80 nm 65/55 nm
Transistors 289 million 754 million
Bus PCIe x16 PCIe x16 2.0
DirectX Version DirectX 10 DirectX 10
OpenGL Version OpenGL 3.0 OpenGL 3.1

Memory Bandwidth: Bandwidth is the max amount of data (counted in MB per second) that can be transported over 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 type RAM, it must be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the card's memory bandwidth, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, HDR and high 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 amount of texture units of the card by the core speed of the chip. The higher this number, the better the card will be at texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels processed in a second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels the video card could possibly record to the local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. Pixel rate is calculated by multiplying the amount of Raster Operations Pipelines by the the core clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also sometimes called Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel rate is also dependant on quite a few other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the maximum fill rate.

Display Prices

Hide Prices

GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2

Amazon.com

Check prices at:

GeForce GTS 250 512MB

Amazon.com

Check prices at:

Please note that the price comparisons are based on search keywords - sometimes it might show cards with very similar names that are not exactly the same as the one chosen in the comparison. We do try to filter out the wrong results as best we can, though.

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