GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3 vs GeForce 920M

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce 920M, which comes with clock speeds of 954 MHz on the GPU, and 900 MHz on the 2048 MB of DDR3 memory. It features 384 SPUs as well as 32 TAUs and 8 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Memory Bandwidth

Performance-wise, the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3 should in theory be much better than the GeForce 920M overall. (explain)

GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3		22400 MB/sec
GeForce 920M		14400 MB/sec
	Difference: 8000 (56%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 920M will be much (more or less 253%) faster with regards to AF than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3. (explain)

GeForce 920M		30528 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 21888 (253%)

Pixel Rate

If using high levels of AA is important to you, then the GeForce 920M is superior to the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3, by a large margin. (explain)

GeForce 920M		7632 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 3312 (77%)

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 (counted in MB per second) that can be moved past the external memory interface within a second. It is calculated by multiplying the interface width by its memory speed. In the case of DDR type memory, it must be multiplied by 2 once again. If DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The higher the card's memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, High Dynamic Range and higher screen resolutions.

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

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels the graphics card could possibly write to its local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is calculated by multiplying the amount of ROPs by the the core speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - aka Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel output rate is also dependant on many other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the maximum fill rate.