GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 vs GeForce GTS 250 1GB

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce GTS 250 1GB, which features GPU clock speed of 738 MHz, and 1024 MB of GDDR3 memory set to run at 1100 MHz through a 256-bit bus. It also is made up of 128 SPUs, 64 TAUs, and 16 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		47 Watts
GeForce GTS 250 1GB		145 Watts
	Difference: 98 Watts (209%)

Memory Bandwidth

The GeForce GTS 250 1GB should in theory be quite a bit faster than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 overall. (explain)

GeForce GTS 250 1GB		70400 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 57600 (450%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTS 250 1GB will be a lot (more or less 447%) more effective at AF than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2. (explain)

GeForce GTS 250 1GB		47232 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 38592 (447%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTS 250 1GB should be a lot (about 173%) more effective at anti-aliasing than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2, and also should be capable of handling higher resolutions without slowing down too much. (explain)

GeForce GTS 250 1GB		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

Specifications

Memory Bandwidth: Memory bandwidth is the largest amount of data (in units of megabytes per second) that can be transferred past the external memory interface in a second. It is calculated by multiplying the interface width by its memory clock speed. If it uses DDR type memory, it should be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the 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 amount of texture map elements (texels) that are processed in one second. This is worked out by multiplying the total number of texture units by the core clock speed of the chip. The better the texel rate, the better the video card will be at texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels in a second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most pixels that the graphics card can possibly write to the local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is worked out by multiplying the number of Raster Operations Pipelines by the the card's clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - aka Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel output rate also depends on many other factors, especially the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the max fill rate.