GeForce 830M vs GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3, which makes use of a 80 nm design. nVidia has set the core speed at 540 MHz. The GDDR3 memory runs at a frequency of 700 MHz on this specific model. It features 32 SPUs along with 16 TAUs and 8 Rasterization Operator Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 830M		25 Watts
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3		47 Watts
	Difference: 22 Watts (88%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3 will be 56% quicker than the GeForce 830M overall, because of its higher bandwidth. (explain)

GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3		22400 MB/sec
GeForce 830M		14400 MB/sec
	Difference: 8000 (56%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 830M will be a lot (about 91%) faster with regards to anisotropic filtering than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3. (explain)

GeForce 830M		16464 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 7824 (91%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce 830M will be much (more or less 91%) better at FSAA than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3, and also able to handle higher resolutions while still performing well. (explain)

GeForce 830M		8232 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 3912 (91%)

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 max amount of information (counted in MB per second) that can be transferred across the external memory interface in a second. It's calculated by multiplying the card's bus width by its memory speed. If it uses DDR type memory, it must be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the memory bandwidth, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, High Dynamic Range and high resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum number of texture map elements (texels) that are applied in one second. This number is worked out by multiplying the total texture units of the card by the core 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 applied in a second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels that the graphics card can possibly record to its local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is calculated by multiplying the number of ROPs by the the card's clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also called Render Output Units) are responsible for outputting the pixels (image) to the screen. The actual pixel fill rate is also dependant on quite a few other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to get to the maximum fill rate.