GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 vs GeForce GTX 1050

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce GTX 1050, which comes with a core clock frequency of 1354 MHz and a GDDR5 memory frequency of 1750 MHz. It also features a 128-bit bus, and makes use of a 14 nm design. It is comprised of 640 SPUs, 40 TAUs, and 32 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		47 Watts
GeForce GTX 1050		75 Watts
	Difference: 28 Watts (60%)

Memory Bandwidth

Theoretically speaking, the GeForce GTX 1050 should perform quite a bit faster than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 in general. (explain)

GeForce GTX 1050		114688 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 101888 (796%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 1050 should be quite a bit (about 527%) faster with regards to AF than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2. (explain)

GeForce GTX 1050		54160 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 45520 (527%)

Pixel Rate

If running with high levels of AA is important to you, then the GeForce GTX 1050 is the winner, by a large margin. (explain)

GeForce GTX 1050		43328 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 39008 (903%)

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: Bandwidth is the max amount of data (counted in megabytes per second) that can be moved over the external memory interface within a second. The number is calculated by multiplying the interface width by its memory clock speed. If the card has DDR memory, it should be multiplied by 2 once again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The higher the bandwidth is, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, HDR and high resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum 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 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 applied per second.

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