GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 vs GeForce 9600 GSO 384MB

Intro

Compare that to the GeForce 9600 GSO 384MB, which features GPU core speed of 550 MHz, and 384 MB of GDDR3 memory set to run at 800 MHz through a 192-bit bus. It also is comprised of 96 Stream Processors, 48 TAUs, and 12 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		47 Watts
GeForce 9600 GSO 384MB		84 Watts
	Difference: 37 Watts (79%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce 9600 GSO 384MB should be much faster than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 in general. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GSO 384MB		38400 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 25600 (200%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 9600 GSO 384MB will be quite a bit (more or less 206%) better at texture filtering than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GSO 384MB		26400 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 17760 (206%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce 9600 GSO 384MB should be a lot (approximately 53%) faster with regards to FSAA than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2, and should be able to handle higher resolutions better. (explain)

GeForce 9600 GSO 384MB		6600 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 2280 (53%)

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 MB per second) that can be transported across the external memory interface within a second. It is worked out by multiplying the card's interface width by its memory speed. If it uses DDR type memory, it must be multiplied by 2 once again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The higher the card's memory bandwidth, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, HDR 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 calculated by multiplying the total 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 one second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels that the graphics card could possibly write to the 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 - sometimes also referred to as Render Output Units) are responsible for outputting the pixels (image) to the screen. The actual pixel fill rate also depends on quite a few other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the maximum fill rate.