GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3 vs GeForce 8600 GTS

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce 8600 GTS, which comes with a clock speed of 675 MHz and a GDDR3 memory speed of 1000 MHz. It also features a 128-bit memory bus, and uses a 80 nm design. It features 32 SPUs, 16 TAUs, and 8 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3		47 Watts
GeForce 8600 GTS		75 Watts
	Difference: 28 Watts (60%)

Memory Bandwidth

The GeForce 8600 GTS, in theory, should perform quite a bit faster than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3 overall. (explain)

GeForce 8600 GTS		32000 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3		22400 MB/sec
	Difference: 9600 (43%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 8600 GTS is much (more or less 25%) faster with regards to texture filtering than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3. (explain)

GeForce 8600 GTS		10800 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 2160 (25%)

Pixel Rate

If running with a high screen resolution is important to you, then the GeForce 8600 GTS is a better choice, and very much so. (explain)

GeForce 8600 GTS		5400 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 1080 (25%)

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 (in units of MB per second) that can be transported over the external memory interface in one second. The number is calculated by multiplying the card's bus width by its memory speed. If the card has DDR memory, the result should be multiplied by 2 once again. If DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the bandwidth is, 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 applied in one second. This is worked out 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 applied per second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels the video card can possibly record to its 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 core clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also called Render Output Units) are responsible for drawing the pixels (image) on the screen. The actual pixel output rate also depends on many other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the maximum fill rate.