GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3 vs GeForce GT 340 1GB

Intro

Compare all that to the GeForce GT 340 1GB, which uses a 40 nm design. nVidia has set the core frequency at 550 MHz. The GDDR5 memory is set to run at a frequency of 850 MHz on this model. It features 96 SPUs along with 32 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 GT 340 1GB		69 Watts
	Difference: 22 Watts (47%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce GT 340 1GB is 143% quicker than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3 overall, because of its greater data rate. (explain)

GeForce GT 340 1GB		54400 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3		22400 MB/sec
	Difference: 32000 (143%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GT 340 1GB will be much (approximately 104%) faster with regards to AF than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3. (explain)

GeForce GT 340 1GB		17600 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 8960 (104%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GT 340 1GB should be a small bit (about 2%) faster with regards to anti-aliasing than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3, and also will be able to handle higher resolutions without losing too much performance. (explain)

GeForce GT 340 1GB		4400 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 80 (2%)

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 maximum amount of information (counted in MB per second) that can be transferred across the external memory interface in one second. It is worked out by multiplying the card's bus width by its memory clock speed. If it uses DDR memory, it must be multiplied by 2 once again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, High Dynamic Range and high resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum texture map elements (texels) that are processed in one second. This is calculated by multiplying the total texture units by the core speed of the chip. The better this number, the better the graphics card will be at texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels processed in a second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels that the graphics card could possibly record to the local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. Pixel rate is calculated by multiplying the amount of colour ROPs by the clock speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - sometimes also referred to as Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel output rate is also dependant on many other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to get to the max fill rate.