GeForce 8600 GS (OEM) vs GeForce GT 340 1GB

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GT 340 1GB, which comes with GPU clock speed of 550 MHz, and 1024 MB of GDDR5 memory set to run at 850 MHz through a 128-bit bus. It also features 96 SPUs, 32 TAUs, and 8 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GS (OEM)		47 Watts
GeForce GT 340 1GB		69 Watts
	Difference: 22 Watts (47%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce GT 340 1GB is 325% quicker than the GeForce 8600 GS (OEM) in general, due to its greater data rate. (explain)

GeForce GT 340 1GB		54400 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GS (OEM)		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 41600 (325%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GT 340 1GB will be much (approximately 104%) better at texture filtering than the GeForce 8600 GS (OEM). (explain)

GeForce GT 340 1GB		17600 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GS (OEM)		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 8960 (104%)

Pixel Rate

If running with a high resolution is important to you, then the GeForce GT 340 1GB is superior to the GeForce 8600 GS (OEM), though not by far. (explain)

GeForce GT 340 1GB		4400 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GS (OEM)		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: Memory bandwidth is the largest amount of information (in units of megabytes per second) that can be moved across the external memory interface within a second. It is calculated by multiplying the bus width by its memory speed. If it uses DDR type memory, it must be multiplied by 2 once again. If DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the bandwidth is, 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 texture map elements (texels) that can be processed per second. This is worked out by multiplying the total texture units of the card by the core speed of the chip. The higher this number, the better the graphics card will be at texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels per second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most pixels the video card could possibly record to its local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is worked out by multiplying the number of ROPs by the the core clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also called Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel rate also depends on lots of other factors, especially the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to reach the maximum fill rate.