GeForce 8600 GT 1GB GDDR3 vs GeForce GT 315

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GT 315, which makes use of a 40 nm design. nVidia has clocked the core frequency at 625 MHz. The DDR3 memory is set to run at a frequency of 790 MHz on this model. It features 48 SPUs as well as 16 Texture Address Units and 8 Rasterization Operator Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GT 1GB GDDR3		47 Watts
GeForce GT 315		52 Watts
	Difference: 5 Watts (11%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce GT 315 should be 13% quicker than the GeForce 8600 GT 1GB GDDR3 in general, due to its higher bandwidth. (explain)

GeForce GT 315		25280 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 1GB GDDR3		22400 MB/sec
	Difference: 2880 (13%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GT 315 is a bit (approximately 16%) more effective at texture filtering than the GeForce 8600 GT 1GB GDDR3. (explain)

GeForce GT 315		10000 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 1GB GDDR3		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 1360 (16%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GT 315 is just a bit (more or less 16%) better at AA than the GeForce 8600 GT 1GB GDDR3, and also should be able to handle higher resolutions more effectively. (explain)

GeForce GT 315		5000 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 1GB GDDR3		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 680 (16%)

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 max amount of data (measured in MB per second) that can be moved past the external memory interface within a second. It is calculated by multiplying the card's bus width by its memory speed. In the case of DDR memory, it should be multiplied by 2 once again. If DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the bandwidth is, the faster 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 amount of texture units by the core clock speed of the chip. The higher this number, the better the graphics card will be at handling texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels in a second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels that the graphics chip can possibly write to the local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. Pixel rate is worked out by multiplying the amount of colour ROPs by the clock speed of the card. 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, especially the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to reach the maximum fill rate.