GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 vs GeForce GT 430 1GB

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GT 430 1GB, which features a core clock speed of 700 MHz and a GDDR3 memory speed of 900 MHz. It also features a 128-bit bus, and makes use of a 40 nm design. It is comprised of 96 SPUs, 16 Texture Address Units, and 4 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		47 Watts
GeForce GT 430 1GB		60 Watts
	Difference: 13 Watts (28%)

Memory Bandwidth

Theoretically speaking, the GeForce GT 430 1GB should be 125% faster than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 in general, due to its greater data rate. (explain)

GeForce GT 430 1GB		28800 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 16000 (125%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GT 430 1GB will be much (more or less 30%) more effective at anisotropic filtering than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2. (explain)

GeForce GT 430 1GB		11200 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 2560 (30%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 should be much (approximately 54%) more effective at AA than the GeForce GT 430 1GB, and also should be able to handle higher screen resolutions without losing too much performance. (explain)

GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		4320 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GT 430 1GB		2800 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 1520 (54%)

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 maximum amount of data (counted in MB per second) that can be transported past the external memory interface within a second. It's worked out by multiplying the card's interface width by its memory speed. In the case of DDR memory, it should be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the card's memory bandwidth, the better 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 applied per second. This is calculated by multiplying the total texture units by the core clock speed of the chip. The better this number, the better the video card will be at handling texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels processed per second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most pixels that the graphics card can possibly write to the local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. Pixel rate is calculated by multiplying the number of Render Output Units by the the card's clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - aka Render Output Units) are responsible for drawing the pixels (image) on the screen. The actual pixel output rate also depends on quite a few other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the potential to get to the maximum fill rate.