GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 vs GeForce GT 220 GDDR3

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce GT 220 GDDR3, which has a clock speed of 625 MHz and a GDDR3 memory frequency of 1012 MHz. It also features a 128-bit bus, and makes use of a 40 nm design. It is comprised of 48 SPUs, 16 Texture Address Units, and 8 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		47 Watts
GeForce GT 220 GDDR3		58 Watts
	Difference: 11 Watts (23%)

Memory Bandwidth

The GeForce GT 220 GDDR3 should theoretically perform quite a bit faster than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 overall. (explain)

GeForce GT 220 GDDR3		32384 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 19584 (153%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GT 220 GDDR3 should be just a bit (more or less 16%) more effective at texture filtering than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2. (explain)

GeForce GT 220 GDDR3		10000 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 1360 (16%)

Pixel Rate

If running with a high resolution is important to you, then the GeForce GT 220 GDDR3 is a better choice, but not by far. (explain)

GeForce GT 220 GDDR3		5000 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2		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: Bandwidth is the largest amount of information (counted in MB per second) that can be transported over the external memory interface in a second. It's worked out by multiplying the bus width by the speed of its memory. If it uses DDR memory, the result should be multiplied by 2 once again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The higher the card's memory bandwidth, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, High Dynamic Range and higher screen resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum number of texture map elements (texels) that are processed in one second. This number is worked out by multiplying the total texture units of the card by the core 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 processed in one second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels the graphics card could possibly write to the local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The figure is calculated by multiplying the number of Raster Operations Pipelines by the the core clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also called Render Output Units) are responsible for outputting the pixels (image) to the screen. The actual pixel rate is also dependant on many other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the potential to get to the maximum fill rate.