GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3 vs GeForce GTX 460

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GTX 460, which has a core clock frequency of 675 MHz and a GDDR5 memory frequency of 900 MHz. It also uses a 192-bit bus, and uses a 40 nm design. It features 336 SPUs, 56 TAUs, and 24 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3		47 Watts
GeForce GTX 460		150 Watts
	Difference: 103 Watts (219%)

Memory Bandwidth

The GeForce GTX 460 should theoretically be a lot faster than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3 overall. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460		86400 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3		22400 MB/sec
	Difference: 64000 (286%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 460 is much (more or less 338%) faster with regards to texture filtering than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460		37800 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 29160 (338%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 460 will be a lot (about 275%) more effective at full screen anti-aliasing than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3, and should be capable of handling higher resolutions without slowing down too much. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460		16200 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 11880 (275%)

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 megabytes per second) that can be transported across the external memory interface in a second. It is worked out by multiplying the bus width by its memory speed. If the card has DDR type RAM, the result should be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The higher the card's memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, HDR and high resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum number of texture map elements (texels) that can be applied per second. This figure is calculated 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 per second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels the graphics card can possibly write to the local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is worked out by multiplying the number of Render Output Units by the the core clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - aka Render Output Units) are responsible for outputting the pixels (image) to 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 max fill rate.