GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3 vs GeForce GTX 460 1GB

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GTX 460 1GB, which features a core clock frequency of 675 MHz and a GDDR5 memory frequency of 900 MHz. It also features a 256-bit bus, and uses a 40 nm design. It is comprised of 336 SPUs, 56 Texture Address Units, and 32 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 1GB		160 Watts
	Difference: 113 Watts (240%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce GTX 460 1GB will be 414% faster than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3 in general, because of its greater bandwidth. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 1GB		115200 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3		22400 MB/sec
	Difference: 92800 (414%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 460 1GB is much (approximately 338%) faster with regards to texture filtering than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 1GB		37800 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 29160 (338%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 460 1GB will be much (about 400%) more effective at anti-aliasing than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3, and also will be able to handle higher screen resolutions without slowing down too much. (explain)

GeForce GTX 460 1GB		21600 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 17280 (400%)

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 across the external memory interface in a second. It's worked out by multiplying the bus width by the speed of its memory. In the case of DDR RAM, it must be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the card's memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, HDR and high resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum number of texture map elements (texels) that can be processed per second. This figure is calculated by multiplying the total texture units by the core clock speed of the chip. The higher this number, the better the card will be at texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels applied per second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels that the graphics chip could possibly record to the local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is calculated by multiplying the amount of Raster Operations Pipelines by the the card's clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also sometimes called Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel rate is also dependant on lots of other factors, especially the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to reach the maximum fill rate.