GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3 vs GeForce GTX 560 Ti

Intro

Compare that to the GeForce GTX 560 Ti, which features clock speeds of 822 MHz on the GPU, and 1002 MHz on the 1024 MB of GDDR5 memory. It features 384 SPUs along with 64 TAUs and 32 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3		47 Watts
GeForce GTX 560 Ti		170 Watts
	Difference: 123 Watts (262%)

Memory Bandwidth

The GeForce GTX 560 Ti, in theory, should be quite a bit faster than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3 in general. (explain)

GeForce GTX 560 Ti		128256 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3		22400 MB/sec
	Difference: 105856 (473%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 560 Ti is much (about 509%) more effective at AF than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3. (explain)

GeForce GTX 560 Ti		52608 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 43968 (509%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 560 Ti will be much (approximately 509%) better at anti-aliasing than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3, and also will be capable of handling higher screen resolutions while still performing well. (explain)

GeForce GTX 560 Ti		26304 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 21984 (509%)

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 largest amount of data (counted in megabytes per second) that can be transported over the external memory interface in a second. It is worked out by multiplying the interface width by its memory speed. If it uses DDR type memory, it should be multiplied by 2 once again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the bandwidth is, 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 are processed in one second. This figure is calculated by multiplying the total amount of texture units by the core clock speed of the chip. The better the texel rate, the better the card will be at texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels in one second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most pixels the graphics card can possibly record to its local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. Pixel rate is worked out by multiplying the amount of Render Output Units by the clock speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also called Render Output Units) are responsible for outputting the pixels (image) to the screen. The actual pixel fill rate is also dependant on quite a few other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the potential to get to the maximum fill rate.