GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2 vs GeForce GTX 570

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GTX 570, which makes use of a 40 nm design. nVidia has set the core frequency at 732 MHz. The GDDR5 memory is set to run at a speed of 950 MHz on this specific model. It features 480 SPUs as well as 60 TAUs and 40 ROPs.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		47 Watts
GeForce GTX 570		219 Watts
	Difference: 172 Watts (366%)

Memory Bandwidth

The GeForce GTX 570, in theory, should be quite a bit faster than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2 in general. (explain)

GeForce GTX 570		152000 MB/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		12800 MB/sec
	Difference: 139200 (1088%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 570 is a lot (more or less 408%) more effective at texture filtering than the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2. (explain)

GeForce GTX 570		43920 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		8640 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 35280 (408%)

Pixel Rate

If using a high resolution is important to you, then the GeForce GTX 570 is the winner, by far. (explain)

GeForce GTX 570		29280 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2		4320 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 24960 (578%)

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 maximum amount of data (in units of megabytes per second) that can be transported past the external memory interface in a second. The number is calculated by multiplying the card's bus width by its memory speed. If the card has DDR RAM, it should be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The higher the memory bandwidth, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, High Dynamic Range and higher screen resolutions.

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

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