Compare any two graphics cards:
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3 vs Radeon HD 3690/3830
IntroThe GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3 has a GPU core speed of 540 MHz, and the 512 MB of GDDR3 memory is set to run at 700 MHz through a 128-bit bus. It also is comprised of 32 SPUs, 16 Texture Address Units, and 8 Raster Operation Units.Compare that to the Radeon HD 3690/3830, which makes use of a 55 nm design. AMD has set the core speed at 668 MHz. The GDDR3 RAM works at a speed of 828 MHz on this model. It features 320(64x5) SPUs as well as 16 Texture Address Units and 16 Rasterization Operator Units.
Display Graphs
Power Usage and Theoretical BenchmarksPower Consumption (Max TDP)
Memory BandwidthTheoretically speaking, the Radeon HD 3690/3830 should be 18% faster than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3 overall, due to its higher bandwidth. (explain)
Texel RateThe Radeon HD 3690/3830 should be a lot (approximately 24%) more effective at texture filtering than the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3. (explain)
Pixel RateIf running with high levels of AA is important to you, then the Radeon HD 3690/3830 is the winner, and very much so. (explain)
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
Display Prices
Please note that the price comparisons are based on search keywords - sometimes it might show cards with very similar names that are not exactly the same as the one chosen in the comparison. We do try to filter out the wrong results as best we can, though. Specifications
Display Specifications
Memory Bandwidth: Bandwidth is the largest amount of information (measured in MB per second) that can be transferred over the external memory interface within a second. It's worked out by multiplying the card's interface width by its memory speed. In the case of DDR type RAM, it must be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, High Dynamic Range and high resolutions. Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum amount of texture map elements (texels) that can be applied in one second. This is calculated by multiplying the total amount of texture units of the card by the core clock speed of the chip. The higher the texel rate, the better the graphics card will be at texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels applied in a second. Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most pixels the video card can possibly record to the local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is worked out by multiplying the amount of Raster Operations Pipelines by the the core clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - sometimes also referred to as Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel fill rate also depends on quite a few other factors, especially the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to reach the maximum fill rate.
Display Prices
Please note that the price comparisons are based on search keywords - sometimes it might show cards with very similar names that are not exactly the same as the one chosen in the comparison. We do try to filter out the wrong results as best we can, though.
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