Compare any two graphics cards:
GeForce 8600 GT 1GB DDR2 vs GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2
IntroThe GeForce 8600 GT 1GB DDR2 uses a 80 nm design. nVidia has set the core frequency at 540 MHz. The DDR2 RAM runs at a speed of 400 MHz on this particular card. It features 32 SPUs as well as 16 TAUs and 8 ROPs.Compare that to the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2, which comes with clock speeds of 540 MHz on the GPU, and 400 MHz on the 256 MB of DDR2 memory. It features 32 SPUs along with 16 TAUs and 8 Rasterization Operator Units.
Display Graphs
Power Usage and Theoretical BenchmarksBoth cards have the same power consumption.Memory BandwidthBoth cards have the exact same memory bandwidth, so in theory they should have identical performance. (explain)
Texel RateBoth cards have exactly the same texel rate, so in theory they should be equally good at at anisotropic filtering. (explain)Pixel RateBoth cards have the exact same pixel fill rate, so in theory they should be equally good at at AA, and be able to handle the same screen resolutions. (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 max amount of data (counted in megabytes per second) that can be transported across the external memory interface in one second. It is worked out by multiplying the interface width by its memory speed. If the card has DDR type memory, it must be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The higher the card's memory bandwidth, the faster 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 texture map elements (texels) that are processed in one second. This figure is calculated by multiplying the total amount of texture units of the card 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 a second. Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels that the graphics chip can possibly write to its local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. Pixel rate is calculated by multiplying the amount of colour ROPs by the the core speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - aka Render Output Units) are responsible for drawing the pixels (image) on the screen. The actual pixel output rate is also dependant on many other factors, especially the memory bandwidth - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the max 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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