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GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2 vs GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2
Intro
The GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2 has core speeds of 540 MHz on the GPU, and 400 MHz on the 256 MB of DDR2 RAM. It features 32 SPUs along with 16 Texture Address Units and 8 Rasterization Operator Units.Compare those specifications to the GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2, which features a clock frequency of 540 MHz and a DDR2 memory speed of 400 MHz. It also makes use of a 128-bit memory bus, and uses a 80 nm design. It is comprised of 32 SPUs, 16 TAUs, and 8 Raster Operation Units.
Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks
Both cards have the same power consumption.Memory Bandwidth
Both cards have the exact same bandwidth, so in theory they should perform exactly the same. (explain)
Texel Rate
Both cards have the exact same texel rate, so in theory they should be equally good at at anisotropic filtering. (explain)Pixel Rate
Both cards have the exact same pixel fill rate, so in theory they should be equally good at at FSAA, and be capable of handling 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
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2Amazon.com
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GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2Amazon.com
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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
| Model | GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2 | GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturer | nVidia | nVidia |
| Year | April 2007 | April 2007 |
| Code Name | G84 | G84 |
| Memory | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Core Speed | 540 MHz | 540 MHz |
| Memory Speed | 800 MHz | 800 MHz |
| Power (Max TDP) | 47 watts | 47 watts |
| Bandwidth | 12800 MB/sec | 12800 MB/sec |
| Texel Rate | 8640 Mtexels/sec | 8640 Mtexels/sec |
| Pixel Rate | 4320 Mpixels/sec | 4320 Mpixels/sec |
| Unified Shaders | 32 | 32 |
| Texture Mapping Units | 16 | 16 |
| Render Output Units | 8 | 8 |
| Bus Type | DDR2 | DDR2 |
| Bus Width | 128-bit | 128-bit |
| Fab Process | 80 nm | 80 nm |
| Transistors | 289 million | 289 million |
| Bus | PCIe x16 | PCIe x16 |
| DirectX Version | DirectX 10 | DirectX 10 |
| OpenGL Version | OpenGL 3.0 | OpenGL 3.0 |
Memory Bandwidth: Memory bandwidth is the largest amount of data (counted in MB per second) that can be moved past the external memory interface in one second. It's calculated by multiplying the bus width by its memory clock speed. If the card has DDR memory, the result should be multiplied by 2 once 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 AA, High Dynamic Range and higher screen resolutions.
Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum amount of texture map elements (texels) that are applied in one second. This figure is worked out by multiplying the total texture units by the core speed of the chip. The better 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 one second.
Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most pixels the graphics card can possibly write to its local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is worked out by multiplying the number of ROPs by the the core clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - aka Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel rate also depends on quite a few other factors, especially the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the potential to reach the max fill rate.
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR2Amazon.com
Check prices at:
|
GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2Amazon.com
Check prices at:
|
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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