GeForce 3 Go vs 8600 GS
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in performance ranking | not rated | not rated |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Architecture | Tesla (2006−2010) | no data |
| GPU code name | G84 | no data |
| Market segment | Desktop | Laptop |
| Release date | 17 April 2007 (17 years ago) | 1 February 2002 (22 years ago) |
| Current price | $6.66 | $387 |
Detailed specifications
General performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider their benchmark and gaming test results. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.
| Pipelines / CUDA cores | 16 | no data |
| Core clock speed | 540 MHz | no data |
| Boost clock speed | no data | 250 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 289 million | 27 Million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 80 nm | 150 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 47 Watt | 2 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 4.320 | no data |
| Floating-point performance | 38.08 gflops | no data |
Form factor & compatibility
Information on GeForce 8600 GS and GeForce 3 Go compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop video cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility). For notebook video cards it's notebook size, connection slot and bus, if the video card is inserted into a slot instead of being soldered to the notebook motherboard.
| Laptop size | no data | medium sized |
| Interface | PCIe 1.0 x16 | no data |
| Width | 1-slot | no data |
| Supplementary power connectors | None | no data |
VRAM capacity and type
Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.
| Memory type | DDR2 | DDR |
| Maximum RAM amount | 512 MB | 64 MB |
| Memory bus width | 128 Bit | 32 / 64 / 128 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 800 MHz | no data |
| Memory bandwidth | 12.8 GB/s | no data |
| Shared memory | no data | - |
Connectivity and outputs
Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.
| Display Connectors | 1x DVI, 1x VGA, 1x S-Video | no data |
API compatibility
List of supported graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 11.1 (10_0) | DDR |
| Shader Model | 4.0 | no data |
| OpenGL | 3.3 | no data |
| OpenCL | 1.1 | no data |
| Vulkan | N/A | no data |
| CUDA | 1.1 | no data |
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 17 April 2007 | 1 February 2002 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 512 MB | 64 MB |
| Chip lithography | 80 nm | 150 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 47 Watt | 2 Watt |
8600 GS has an age advantage of 5 years, a 700% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 87.5% more advanced lithography process.
GeForce 3 Go, on the other hand, has 2250% lower power consumption.
We couldn't decide between GeForce 8600 GS and GeForce 3 Go. We've got no test results to judge.
Be aware that GeForce 8600 GS is a desktop card while GeForce 3 Go is a notebook one.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Comparisons with similar GPUs
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
