Apple M3 Max 40-Core GPU vs GeForce 8600 GT Mac Edition

Primary details

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in the rankingnot ratednot rated
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
ArchitectureTesla (2006−2010)no data
GPU code nameG84no data
Market segmentDesktopLaptop
Release date17 April 2007 (17 years ago)31 October 2023 (1 year ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$159 no data

Detailed specifications

General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores3240
Core clock speed600 MHzno data
Number of transistors289 millionno data
Manufacturing process technology80 nm5 nm
Power consumption (TDP)47 Watt53 Watt
Texture fill rate9.600no data
Floating-point processing power0.0928 TFLOPSno data
ROPs8no data
TMUs16no data

Form factor & compatibility

Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).

Laptop sizeno datamedium sized
InterfacePCIe 1.0 x16no data
Length170 mmno data
Width1-slotno data
Supplementary power connectorsNoneno 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 typeGDDR3LPDDR5-6400
Maximum RAM amount128 MBno data
Memory bus width128 Bitno data
Memory clock speed750 MHzno data
Memory bandwidth24 GB/sno data
Shared memory--

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 Connectors2x DVIno data

API compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX11.1 (10_0)no data
Shader Model4.0no data
OpenGL3.3no data
OpenCL1.1no data
VulkanN/A-
CUDA1.1-

Pros & cons summary


Recency 17 April 2007 31 October 2023
Chip lithography 80 nm 5 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 47 Watt 53 Watt

8600 GT Mac Edition has 12.8% lower power consumption.

Apple M3 Max 40-Core GPU, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 16 years, and a 1500% more advanced lithography process.

We couldn't decide between GeForce 8600 GT Mac Edition and Apple M3 Max 40-Core GPU. We've got no test results to judge.

Be aware that GeForce 8600 GT Mac Edition is a desktop card while Apple M3 Max 40-Core GPU is a notebook one.


Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT Mac Edition
GeForce 8600 GT Mac Edition
Apple M3 Max 40-Core GPU
M3 Max 40-Core GPU

Comparisons with similar GPUs

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Community ratings

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2.3 3 votes

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3.4 245 votes

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