Apple M2 Max 38-Core GPU vs GeForce 8600M GS

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Primary details

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

Place in the ranking1398not rated
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Power efficiency0.63no data
ArchitectureTesla (2006−2010)no data
GPU code nameG86no data
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
Release date1 May 2007 (17 years ago)17 January 2023 (1 year ago)

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 cores1638
Core clock speed450 MHzno data
Number of transistors210 millionno data
Manufacturing process technology80 nm5 nm
Power consumption (TDP)20 Watt53 Watt
Texture fill rate3.600no data
Floating-point processing power0.0288 TFLOPSno data
ROPs4no data
TMUs8no 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 sizemedium sizedmedium sized
InterfaceMXM-IIno 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 typeDDR2LPDDR5-6400
Maximum RAM amount512 MBno data
Memory bus width128 Bitno data
Memory clock speed400 MHzno data
Memory bandwidth12.8 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 ConnectorsNo outputsno 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 1 May 2007 17 January 2023
Chip lithography 80 nm 5 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 20 Watt 53 Watt

8600M GS has 165% lower power consumption.

Apple M2 Max 38-Core GPU, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 15 years, and a 1500% more advanced lithography process.

We couldn't decide between GeForce 8600M GS and Apple M2 Max 38-Core GPU. We've got no test results to judge.


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 8600M GS
GeForce 8600M GS
Apple M2 Max 38-Core GPU
M2 Max 38-Core GPU

Comparisons with similar GPUs

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Community ratings

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4.5 14 votes

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3.3 198 votes

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Questions & comments

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