GeForce GT 120M vs 8600M GT
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 | G8x (2007−2008) | G9x (2007−2010) |
| GPU code name | G84M | N10P-GV1 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Laptop |
| Release date | 9 June 2007 (16 years ago) | 11 February 2009 (15 years ago) |
| Current price | $414 | $110 |
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 | 32 | 32 |
| Core clock speed | 475 MHz | 500 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 289 million | 314 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 80 nm | 55 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 20 Watt | 23 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 7.600 | 8.000 |
| Floating-point performance | 60.8 gflops | 80 gflops |
Form factor & compatibility
Information on GeForce 8600M GT and GeForce GT 120M compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. 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 | medium sized | medium sized |
| Interface | MXM-II | PCIe 2.0 x16 |
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 | GDDR3, GDDR2 | GDDR2, GDDR3 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 512 MB | 1 GB |
| Memory bus width | 128 Bit | 128 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 700 MHz | 1000 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 12.8 GB/s | 16 GB/s |
| 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 Connectors | No outputs | No outputs |
API compatibility
List of supported graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 11.1 (10_0) | 11.1 (10_0) |
| Shader Model | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| OpenGL | 3.3 | 3.3 |
| OpenCL | 1.1 | 1.1 |
| Vulkan | N/A | N/A |
| CUDA | 1.1 | 1.1 |
Synthetic benchmark performance
Non-gaming benchmark performance comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.
Passmark
This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.
Benchmark coverage: 25%
GT 120M outperforms 8600M GT by 69% in Passmark.
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 9 June 2007 | 11 February 2009 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 512 MB | 1 GB |
| Chip lithography | 80 nm | 55 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 20 Watt | 23 Watt |
We couldn't decide between GeForce 8600M GT and GeForce GT 120M. 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.
Comparisons with similar GPUs
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