GeForce 8600 GT vs GT 550M
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | 974 | not rated |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Power efficiency | 2.94 | no data |
| Architecture | Fermi (2010−2014) | Tesla (2006−2010) |
| GPU code name | GF108 | G84 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Desktop |
| Release date | 5 January 2011 (13 years ago) | 17 April 2007 (17 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | no data | $159 |
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 cores | 96 | 32 |
| Core clock speed | 475 MHz | 540 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 585 million | 289 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 40 nm | 80 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 35 Watt | 47 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 7.600 | 8.640 |
| Floating-point processing power | 0.1824 TFLOPS | 0.07616 TFLOPS |
| ROPs | 4 | 8 |
| TMUs | 16 | 16 |
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 size | large | no data |
| Interface | PCIe 2.0 x16 | PCIe 1.0 x16 |
| Length | no data | 170 mm |
| Width | no data | 1-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | None | None |
| SLI options | - | + |
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 | DDR3 | GDDR3 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 1 GB | 512 MB |
| Standard memory config per GPU | no data | 256 MB |
| Memory bus width | 128 Bit | 128 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 900 MHz | 700 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 28.8 GB/s | 22.4 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 | Portable Device Dependent | 2x DVI, 1x S-Video |
Supported technologies
Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.
| Optimus | + | - |
API compatibility
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 12 API | 11.1 (10_0) |
| Shader Model | 5.1 | 4.0 |
| OpenGL | 4.5 | 2.1 |
| OpenCL | 1.1 | 1.1 |
| Vulkan | N/A | N/A |
| CUDA | + | 1.1 |
Synthetic benchmark performance
Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.
Passmark
This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. 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.
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 5 January 2011 | 17 April 2007 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 1 GB | 512 MB |
| Chip lithography | 40 nm | 80 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 35 Watt | 47 Watt |
GT 550M has an age advantage of 3 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 100% more advanced lithography process, and 34.3% lower power consumption.
We couldn't decide between GeForce GT 550M and GeForce 8600 GT. We've got no test results to judge.
Be aware that GeForce GT 550M is a notebook card while GeForce 8600 GT is a desktop 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.
