Apple M3 Pro 18-Core GPU vs GeForce 8600M GT

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Primary details

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

Place in the ranking1335not rated
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Power efficiency0.99no data
ArchitectureTesla (2006−2010)no data
GPU code nameG84no data
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
Release date31 December 2007 (16 years ago)31 October 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 cores3218
Core clock speed475 MHzno data
Number of transistors289 millionno data
Manufacturing process technology80 nm5 nm
Power consumption (TDP)20 Wattno data
Texture fill rate7.600no data
Floating-point processing power0.0608 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 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 31 December 2007 31 October 2023
Chip lithography 80 nm 5 nm

Apple M3 Pro 18-Core GPU has an age advantage of 15 years, and a 1500% more advanced lithography process.

We couldn't decide between GeForce 8600M GT and M3 Pro 18-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 GT
GeForce 8600M GT
Apple M3 Pro 18-Core GPU
M3 Pro 18-Core GPU

Comparisons with similar GPUs

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

Community ratings

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3.5 25 votes

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3.1 171 vote

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Questions & comments

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