In terms of overall gaming performance, the graphical capabilities of the Intel HD Graphics 510 Desktop are very slightly better than the Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR3 Fatal1ty Edition.

The 8600 GT has a 290 MHz higher core clock speed and 8 more Texture Mapping Units than the Graphics 510. This results in the 8600 GT providing 7.4 GTexel/s better texturing performance. This still holds weight but shader performance is generally more relevant, particularly since both of these GPUs support at least DirectX 10.

The 8600 GT has a 290 MHz higher core clock speed and 4 more Render Output Units than the Graphics 510. This results in the 8600 GT providing 3.7 GPixel/s better pixeling performance. However, both GPUs support DirectX 9 or above, and pixeling performance is only really relevant when comparing older cards.

The Graphics 510 was released over three years more recently than the 8600 GT, and so the Graphics 510 is likely to have far better driver support, meaning it will be much more optimized and ultimately superior to the 8600 GT when running the latest games.

The 8600 GT has 256 MB video memory, but the Graphics 510 does not have an entry, so the two GPUs cannot be reliably compared in this area.

The HD Graphics 510 Desktop has 12 Shader Processing Units and the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR3 Fatal1ty Edition has 32. However, the actual shader performance of the Graphics 510 is 101 and the actual shader performance of the 8600 GT is 51. The Graphics 510 having 50 better shader performance and an altogether better performance when taking into account other relevant data means that the Graphics 510 delivers a marginally smoother and more efficient experience when processing graphical data than the 8600 GT.

The Graphics 510 transistor size technology is 66 nm (nanometers) smaller than the 8600 GT. This means that the Graphics 510 is expected to run massively cooler and achieve higher clock frequencies than the 8600 GT. While they exhibit similar graphical performance, the Graphics 510 should consume less power than the 8600 GT.

The HD Graphics 510 Desktop requires 47 Watts to run but there is no entry for the GeForce 8600 GT 256MB DDR3 Fatal1ty Edition. We would recommend a PSU with at least 300 Watts for the Graphics 510 and a PSU with at least 300 Watts for the 8600 GT. The two GPUs have been recommended a PSU with the same amount of wattage. As such, there is no need to worry about which will more significantly affect your yearly electricity bills.