Video Card History

S

SuicidalGoat

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jun 15, 2004
Messages
1,913
I was bored. I started this list out of idle curiosity just to see which side I favored more. So I searched my brain and my parts drawers for all the video cards that I can remember owning. I decided to post the list here so that maybe we can get some nostalgia going for our video card histories. Many of these cards have been sold/traded to friends and family, so are still in use somewhere.

Nvidia
Asus Geforce 256 w/Goggles!
Geforce 2
Abit Geforce 3 Ti200 (dead)
Gainward Geforce 4 (dead)
Gigabyte 6800GT (dead, warranty replaced w/ 7600GS)
Abit Geforce 7800GT
Geforce 8500GT
Evga Geforce 8800 GTS 320
Asus 9600GT (dead)
Asus GTX 280

ATI
ATI 7000
ATI 8500
ATI 8500
Sapphire 9500 Pro
ATI 9700 Pro (died after installing passive zalman)
MSI 9800 Pro
ATI x300
Sapphire x800 Pro
Sapphire x850xt
Sapphire 2400 (dead)
Sapphire 2900 Pro
Asus 3450
Diamond 3850
Diamond 3850 (dead)
Sapphire 3870
Sapphire 3870
Sapphire 4870
Sapphire 4870
XFX 5770
XFX 5770
XFX 5770
XFX 5830
XFX 5850

3DFX
Voodoo 3 AGP
Voodoo 3 AGP
Voodoo 4 PCI
 
Why did you have so many failed cards? My list goes further back and can only think of one failure due to a bad fan.
 
In order:

FX5800 Ultra (I think BFG, could be wrong)
Powercolor ATI 9800 LE (fan died and the card fried)
BFG FX5600 (got it at Wal-Mart as I needed a card ASAP)
BFG 8800 GTS 320
Diamond HD3870
EVGA 9800GTX + XFX 9800 GTX
2x XFX GTX 260
Sapphire HD5850
Gigabyte 5870
Ordering soon: Some brand GTX 470

Due to going SLI twice I've had more Nvidia cards than ATI ones. Counting the SLI'd cards as one and not counting the not yet ordered 470 I've had the same number of different card models.
 
Derangel said:
Due to going SLI twice I've had more Nvidia cards than ATI ones. Counting the SLI'd cards as one and not counting the not yet ordered 470 I've had the same number of different card models.
Click to expand...

I counted the crossfire cards individually only because I don't always use them in crossfire throughout different builds.


As to the number of cards dying? IDK, part bad luck, part modifications, and part old age. Some of the dead cards got some good use out of them. Such as my Geforce 3 playing BF1942 maxed for a long time, that was a glorious end as it actually popped and sizzled on its way out.
 
Ati Radeon 32mb
Ati Radeon All in one 7500
Ati Radeon 9600XT
Nvidia 6800
Nvidia 7600GT
Nvidia 8800 GTS 320mb
Radeon HD 3870
radeon HD 3870 X2
Radeon HD 4870 1gb
Radeon HD 5850 1gb
Radeon HD 5870 1gb
 
Okay let me see if I can remember them all.

AGP
ATI At Work 8MB Card (I think that is what it was called)
ATI 7500 32MB Card
ATI AIW 8500 128MB Card
ATI AIW 9600 128MB Card
EVGA 6800 128MB Card

PCIE
EVGA NVidia7900 256MB Card
EVGA NVidia 8800GTS 640 MB Card
MSI NVidia 8500 64MB Card (Test Card)
XFX Nvidia 260GTX 896MB Card
XFX ATI 5850 1GB Card
 
Wow, that's a lot of GPUS OP.:eek:

In the last 8 years I have owned:

ATI

9800 Pro
2x 5870's

Nvidia

6800 Ultra
8800GTX

4 systems, thus 4 GPUs. (Ok, 5 with crossfire, but you know what I mean.)
 
ATI 9800 LE
ATI x800se
ATI x1950 PRO (Installed in a family member's rig, this card's only failed only six months ago, and it was only the fan on the heatsink that stopped!)
NVIDIA 9800GTX (stepped up through EVGA to...)
NVIDIA GTX 260
NVIDIA GTX 260 SLI
NVIDIA GTX 285 SLI
NVIDIA GTX 480
NVIDIA GTX 480 SLI
 
(some stuff that I can't remember)
Trident 9660
Matrox Mystique 4MB PCI
Voodoo3 2000 AGP
Geforce2 MX
Radeon 8500
Radeon 9500 Pro
Geforce 6600GT
Geforce 7600GT Go
Geforce 7900GT
Geforce 8800GS
Geforce GTX460
 
I think my favorite part of posts like this is seeing people go from fairly cheap setups to exceedingly expensive $1k+ setups over the span of 10 years. It's like a study in the persons finances.

back on topic:

Ati At Work 8mb card (I think that is what it was called)
voodoo 3 3000
Ati 8500
Ati 9700 pro
Nvidia 6800gt
Ati x800xt pe
Nvidia 7800gt x2 (developed a strong distaste for SLI here)
Nvidia 8800gts 640
Nvidia 8800gtx
Nvidia gtx280
Ati 4870x2 (decided to try multi-gpu again, fairly happy with it)

I can't help but feel like I'm forgetting some in there, but oh well.
 
since I am young and didnt do much computer hardware/buying at 10 years old 10 years ago

nVIDIA TNT2/TNT Pro

Geforce 3

nVidia 8400 GS

ATI HD4200

ATI 5770
 
I change my hardware almost as much as I change my underwear. I love to barter and trade hardware with friends so I get away without spending too much. But now that I have kids my hardware budget has taken a nosedive. The 5xxx series cards I have/had cost me a total of about $200.00 due to trading.

I originally paid about $400 for my X800 Pro, But the card that I used the longest would be the x850xt.
 
ATI All-In Wonder 2006 Edition
PNY XLR8 9800GTX
PNY XLR8 GTX 260
 
Main Rig
12mb onboard with my P3
ATI 7500 pci 64mb
ATI 9200 128mb
Nvidia 5200 256mb
ATI 9600xt
ATI x800pro
ATI x850pro
Nvidia 6800
ATI x800xt
2x 7600gt SLI
ATI x1900gt
8800gts 320mb
ATI 4870 512mb
Next card - Trying to buy every other generation. Lets see whats offered around the 6 series. For as lopsided as my chart is, I actually like Nvidia better than ATi in terms of trouble free gaming.


Wifes Rig
Nvidia 7600gt
Nvidia 9600gso
 
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3dfx Voodoo Banshee
S3 Savage 4 + 3dfx Voodoo2
S3 Savage 4 + 2x 3dfx Voodoo2 SLI
Nvidia TNT2 Ultra + 2x 3dfx Voodoo2 SLI
Nvidia Geforce2 Ultra + 2x 3dfx Voodoo2 SLI
ATI Radeon 8500
ATI FireGL X1 128 (Same as 9700 Pro)
ATI X800XT-PE
Nvidia Geforce 8800GT
Nvidia Geforce 9800GT (1GB)
ATI Radeon 4850
2x ATI Radeon 4850 Crossfire
ATI Radeon 4870x2
2x ATI Radeon 4870x2
 
Here's a list of the ones I remember. Mind you, these are only the video cards I purchased. I've had computers for longer than this, but I never upgraded the video card.

Trident TGUI 9440
S3 ViRGE
ATI Rage 2
Rendition Verite 1000
ATI Rage Pro
Voodoo 1
Voodoo 2
TNT2 Ultra
Geforce 2 MX
Geforce 3
Geforce 4 Ti4800
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro
Radeon X850 XT Platinum
Geforce 6800 Ultra
Geforce 8800 GTS
Geforce 9800 GTX
Geforce 9800 GX2
Geforce 280
Geforce 285
Geforce 480
 
2 Voodoo 2's in a celeron 300a system
Voodoo 5 in a Duron 800 system

Geforece FX 5200 in a p4 2.6 system

8400gs MSI

HD 4650 Saphire
HD 4670 HIS
HD 5770 HIS
HD 5770 HIS
HD 5870 XFX Reference
HD 5870 ASUS Matrix Platinum
 
Trident (512KB)
ATI Rage
Voodoo 1

[big gap here in which I didn't play games much and used laptops with ATI or NV graphics]

GeForce 6800XT
Radeon 4670
Radeon 5850
 
Whatever came with my Packard Bell Pentium 75MHz computer
ATi Rage Pro 4MB
3dfx Voodoo 3 3000 AGP 16MB
GeForce 2 Ultra 64MB
ATi Radeon 8500
GeForce 3 Ti 500
ATi Radeon 9700 Pro 128MB
GeForce 7800 GTX 256MB
GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB
GeForce GTX 285 (two in SLI)
Soon to be proud owner of Two GTX 480's in SLI as soon as I get the green light from the wife :)
 
I wasn't really into computers in the beginning, but it went something like this:

Geforce 2 GTS 64mb
Geforce FX5700
Geforce 6800 Ultra
Geforce 7950 GT AGP (!!!)
8800GTS 320mb
8800GT 256mb
8800GTS 512mb
GTX 275
GTX 285
HD5850 Crossfire
HD5850

This isn't to mention the cards i've aquired and sold over the years, all kinds of cards, even a 7950GX2 that I have as my backup card :p
 
I have no idea what video cards were in my PCs from the 80s & first half of the 90s.

Rage Pro 2, 4mb AGP - came with PC
FX 5200 256mb PCI
FX 5500 128mb PCI - Gift
x300 SE 128mb PCI-X - came with PC
x1950 Pro 512mb PCI-X
HD 4670 1gb PCI-X

I also has some version of a TNT2 AGP floating around that came with a PC.
 
Oh okay, i've used a X1950XT and a 4650 and couldn't tell much of a difference between the two.
 
kaptnkain said:
Oh okay, i've used a X1950XT and a 4650 and couldn't tell much of a difference between the two.
Click to expand...

The 4650 might have been using the slow DDR2 RAM. Note that in the Hierarchy I linked to that the X1950XT is actually ranked HIGHER than a HD4650 with DDR2 RAM. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-460-radeon-hd-5570-gaming,2697-7.html

Even if the 4650 were using DDR3 RAM, it would still be only one rank higher than the X1950XT, i.e., not that much faster.

So your experience seems to be pretty normal. The HD4670 is stronger than the HD4650 though; it can sometimes catch a HD3870 and can trade blows with a HD3850 at the least. I owned a 4670 when it first came out and I was on a budget and playing wait-and-see with GPUs. It was a nice little card and could be repurposed for HTPC duties pretty easily. (I sold mine to help fund my HD5850 purchase, though.)
 
Yes I had a x1950 Pro with the DDR3 and the HD 4670 1gb I bought on a tight budget was a big step up. I wanted an HD 4770 but I just couldn't afford it at the time.

The first noticeable difference is the 4670 doesn't need a power cord, it can draw enough power just from the port. Then there is the fact that the 4670 supports hardware acceleration so I could now watch HD video without any stuttering or slowing down the overall system.

My current computer is an OEM POS so I haven't really been able to game on it anymore so I don't bother running any speed/system tests. I expected it to have problems down the road I just wasn't expecting the CPU & Mobo to be locked with the BIOS from Gateway. So I can't upgrade the P4 CPU.
 
ATI Radeon 8500 LE
ATI HD 4200 (plays relatively recent games at minimum res and details lol ~ 10-15 fps)
Edit: Now 6850
 
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Nitro 3D (came with dell, wasn't really 3D, livid)
3dfx Voodoo 2 12mb
GeForce 256 ddr
GeForce 2 pro 64mb
" FX 5900 Ultra (expensive and awful)
" 7900 GS (cheap and awful)
" 8800 GT (amazing)
ATI 5850 (meh)
 
1. Whatever the hell was in my 1988 3x86 Monochrome Machine ISA or VLB Card cant remember. - 1988-1996
2. Diamond Stealth 64 1MB (expanable to 2) VLB Card - 1996-1998
3. Matrox G100 8MB AGP (with Matrox M3D 4MB 3D Expantion Card) - 1998-1999
4. Diamond Viper V770 32MB TNT2 Ultra AGP (with 2x Diamond Monster II's Voodoo 2 12MB PCI) - 1999-2000
5. Leadtek Geforce 2 GTS 64MB AGP 2000-2002
6. Leadtek Geforce 4 Ti4600 128MB AGP 2002-2004
7. EVGA Geforce 5900SE (5900XT chip) 128MB AGP Spring 2004-Summer 2004
8. ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB AGP Summer 2004 - Later Summer2004
9. ATI Radeon 9800XT 256MB AGP Late Sumer 2004- Fall 2004
10. BFG Geforce 6800 GT 256MB PCI Express Fall 2004-2005
11. BFG Geforce 7800 GTX 256MB PCI Express 2005-2007
12. PNY Geforce 8800 GTX 768MB PCI Express 2007-2010 Very Early Spring
13. ATI Radeon 4870 512MB PCI Express Spring 2010-2010 Summer
14. OEM Geforce GTX285 1024MB PCI Express (Current Card)

These are all the cards i can remember being in my main use computer from my first pc i owned to current. I might have missed one or two in there, but off the top of my head i dont think i did.

in my 3 other various computers Most of them sported hand me down cards that i had upgraded from in my main machine. But a few occasionally had things not listed above like the
Diamond Moster 3d Voodoo 4MB PCI
Geforce 256 32MB AGP,
Voodoo 3 3000 AGP,
Geforce 2 MX 32MB AGP,
Voodoo 5 5500 AGP,
Geforce 3 TI500 64MB AGP,
Geforce 6600GT 128MB PCI Express (x3 of em),
Geforce 8600GT 256MB PCI EXPRESS,
Geforce 9600GT 512MB PCI Express.
 
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Trident 3D Image something or other
GeForce MX440 (fried :()
GeForce 5300 SE (fried :()
GeForce 5700 something (fried :()
9600 Pro 128mb (fried :()
9600 Pro 256mb
9800 Pro All-in-Wonder (fried :()
9800 Pro (fried :()
9800 Pro (fried :()
6600 GT (fried :()
6600 GT
6800 OC
7800 GTX
GTX 285
GTX 285
GTX 295
GTX 295
X1950 Pro
HD 3850
HD 5970
HD 5970
HD 4870
HD 4870
GTX 275
HD 5870
GTX 480
GTX 480

In order they were bought, I'm sure I'm missing some and that Vapor will let me know.
 
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PC compatable only list

Cirrus Logic 5424
Cirrus Logic 5428
S3 Trio 64
Rendition Vertite 2200
Savage 3
Savage 4
Savage 2000
Radeon LE
Radeon 8500
Radeon 9500 Pro
Radeon X1800XL
Radeon X1950Pro
Radeon 3870
Radeon 4870 (still being used)
next card is going to be a ATi 6000 series
 
SuicidalGoat said:
I didn't think the Geforce 256 would be so popular, I liked my Voodoo cards much more
Click to expand...

Just as I saved enough money to buy a GeForce 256 to replace my Voodoo 3 3000 AGP, they released the GeForce 2 GTS. So I waited and they released the GeForce 2 Ultra and then I pulled the Trigger :)
 
My list is waaaay smaller than a lot here. But here goes.

Ati Rage Pro 8mb
Nvidia TNT2 32mb
Geforce 2 GTS 64mb
Ati 9800pro 128mb
Ati X1900XTX 512mb
Geforce 8800GTS 640mb

Still running my 8800 and its holding out really well. Waiting a couple more generations to upgrade. :D
 
I know I am going to forget one.

Voodoo Banshee 16MB 1997?
TNT2 32MB ~1999
GF4 TI4200 64MB ~2002
RADEON 9800PRO 128M ~2003
BFG 8800GTS 640MB ~2006
BFG 260OC 896MB ~2008 (would have kept longer, went in wife's new computer to justify the next one)
460 1gig (x2, first SLI!) 2010

And when I put the years next to it, damn, that tech came a long way quickly.
 
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USMC2Hard4U said:
Just as I saved enough money to buy a GeForce 256 to replace my Voodoo 3 3000 AGP, they released the GeForce 2 GTS. So I waited and they released the GeForce 2 Ultra and then I pulled the Trigger :)
Click to expand...

Video card releases have always messed with me. My biggest regret was the GTX 280. I was an early adopter and paid close to $750 (newegg decided to start charging NYS sales tax that month) Before I received the card, the price dropped by $200.00. Since then I vowed to never spend more than $250 for a card
 
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