Best video card of all time?

I don't know about this. My first reaction is X1900XTX just because it's basically the fastest card ever. IMHO the answer to this question changes every refresh.
 
My Kyro II card was amazing for me for years. Still have it actually. Going to pass it to my dad in a few weeks. My 9700pro is great as well. Be serving me well for about 2 years.
 
its sad how ati never made PCI e 9700Pros... i bet they would be still selling them..

Nvidia did.. you see PCIe 5500FXs and 5700s.... whould be nice..
 
Pre-3D days: Tseng labs ET4000/W32i - One of the first to support video memory interleaving for great performance at a low price point.

Tseng would probably still be around today if they didn't do the silliest thing I've ever seen, which was refuse to integrate the Ramdac into the main chip.
 
My vote is on the 9700 pro. I have a buddy who bought one when it was new, he's still using it and can get great framerates in newer games.
 
ATI Radeon 9700 Pro.

Anyone who bought one of those when they were released had a card that easily lasted 2½ years. Far ahead of its time.
 
RivaTNT2 32mb... Was still ticking over long after Voodoo3s disappeared from min system requirements.

Geforce 2 MX 32mb. Another card that just kept on going.

Honourable mentions go to. Voodoo 2, Geforce3 Ti200 and the Radeon 9 series.
 
I would say the Geforce 2 MX was a very significant graphics card. It was the first budget card that was powerfull and not just yesterday's hardware.
 
mbmadness said:
I would say the Geforce 2 MX was a very significant graphics card. It was the first budget card that was powerfull and not just yesterday's hardware.
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still got mine :D
 
paco said:
My Kyro II card was amazing for me for years. Still have it actually. Going to pass it to my dad in a few weeks. My 9700pro is great as well. Be serving me well for about 2 years.
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Go go Kyro!!!!! ;)

I think my 9700Pro was the card I got the most use out of and scaled the best from the time I got it up until doom3 was out, which it ran pretty well.. well enough to play it at 1280x1024 while cringing here and there from the slow downs.. oh well.. I had that card "go out on me" - the whole machine shut down and upon reboot got the dreaded no video card beeps... took it out, cleaned it with air, still no dice... left it over night out of the pc, and the next day it was back to life... I guess it needed a rest? lol. I guess the caps had to discharge or something.. anyways, it lived for another year and I finally gave it to a friend who is still using it. :)

I think my 7800GTXs are my next going to be best card(s) ever... love these cards! wow.
 
Leadtech TI 4400 best looking card on the block. Or the Bad A** Radeon 8500..world records were set with that card. :)
 
I'd like to say Radeon 9700 pro, but I'm still using it in the backup machine. Since it hasn't been *retired* yet, its not fair to bury it in history as the best card - But its by far the frontrunner.
 
Great topic! From my experience, I'm stuck between choosing the Geforce 4 Ti4200 and the Radeon 9700 Pro. Both cards have been around a long time now, and both are still usable today. A friend just completed FEAR using an Albatron 128MB Ti4200 overclocked to Ti4600 speeds. He was able to play the game at 800x600 with most settings on medium or high - no shadows though. It didn't look too bad, and minimum frames were right around 30-35 fps!!!!
 
Can't really say newer cards as they haven't yet stood the test of time If I were to name my personal choice for the best card of all time is the STB BlackMagic 3D - Voodoo2 - 2 of these in SLI was badass. As was any other Voodoo2 card the blackmagic was just my personal favorite, and first 3D card....Long live G.lide!
 
I have a Voodoo 5 5500 and a GeForce 2 MX400.

I bought both brand new and-they-are-still-going!
 
I am. Works fine with everything, including some higher-end games (HL2, FC etc) up to 1280x1024 with most or all eye candy turned on. Depends on the game. I don't have F.E.A.R. but chances are it would choke big time over 800x600.
 
The 16mb Voodoo 3 card I had in my old dell. Playing Star War Episode 1 and such. The good old days.
 
id have to say the 9700 pro been using one since they came out, Wow thats been a while! :rolleyes:
 
Voodoo1 was the biggest leap for me, going from like a an ISA trident card to GL accelerated graphics was a massive improvement ;) As many people stated once you saw GL you had to change your pants, was just such a massive difference.

9700 Pro was also a big leap, this card cleaned up and made possible a ton of features that we wouldn't have right now in games otherwise. <3 Shaders
 
9800 hands down. mine still runs everything i throw at it without problems. i even run FEAR on medium settings and only get the occaisional jitters. i love my 9800 AIW
 
It would be one of two cards: the original Voodoo 1 (probably the Canopus version as it went above and beyond the 3dfx reference design) or the 9700 All-in-Wonder (because it was the first to combine so many features into one card, including great performance).
 
From Oldest to Newest...

Diamond Stealth 64
Voodoo I (GLQuake Team Fortress was the best ever!)
Voodoo II (because it just kicked ass)
an additional Voodoo II (because it took the best thing ever and made it twice as good)
Riva TNT Nvidia's awakening. Also because it did something impossible killed the v2
Geforce2 card, another HUGE leap.
Radeon 9700/9800
 
Im going to say:

Radeon 9800 series
Nvidia 6800 Series.

The 9800 was last gen and 6800 is this gen.. just look at all the models of each

9800, 9800aiw, 9800pro, 9800se, 9800xt.. all of which sold thousands.
6800le, 6800, 6800gt, 6800 ultra and now the 6800gs.. this ones going to be around for a while.
 
I'd have to disagree. The 6800 was pretty much expected so was the 9800 series. I voted for the 9700 since it came completely out of left field (no one expected it) and completely BOMBED nvidia.
 
VIC-II, came in the best selling computer in history. But Im guessing im probably the only geek here that even knows what this is? Ok... See if this refreshes your memories:

MOS Technologies ;).
 
" Best video card of all time?"

I don't see the term "3D" in that question.

My vote goes for the original VGA adapter.

-A big jump from the previous technology.
-Made the PC a true game platform (ok, with also having a soundcard like Adlib or SBlaster).
-lasted so long that everybody had one before the first accelerator appeared.
 
Based on purchase price, feature set at time of release, and longetivity, my choice is the 9700 pro.

I paid $290.00 for it back in January of '03 and it is still in my primary machine. I am finally thinking of an upgrade in the next month. No other card I have owned has given me more bang for the buck, including the Diamond Monster.
 
i had the 9800Pro for a real long time too...the only reason why i upgraded to the 7800GT was cos my motherboard died recently and seemed stupid not to upgrade to a PCI E board...

else, i would have kept on using it...

its still being used btw...on my 2nd rig..
 
Greatest ever has to be 9700pro. I still know people that are gaming on that card. That card lastested longer than any other piece of hardware ive ever bought.
 
The GeForce2 GTS.

The video card that jumped way out in front of everyone. Eventually killing 3dfx and pushing ATi into the background for a few years.
 
Voodoo for getting the ball rolling, but the TI4200s for sheer fun (OCing etc)
 
I would have to say the old Monster II 3D. Especially in SLI mode. I used the monster 2's for years.
 
Voodoo3 2000 or GeForce4 Ti4200. This GF7800GT comes third.
 
Voodoo 3.

Very fast 2d and top notch 3d performance on the same card. Also could be flashed to work with my Powermac G3 AND know how to use the 66mhz 32bit pci slot to its advantage.
 
Anarchist4000 said:
Personally I'd have to say 9700Pro was the best card of all time. The 9800 was essentially just a 9700 with higher clocks etc.
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x2

I'm still using mine in my backup box.
 
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