Favorite GPU you have owned?

Matrices said:
Best value: 9500 Pro, softmodded into...9700 Pro, I think. Last one on the shelves at CompUSA (now out of businesses where I lived) for only $130 or so.

Most exciting: Guillemot Voodoo 2 12MB SLI. I think I bought them when V3 was already out, and they were really cheap. I loved playing FreeSpace and seeing the SLI-exclusive higher-resolution option.
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I remember lusting over those in PC gamer.
 
Trident 1MB. You never forget your first...

I've had, in order, if I can remember:
Trident 1MB
Matrox 8MB card of some kind
Radeon All-in-Wonder - a 7000 series card, I believe
Ti4200
EVGA 8800GTS 320MB
Asus 4870 1GB
Sapphire 5870 Vapor-X 1GB

I still have the last three cards. The 5870 is in my current machine. The 4870 is waiting for a new home. And the 8800GTS is in my wife's computer. I got the 4870 so I could give her the 8800GTS so she could play WoW.
 
GTX 280 - Going strong for 2 years and still rocks out 1920*1200 all day long. So long as I don't upgrade monitors I think I'll be good for another year and it will approach 8800gtx levels of longevity.

Going back, Ti200 was an insane leap (from Geforce 256) and my 9800Pro was an absolute champ until I upgraded to an LCD and it couldn't take the native resolution.
 
Gainward GeForce Ti4200.

It's not even a close competition. Absolutely loved that card.
 
vengence said:
My last one. While I liked my Nintendo, I liked my SNES better. And then my sega Saturn. The same has been true with my video cards. I've never bought a weaker video card to replace one, and until I do I'll always like the last the most because of the speed.
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PS2 > PS3

For real. This generation of consoles has been terribly disappointing. Instead expanding on what makes consoles unique, developers have spent the last 5 years playing catch-up with the PC. The only exception is the Wii and not by a great margin when you consider the ratio of shovelware to quality titles on that platform.

Other than that, while you definitely can't compare today's hardware with what was released 6 or 10 years ago, you can compare the proportionate jump in quality. Sure I wouldn't want to stick a 9800pro in my system today but I can't say that my 5870 is as impressive a jump in technology from my previous gtx280 as the 9800pro was compared to say a Geforce 4.
 
Creative Labs Voodoo Banshee. My first...

That and my Celery 366 at 550mhz rocked.

*

Wait, didn't nvidia invent the term 'GPU' with the release of the original geforce? So those of us getting all nostalgic need to rethink our answers?
 
I'm a man whore with vid cards. I've literally had so many, from so many brands that I loved, I quite literally feel like Wilt Chamberlain. :( :eek:
 
X800XL. Bought 2005, still running in one of my old computers.

radeon-x800xl.jpg
 
sapphire 9600 pro oem

the fan was dead on arrival, held up until the upgrade 3 years later.
 
So hard to pick...

Probably primarily the 9800 Pro All-in-Wonder. Such a bad-ass card.

Second, the Voodoo3. It was so much better than Voodoo2 SLI.

Third, GeForce3. Pretty significant upgrade from whatever I had before. (might have been the Voodoo3)
 
my fav gcard is EVGA GTX260 216sp 55nm

i bought it on 2009.04.**

it's upgrade from Sapphire HD4870 to EVGA GTX260
 
my favorite was my ti 4200, until i got my 9800 pro, until i got my 7800gt, until i got my 8800gts, until i got my 4870, the best card ive ever had!!!

for real, it is a toss up between the ti 4200 and the 9800 pro. i play a lot of good games on my 9800, so i think i would go with that one.

they both were bad ass!!!!
 
My fave was either my GF3 Ti500 or my 5700. Both were really nice solid cards.
 
6800GT -> hacked Ultra
Close second was my TNT2 Ultra in Half Life's heyday.
 
My favorite video card was definitely the Radeon 9700 Pro. That was the first "big time" video card I was ever able to purchase. I saved up for so long for that bastard. That was back when it was priceyyyyyy.
 
My 8800 GTS. What a great card that was. Doubt I'll by an ATI again after that (and my shitty 4870 stuttering problem).

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My trusty 8800 GTX has hands down been the best investment Ive made in a video card. going on 3 years and never let me down. My i7 930 has given it new life in BC2, but she deserves a good and honorable (not to mention FUNCTIONAL) retirement. :D Just hoping the 5970 I want to replace it with does as good a job over the long haul as my 8800 has.
 
6800 GT. Was the love that brought me into the light of PC gaming. One that is in a far second in a 8800 GTS 512. It spanked my 7900 GT SLI.
 
9800xt it brought me into the real gaming world. It was rock solid and never gave me any problems
 
My first: Voodoo3 PCI - Longbow 2 in 3DFX.. *drool*

My favorite: GeForce3 Ti 200 - I loved this card..

Current: ATI something.. it's old..
 
Voodoo Banshee... it was my first move into 3d graphics period. It was the biggest upgrade I ever did. However, I replaced it with two Voodoo 2s after I found out it was the crap version. In terms of longevity, the 9800 Pro was in my main system for quite a long time.
 
I don't think there's such thing as a favorite GPU for me. I buy whatever GPU I need for my needs. Like:

3fdfx Voodoo to play Quake1
Voodoo2 to play Quake 2
Banshee to play Everquest
9800pro to play BF2
6800gs to play Oblivion
8800gts to play everything at the time but Crysis
5850 to play BFBC2
 
I love you 8800GTX!!! You'll always have a place in my heart as my longest lasting most satisfying GPU. These two 5870s don't mean anything! Don't look at me that way...

m8pf5x.jpg
 
Now that I've thought about it more, I'd have to say the biggest single leap in performance was with my first ever add-on video card, a nVidia Riva TNT2. The only 3D game I was playing at the time was Asheron's Call, and the performance increase over the integrated graphics of my old HP computer was astounding. I still vividly remember logging into the game for the first time after installing it, and being all agog at the much smoother play and vastly improved visuals.
 
I had one of the first gen Geforce cards, going from the old school S3 Savage card I had, it was like an entire new world.
 
For me it's the Geforce 256. I kicked ass in Unreal and Unreal Tourny. Lol Good old days ^_^
 
I have a Sapphire Radeon 9700 Pro 128mb card that i've had since it was nearly new. I bought it used off of a forum and it still works to this day in my P4 3.2 machine. It's the only one that has stood out as being exceptional. And that's due to the LONG life it led in my main gaming machine before I swapped over to PCIe in that and downgraded the card to server duty. I'd say ive got about 6 or 7 years on the card so far.
 
BFG 6800GT most i ever spent on a videocard and first and only time i have bought top of the line at release.

crazy spent over 300 bucks i think on it yet my 4870 was only 135 bucks shortly after release.
 
Probably the Voodoo 3, which was the first 3D card I had that showcased the difference between software rendering and hardware. Going from Quake software rendering to GLQuake was crazy.
 
Bought a GeForce 256 DDR back then for all the bell and whistle of hardware TL. It ran Unreal Tournament like shit because D3D was still in its infancy stage, so and I went and picked up a Voodoo 3 to give it a try. I never looked back (until 3dfx went down).

The Voodoo 3 and 5 were probably the most satisfying cards I've owned. They ran everything I threw at them like butter. Next to them is probably the 8800GT which is the card I have owned the longest.

Prior Nvidia cards were all major disappointment (GeForce 1, 2 6800GT, 7800GT SLi). I've also given ATI several chances (9700 pro, 1900XT), but for some reason, their cards never ran as smoothly as Nvidia's or 3dfx'. What I hated the most about ATI was that their catalyst software was just a bloatware that would take ages to load. I am sure they improved their software by now, but one bad experience is enough to ruin their reputation.
 
Jstamsek gets a hug for epic voodoo 5age. GeForce 256 open box at Best Buy for $210 "ITS SUCH A GOOD DEAL!" Favorite card for its time was the BFG 6800GT OC. Such a bad ass jump from the card before it.
 
My Quantum 3d Obsidian X-24 (Voodeoo 2 SLI on a single Card). Running 1024x768 when most cards barely could do 640x480...That card kicked some serious ass back in the day. Still have the thing...

800px-Quantum3D_Obsidian_X24_SLI_PCI.png
 
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