Your Video Card Upgrade Ladder

Got my first gaming pc in 1999 ....had an Asus AGP-V3800M/32M card that came out of a friends HP that he gave me when he upgraded to a voodoo4 I think. Then I went to Voodoo5 .....then back to Asus card when Voodoo died while waiting for new Voodoo5.

Then straight to XFX 7800GTX OC 256mb in my new pc that I purchased last summer. I was old school for forever. I'm now waiting for the first Nvidia card's to hit market with HDMI that I can run quad sli with for a new Sony KDS-R60XBR2 Full 1080P HDTV !! :D

The old rig got a mobo upgrade, athlon xp 3200+, 768mb OCZ DDR 400 and a 5700Ultra slapped in it and is my back up/folding rig, though it hasn't folded in a while. :eek:
 
Not sure what was in my 486 ->Matrox Millennium 4mb -> 3dFX add-on card -> Diamond Viper V770 -> Radeon 9500 -> 6600GT -> X1900XT

I usually buy the best I can afford at the time and live with it for a good while, the only exception would be the 6600GT. The switch from AGP->PCIe forced a sooner upgrade than I normally would have done.
 
Tae said:
Not sure what was in my 486 ->Matrox Millennium 4mb -> 3dFX add-on card -> Diamond Viper V770 -> Radeon 9500 -> 6600GT -> X1900XT

I usually buy the best I can afford at the time and live with it for a good while, the only exception would be the 6600GT. The switch from AGP->PCIe forced a sooner upgrade than I normally would have done.
Click to expand...
that 9500 wasnt near the best for its time.... i had a pro OCed to 9700pro levels.. now that was the best for its time.. cause it had the same pipes and same clocks...
 
onboard Cirrus Logic 512k > Trident w/1m PCI > Matrox Mystique 220 + 2-VooDoo II 12m-SLI > Viper TNT2 16m > Asus gForce 2GTS 32m > Ti500 64m > fx5600U 128m (was a gift from my sister when she returned from S.Korea) > AIW 9600XT 128m > 6800GS PCIe

for my main system, and my beater usually got a hand me down from my upgrade or a friends.

I am waiting for DX10 components from ATI/nVidia to make my next purchase.
 
Warrior said:
that 9500 wasnt near the best for its time.... i had a pro OCed to 9700pro levels.. now that was the best for its time.. cause it had the same pipes and same clocks...
Click to expand...

The 9500 Pro had a different PCB than the 9700 and couldn't unlock to 256-bit memory and the pipes, only the non-pro 9500 could so it was a great buy for awhile.
 
My first computer was a 486, so I don't remember what was in it....> Matrox Millenium 4MB >Monster 3D 3dfx with 4MB of RAM secondary card (remember those??? :) > 2 Voodoo2 SLI > Riva TNT 16MB > Voodoo3 > Voodoo5 > Sapphire 9600Pro > Gigabyte X1600Pro

Those are all the ones that I remember. I was very loyal to 3dfx. I think I owned every chipset they made except the Banshee.
 
AOM said:
Got my first gaming pc in 1999 ....had an Asus AGP-V3800M/32M card that came out of a friends HP that he gave me when he upgraded to a voodoo4 I think. Then I went to Voodoo5 .....then back to Asus card when Voodoo died while waiting for new Voodoo5.

Then straight to XFX 7800GTX OC 256mb in my new pc that I purchased last summer. I was old school for forever. I'm now waiting for the first Nvidia card's to hit market with HDMI that I can run quad sli with for a new Sony KDS-R60XBR2 Full 1080P HDTV !! :D

The old rig got a mobo upgrade, athlon xp 3200+, 768mb OCZ DDR 400 and a 5700Ultra slapped in it and is my back up/folding rig, though it hasn't folded in a while. :eek:
Click to expand...


I didn't think there was such a thing as a Voodoo 4. I think they went from 3 to 5. I may be wrong and someone will correct me if I'm wrong.
 
Lyquist said:
I didn't think there was such a thing as a Voodoo 4. I think they went from 3 to 5. I may be wrong and someone will correct me if I'm wrong.
Click to expand...

This is possibly wrong. It's from wikipedia, but maybe it's right.

Code: 
Chip Release Date Components(PPxTMU) Core(MHz) Memory(MHz) Fillrate Pix/Tex Memory Bus Width  Memory(MiB) Bus 
Voodoo Graphics October 1996 SST-1 chipset (1x1). No VGA. 50 50 50/50 64-bit×2 4/6 EDO PCI 
Voodoo Rush April 1997 SST-1 chipset (1x1). 2D Chip. 75 75 75/75 64-bit×2 6/8 EDO PCI 
Voodoo2 January 1998 SST-96 chipset (1x2). No VGA. 90 90 90/180 64-bit×3 8/12 EDO PCI 
Voodoo Banshee October 1998 Single-Chip (1x1) (2D/3D) 100 110 100/100 128-bit 8/16 SD/SG AGP 1x/PCI 
Velocity 100 July 1999 Avenger core (1x1). 1 Disabled TMU. 143 143 143/143 128-bit 8 SG AGP 2x 
Velocity 200 Not released Avenger core (1x1). 1 Disabled TMU. 143 143 143/143 128-bit 16 SG AGP 2x 
Voodoo3 1000  ? Avenger core (1x2) 125 125 125/250 128-bit 8 SG AGP 2x 
Voodoo3 2000 April 1999 Avenger core (1x2) 143 143 143/286 128-bit 16 SD/SG AGP 2x/PCI 
Voodoo3 3000 April 1999 Avenger core (1x2) 166 166 166/333 128-bit 16 SD/SG AGP 2x/PCI 
Voodoo3 3500 July 1999 Avenger core (1x2), A/V processor 183 183 183/366 128-bit 16 SD AGP 2x 
Voodoo 4 4200 Not released 1 x VSA-1018 (2x1) 183 183 366/366 128-bit 32 DDR AGP 4x/PCI 
Voodoo 4 45005 October 2000 1 x VSA-100 (2x1) 166 166 333/333 128-bit 32 SD AGP 4x/PCI 
Voodoo 4 4800 Not released 1 x VSA-100 (2x1) 166 166 333/333 128-bit 64 SD AGP 4x/PCI 
Voodoo 5 5000 Not released 2 x VSA-100 (2x1) 166 166 667/667 128-bit×2 321 SG AGP 2x/PCI 
Voodoo 5 55005 June 2000 2 x VSA-100 (2x1) 166 166 667/667 128-bit×2 642 SD AGP 2x/PCI 
Voodoo 5 6000 Not released 4 x VSA-100 (2x1) 166/1834 166/1834 1333/1333 128-bit×4 1283 SD AGP 2x
 
There was a Voodoo 4 but I'm not sure how many were made or produced. I know I worked at Circuit City when they came out and we only got like 2-5 maybe before we were out of stock permanently on them. I think he payed $250 for it if I remember right and then not long after the all might Geforce 2 came out ..lol...and the Voodoo 5 about that same time.

He sold the voodoo 4 to one of our friends who had an older matrox card (I think) and he bought the voodoo 5. We sold those at Circuit City for like $300 I think and I picked one up as well b/c of the nice employee discount we got them for like $190 tax and all. Too bad those weren't sli back in the day b/c I would've grabbed too of them on my discount.

Still hate it that 3dfx isn't around along with another big name or 2 to throw in some more competition and innovation. Maybe then we wouldn't have cards hitting $700+ for a single card. I miss the $200-300 days for the best card you could get, guess I'm just getting old and living the good'ol days already. :(
 
AOM said:
There was a Voodoo 4 but I'm not sure how many were made or produced. I know I worked at Circuit City when they came out and we only got like 2-5 maybe before we were out of stock permanently on them. I think he payed $250 for it if I remember right and then not long after the all might Geforce 2 came out ..lol...and the Voodoo 5 about that same time.

He sold the voodoo 4 to one of our friends who had an older matrox card (I think) and he bought the voodoo 5. We sold those at Circuit City for like $300 I think and I picked one up as well b/c of the nice employee discount we got them for like $190 tax and all. Too bad those weren't sli back in the day b/c I would've grabbed too of them on my discount.

Still hate it that 3dfx isn't around along with another big name or 2 to throw in some more competition and innovation. Maybe then we wouldn't have cards hitting $700+ for a single card. I miss the $200-300 days for the best card you could get, guess I'm just getting old and living the good'ol days already. :(
Click to expand...

Well in a small sense 3dfx is stil here with us, since nvidie bought them. I believe that today's SLI is a evolution of the original 3dfx SLI.
 
n/a in my dad's compaq 75mhz beast - 32mb nvidia in some pos dell - 9200 pro in current rig - x700pro

what can i say, i only use the best :p.
 
Warrior said:
that 9500 wasnt near the best for its time.... i had a pro OCed to 9700pro levels.. now that was the best for its time.. cause it had the same pipes and same clocks...
Click to expand...

My post was prefaced with...I usually buy the best I can afford. I bought the 9500 in hopes of unlocking it to a Pro. Unfortunately, while the bios flash worked and opened the pipes, I got artifacts. So I was stuck with a plain jane 9500. Still not a bad card.
 
pc: integrated 8mb intel-->geforce mx100-->xfx 7800gt [bit of a leap eh?]

laptop: intel gma 82815 something-->7900gs go
 
Voodoo3 3500 > ATI AIW 7500 > ATI AIW 8500DV > ATI 9600 Pro > ATI 9800 XT > ATI x800 Pro > eVGA 7800 GT > eVGA 7800GTX 512

I loved that voodoo card.....the ati AIW cards that followed were very very buggy....but needed the tv functions because I didnt have a TV in college....just used my 19" monitor instead. after school I got a tv and went with just the regular cards. and loved the 9600/9800 cards....then I went to the dark (green) side
 
Orchid Righteous 3d Voodoo + Matrox 2d card (original voodoo card couldn't do 2d video) -> Voodoo 3 -> Nvidia G-force 2 TI -> MSI GeForce4 4200 TI -> MSI Radeon 9800 pro -> E-VGA 6800 GT (died) -> Radeon X850 pro
 
ATI Rage 128 --> Voodoo 3 --> Radeon 8500le (died) --> Radeon 8500 --> Geforce 6800 vanilla

Definitely time to get with the times and upgrade to a pci-express card. ;)
 
ATI Mach64 PCI (not really mine - I was 6, but that computer my dad built was the junk. It even had 32mb of ram (the pc, not the video card)) -> nVidia Vanta LT (8mb AGP) -> Radeon 9800SE (unlocked to np) -> Geforce FX5900XT -> Geforce 6800 Ultra AGP (in the mail right now).
 
S3 trident (onboard)
STB some 4 MB thing, can't remember model
VooDoo
VooDoo2 w/ TNT
Geforce2 GTS
Geforce 4 Ti 4200
Radeon 9600se (cuz the 4200 died)
6600GT
7800GT
7900GT

+ a couple other misc. cards here and there that never went into the main rig (includes MX4000, and a Kyro II).


 
Onboard > Radeon 7500 > Radeon 9200 > GF4 5200 > Radeon 9600xt > 6600gt > 6800 > Radeon x800xl > Radeon x850 pro > Radeon x800xt > SLI 7600gt's > x1900gt.
 
S3 Virge along side a Righteous 3D Orchid (voodoo1 4mb)
Diamond Viper V770 Ultra (TNT2U)
Radeon 7500
Radeon 9600NP
X800XL AGP

Currently, in my lappy Mobility X1600
 
radeon 7000 --> radeon 9800 pro ---> nvidia 7800gtx 256mb
gtx came in w/ the new rig + 20.1" monitor (coming from a 19" crt) :D
 
Commodore VIC-20 -16 colors on the screen at the SAME time folks!
S3 Trio 64
ATI Rage II Pro
Diamond Monster 3D (3dfx Voodoo1)
3dfx Voodoo3 PCI 2000
Leadtek GeForce 2 Pro
Tyan Tachyon 9700-ProM
ATI All In Wonder X800XT
 
pny 4600==>pny5900==>BFG6800gt==>BFG7800gt//7800gtsli
looking for my next card for no apparent reason but havent got a clue what it will be.

favorite card was the 4600 that lil old card was a beast i regret selling it .
 
AOM said:
There was a Voodoo 4 but I'm not sure how many were made or produced. I know I worked at Circuit City when they came out and we only got like 2-5 maybe before we were out of stock permanently on them. I think he payed $250 for it if I remember right and then not long after the all might Geforce 2 came out ..lol...and the Voodoo 5 about that same time.

He sold the voodoo 4 to one of our friends who had an older matrox card (I think) and he bought the voodoo 5. We sold those at Circuit City for like $300 I think and I picked one up as well b/c of the nice employee discount we got them for like $190 tax and all. Too bad those weren't sli back in the day b/c I would've grabbed too of them on my discount.

Still hate it that 3dfx isn't around along with another big name or 2 to throw in some more competition and innovation. Maybe then we wouldn't have cards hitting $700+ for a single card. I miss the $200-300 days for the best card you could get, guess I'm just getting old and living the good'ol days already. :(
Click to expand...

I remember the card as well. I worked for Best Buy at the time it came out.
 
Diamond SpeedStar ET4000 -->
S3 Trio 64V2 -->
Trident Blade 3D -->
ATI Rage 128 Pro AIW -->
GeForce2 Pro -->
GeForce4 Ti4200 -->
GeForce 6600GT
 
Pure3d 6mb (back in the day!! 2 extra MB...oooh!)-->Voodoo2-->Voodoo2 SLI (that was hot shit back then!)-->TNT-->TNT2 Ultra-->-->Ti4800-->Geforce 5900 modded to 5950-->Geforce 6800GT-->ATI XT1950xtx

and the most noticeable upgrade goes to the V2 SLI, and the ATI x1950XT!
 
ok:

none (Magitronic running Dos)->Integrated Intel Graphics in 100mhz Pentium Laptop (IBM Thinkpad 560, what a bitchin machine)->VooDoo Banshee 16mb (back to desktops)->pre-Ti series GeForce 3->Radeon Mobility 9700 (switched from desk to apple powerbook)->Radeon 9800XT->Radeon X800Pro->Intel GMA950 (Don't laugh, I got a macbook, and until my new rig is built, it's what i got)
 
Rage128 --> Radeon 9100 --> Radeon 9550--> Radeon 9800NP clocked to Pro-->Gainward 6600GT-->X700Pro (this is where pci-e started for me!) --> 7900GT-->SiS Unichrome Graphics [what? I'm using a laptop for school right now.] --> next planned video card = 7600GTs or 7600GT
 
Nvidia Tnt2 M64
Sapphire Radeon 9500 (Installed in my 2nd rig after upgrading main rig to 9800 AIW)
ATI Radeon 9800 AIW PRO (Sold)
ATI Radeon x1600 PRO (Sold)
Nvidia Tnt2 M64 (Temp until I get my new one this tuesday)
Sapphire Radeon x850xt PE (Coming this tuesday)

There was couple videocard before the tnt2 but dont recall what it was. The upgrade to 9500 was my biggest jump and very noticeable diffrence when Diablo 2 was my main game at that time.
 
Cirrus Logic 1meg VRAM integrated piece of crap > VooDoo > Rendition Verite V2100 + VooDoo > TNT2 > GeForce 3 Ti200 > GeForce 6800
 
Onboard crap --> Creative Savage3D --> Voodoo3 3000 PCI --> Geforce2 MX --> Geforce3 --> Geforce4 Ti4200
 
Voodoo 3500 tv out.
GF2 Ultra (made UT look real good... :D )
GF3 Ti200
Creative FX5900
BFG GF6800 Ultra.
BFG GF7800GTX OC pci-e.
Lack of funds (and threats from the wife) prevent further upgrades..... :cool:
 
Onboard video (all my pc's until 2004)
> ATi Radeon 9200 SE 128MB DDR (AGP)
>> Nvidia Geforce 6800 128MB DDR unlocked 16x1,6 (oc 400/900) (AGP)
>>> ATi Radeon X1800XT 256MB GDDR3 (oc 710/800)
 
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