Video Card Memories

[neogunhero]

Video cards are arguably the cornerstone of every gaming PC build. Sure, CPU and RAM are just as important, but you won't be churning out life-like graphics without a beefy GPU. We've all gone through at least a few throughout our lifetimes, so I wanted to make this thread so we can all look back at the GPUs that were in our lives.

I can't remember every single one I've owned, but I know of at least a couple.

This one I'm unsure of the exact make and model, but I built my very first custom gaming PC in 2011 with a Nvidia 430 GT. It looked very similar to this:

Whatever I was using prior to this card could go kick rocks for all I cared. This was a beast to me when I got it, though it was still on the low end for that time. I could finally play GMod at 60FPS! I even made a test video showing it off on Counter Strike Source.

The GPU after that was a Gigabyte Windforce GTX 770 4GB. Again, this was a massive upgrade for me. I believe I got it right around when GTA V came to PC in 2015 and I was able to play that game a near ultra settings 60FPS back then. Ugly as sin but performed like a beast. Very great mid-range card for its time.

In November 2018 I built the basis of what I'm using today. Same mobo, PSU and case, though everything else has been replaced since. I built it with a Gigabyte GTX 1070 loosely matching the color scheme of my Aorus motherboard:

Then mere months later, I upgraded to a Zotac RTX 2060 AMP that I still use today:

It's by and far the best looking GPU I've owned yet, and has been running strong for 6 years and counting.


What GPU's have you had in your builds?

 

[Colif]

I can't remember every single one I've owned, but I know of at least a couple.

I can remember the 1st one I bought

Voodoo2 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

No idea what brand it was.

I am a little blurry between it and a GTX 260 in 2009.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 Specs

NVIDIA GT200, 576 MHz, 192 Cores, 64 TMUs, 28 ROPs, 896 MB GDDR3, 999 MHz, 448 bit

www.techpowerup.com

it was my 1st DX 10 card and it was pretty bad. I replaced it with an AMD card when it died, but I don't remember which one.

I may have had one of these before
https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/geforce-9800-gt.c635
Or I might be miss remembering

It becomes easier to remember in the last 10 years:
GTX 960
GTX 980
RTX 2070 Super
RX 7900 XT

Caught up. Last 2 GPU still in use in PC I have touched in the last 24 hours. first 3 are all Asus cards.

 

[Alm]

My first build had a GeForce 4 4800ti SE.

https://imgur.com/a/yZqNKZt

View: https://imgur.com/a/yZqNKZt


My latest gpu is a 7900XT.

I can’t remember each card in between but I love graphics and bleeding edge graphics.

One day I hope to afford a pc with a top card like a 5090, but it won’t be this year

Very happy with my current setup though.

 

[Colif]

One 5090 costs same price as rest of my PC. Rush of blood be only reason I get one of those any time soon. I see what AMD do next gen, the PS6 GPU is meant to be equal to it... so we see.

 

[Alm]

I know it’s expensive. I just want one once. Like buying a Gibson Custom Shop, only it will only be good for a few years. Sigh.

 

[Colif]

I don't really play any games that would use it. Sure, they all would use it but need it, is another question... Maybe Cities Skylines 2 but only as its still a mess.

 

[Alm]

I guess the state of gaming at the moment is about achieving the best 4k performance. I'm not really sure what the future of graphics will be. Maybe more complex physics. Maybe AI will handle everything and low spec computers will be able to handle most things.

 

[Colif]

physics would be ironic since Nvidia removed the Physx engine abilities from the 50 series, they would have to add them back in again.. Guess in a few years as something "new"

still need to buy something to use those low spec pc

I had a 4k monitor 10 years ago, my 980 wasn't up to the job. Maybe by next time I buy another 4k monitor the GPU will be able to run it... 7900xt not exactly a 4k GPU so I am happy on 2k for now...

 

[neogunhero]

I don't really play any games that would use it. Sure, they all would use it but need it, is another question... Maybe Cities Skylines 2 but only as its still a mess.

You know how much I drool over the thought about getting a new card, but when I look at them through a more realistic lens, I would still rather save money and get something a bit more mid-range than high-end.

I know it’s expensive. I just want one once. Like buying a Gibson Custom Shop, only it will only be good for a few years. Sigh.

Maybe a mid-life crisis is in order for you soon.

I guess the state of gaming at the moment is about achieving the best 4k performance. I'm not really sure what the future of graphics will be. Maybe more complex physics. Maybe AI will handle everything and low spec computers will be able to handle most things.

I do wish the games industry can focus on other things besides 4K realistic graphics. We've seen countless times how life-like graphics don't make a game fun, and often the most fun games have a stronger focus on art style than graphics. I even think Ray-Tracing lighting and shadows are a bit overdone at this point. Complex physics would be a great place to start.

 

[Colif]

I will die waiting for them to stop chasing perfect graphics and do game play instead but the pretty shiny is more appealing...

You know how much I drool over the thought about getting a new card, but when I look at them through a more realistic lens, I would still rather save money and get something a bit more mid-range than high-end.

I have never had a top end card but my last few are getting closer. Generally better value lower down chain but Nvidia worked that out last gen and none of them are worth it... see what price they charge for the Super cards... after telling people they didn't need more vram, adding more to the Super cards just feels like they were trying to get people to buy the low vram ones, or put them on landfill.

I see what the future holds but I don't expect a new GPU before 2027.

 

[BeardyHat]

I'll see how many I can remember.

Couldn't tell you what the 2d card I had paired with it was, but around 1996, I was able to convince my parents to buy me a Diamond Monster 3D otherwise known as a Voodoo card

DOS Days - Diamond Monster3D (1996)

website description

www.dosdays.co.uk

It was incredible to play the packed in games and playing MechWarrior 2 made me into a Battletech fan. Though I had no idea that BT existed then...

Next card came with my new computer. My Dad brought home an HP Kayak workstation from work, which came with a Matrox Millennium G400, which was actually pretty powerful at the time.

Matrox G400 - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

The thing that gets muddy in my head is when I had that and for how long. I was pretty sure I got that computer around late 1998, but Wiki says that card was released in 1999. Perhaps I had a different version or my Dad was able to get it early somehow, given he worked at HP at the time.

Im unsure about that and it gets muddy, because I recall being hyped for GeForce when it was first announced. I saved all my pennies and ended up buying a brand new GeForce 256 on release day in 1999.

GeForce 256 - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Probably the most powerful card I ever owned in its hayday. I remember being super impressed with it and loving it to bits.

Things get very muddy here and I cannot tell you my next few video cards. Probably because a few short years later, I discovered girls and stopped paying close attention, as well as getting deep into MMOs for many years, which didn't require a ton of horsepower.

I do recall at some point buying a GTX 260 Core 216 and it was...a video card. Could not tell you anything about it.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Specs

NVIDIA GT200, 576 MHz, 216 Cores, 72 TMUs, 28 ROPs, 896 MB GDDR3, 999 MHz, 448 bit

www.techpowerup.com

After that was a 970 GTX I bought brand new one release day and that was a great card. Lived with me and did work until only a couple of years ago when I sold it along because a friend gave me a 1070, which is also still doing duty with one of my machines.

Next up was a 6700 XT which I bought because I got excited about Starfield. It's nothing special, but it holds a special place in my heart because my friend gave me $100 for my birthday to buy it, as I was looking at something less powerful. It's in my desktop now, though I don't use it often.

The last card I bought is a 6650 XT, which I bought for my eGPU enclosure. It worked well enough as an eGPU, but I eventually ditched the idea of an eGPU and the 6650 is now doing service in my HTPC, getting used daily by my kids.

I've had a string of laptops as well, but I won't list them here, because I also can't remember them.. My current laptop has an RTX A3000.

 

[Zloth]

My most memorable one was the 480. That thing would get so hot, I set my computer's name to Ravioli Cooker. I think that was back when I had a CRT monitor that ran at 2048x1536 resolution. (It was rare for a game's text to be readable at that resolution, but it was a CRT, so I could change resolutions any time and it would still look great!)

 

[JCgames]

Matrox millenia 4mb, creative labs 16 mb, geforce ddr 256, ati 9800 1gb, nividia 550 ti 2gb, nividia 1060 6gb

I will build a new system with next gen intel as the socket supposedly will last for 4 gens and have extra large cashe so it will most likely be a 6060 16gb. Im hoping they lauch around the same time.

 

[JCgames]

physics would be ironic since Nvidia removed the Physx engine abilities from the 50 series, they would have to add them back in again..

Just add another card to your system. A 1030, is a good option, but really any low power draw card will run older games with your overcharged cpu. The 50 series versions of nivida or an older AMD like a 460 or something will run those games great.

Ipersonally dont own any games that its an issue, or if i do i dont play um. Perhaps a tomb raider needs it?

But honestly, the slight tweaks that the physics adds to me really isnt a big deal. A waving flag never really made say, this makes the game so much better. Then agian, i buy new games still that have pixel graphics so what do i know.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Before I built my own I did upgrade an old Dell XPS prebuilt with a Powercolor X800GTO which was my first proper GPU. Before that I'd only had prebuilts with integrated graphics or Nvidia MX type stuff.

The first iteration of the Ship of Theseus sitting next to me right now had one of these:

MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III Specs

AMD Tahiti, 800 MHz, 1792 Cores, 112 TMUs, 32 ROPs, 3072 MB GDDR5, 1250 MHz, 384 bit

www.techpowerup.com

It was a non boost version so only clocked static at 800mhz. Without touching voltage that one would do 1050 on the core all day, 30% more not to be sniffed at for free.

I sold it about a year later during the first bitcoin boom when it hit €1000. It was on a 7970 PCB and so popular among miners back then, got a bit more than I paid for it and used the extra money to get one of these:

https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/evga-gtx-780-sc-w-acx-cooler.b2546

Lovely card, super fast then but the old AMD FineWine meant that over time the HD 7970 ended up being generally faster, except by that point I had already picked up:

EVGA GTX 980 Ti SuperClocked+ ACX 2.0+ Specs

NVIDIA GM200, 1190 MHz, 2816 Cores, 176 TMUs, 96 ROPs, 6144 MB GDDR5, 1753 MHz, 384 bit

www.techpowerup.com

The 980Ti which will probably be the highest end card I'll ever own the way things have gone. Killed everything at 1440p for a few years. Overclocked decently and still stayed under 300W.

Decided to try out some AMD again after that and got

PowerColor Red Devil RX 5700 XT OC Specs

AMD Navi 10, 2010 MHz, 2560 Cores, 160 TMUs, 64 ROPs, 8192 MB GDDR6, 1750 MHz, 256 bit

www.techpowerup.com

Not too excited with this one, overclocking had become almost pointless. Decent frames and was pretty quiet considering it wasnt particularly efficient by the standards of the time.

Now I have a Gigabyte Gaming OC RTX4070 which is still doing OK for me as it stands, might pick up something new with 6000 series depending on a lot of stuff.