Post your 3D video card history

[oldfart]

I'm curious as to what you guys have used for 3D cards. Don't put in any 2D Virge type stuff. What cards have you had, and what was the reason you got it? Was it to play a new game, or just to have something faster? I'll start.

Diamond Stealth II S220
My first 3D card. Based on the Rendition Verite 2100. Had fantastic image quality (best in its day). Not the fastest, but acceptable. I got it when I tried out the Quake 2 demo. Playing in SW mode on a Virge didn't cut it. Back then I was running a Pentium 200 with 64 meg ram.

Creative Labs TNT
Was still playing Quake 2 (full version) and wanted something faster. The TNT was twice as fast on the P200. Didn't look as good as the Rendition though.

Diamond Monster 3DII 3dfx Voodoo 2 SLI
Started playing Unreal, and the TNT was not cutting it any longer. Heard you needed a thing called "Glide" for this game to work well. Started with one V2 and got the 2nd one later on when the prices were low. Upgraded to a PII 333 @ 400 and 128 megs of ram. Unreal was "unreal" with this setup. Quake 2 was fast as all hell but looked again a little worse

3dfx Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
Got tired of the 3 video card setup and heard the Voodoo 3 would do the same with one card. It did that and more. This card was $100 after the $30 rebate, and came with a coupon for a free copy of UT, which I would have bought anyway for $40. I later sold the card to a friend for $60. I had that card for quite awhile. Best value I ever got out of a video card. This card was in my PII 400, and moved to my PIII 550 @ 733.

ATI Radeon 64 VIVO
This is where I am today. I was playing UT and Q3 pretty well on the V3, @ 800 x 600 x 16, but wanted to do 1024 x 768 x 32 with max details. I finally have my video quality back from the Rendition days, and can play all game 1024 x 768 x 32 x max. Life is good until that next game comes out....

 

[arod324]

#1. Integrated Video something along the lines of an s3 with 4MB of ram.
#2. Voodoo 3 2000 @166/166
#3. Ati Radeon DDR LE @183/183. This is what I have in my current rig and I can run all the games silky smooth at high res and high details.

 

[TravisBickle]

how about a SiS 620 integrated giving 10fps in UT at lowest settings?
"You be dead"
what a git!

 

[Sunner]

First real 3D card was a 8 meg Permedia 2 card.
Was decent in terms of speed, about the speed of a V1, image quality was very good as were the drivers.

Got a 4 MB Riva128, very fast at the time, considdering I was used to the Permedia2, but horrendous image quality, crappy drivers that improved rapidly to become very good in the end.

12 MB Voodoo2, incredible! Extremely fast, good image quality, decent drivers.

16 MB TNT, better image quality than the V2, better drivers, not as good compability, an upgrade but nothing like going from the 128 to the V2.

Voodoo3-3000, not that much of an upgrade really, image quality was about on par with the TNT, allowed to bump the resolution in most games to 1024x768 but that was about the only change.

32 MB TNT2-Ultra, very nice upgrade, faster than the V3 and very good image quality, especially in games that took advantage of 32 bit color that was actually useful with this card, extremely good drivers by now.

32 MB GeForce DDR, card Im using now, been very happy with it, along with the V2 my most long loved card, almost 1½ years old and still going string, not too far from the performance of the Radeons and GTS's, and superb drivers for any OS Im interested in.
2D quality is pretty bad though, not horrible, but definately leaves something to be desired.

 

[Compellor]

Matrox Millennium/Diamond Monster Voodoo 1
This was my first 3D video card setup. The first game I checked out on it was GL Quake, and was completely blown away! The transparent water effect was awesome looking! GL Hexen 2 was another game that blew me away. The Diamond Monster came with special version of "Mech Warrior 2," and a really fun game called "Hyper Blade." Ahh, those were the good old DOS/Windows 95 gaming days. This combo was in my old Pentium 120 MHz and later 200 Mhz system from early 1997 to the fall of 1998.

Canopus Spectra 2500 TNT/Diamond Monster Voodoo 1
The best of both worlds. This combo totally rocked, as I could keep playing Glide games, as well as having all the power of the TNT. The nice thing the Canopus card had was a 3Dfx Voodoo reverse pass-thru cable, which had the output of the Voodoo card run into the back of it, allowing sharper 2D (no other TNT had this feature). I bought it specifically for that feature, as well as having a faster 3D accelerator. I also like the fact that the Sprctra 2500 had TV out on it. This combo was added to a newly built Pentium II 350 MHz system back in the fall of 1998.

ATi Rage Fury
I bought this video card because it had 32 MB of memory. I was disappointed with the 3D, so, I sent it back and put my trusty Canopus Spectra 2500 back in. It was deja vu.

Visiontek GeForce 2 GTS 32 MB
What I'm using today. It's very fast and stable, and is about as good as it gets for the ultimate gaming experience. Though this card is a bare bones OEM reference design, lacking TV out (it does have a video moudule connector, though) or any special software, it still kicks a$$. I would rather have a 64 MB model, but will probably wait another year for the GeForce 3 to drop in price. It currently resides in my overclocked Duron system (see system specs).

What's on the horizon for me? I may switch back to Intel, and build a new Pentium 4 rig by the end of this year. Prices are going to have to be somewhat reasonable, or I'll stick with AMD. If the GeForce 3 is all that they claim it is, and is selling for less than $300 by then, that will probably be my choice. "Doom 3" may look cool, but "Return to Castle Wolfenstein" is the game I'm most looking forward to seeing.

 

[Facin]

Riva 128 4MB- made me appreciate nVidia with consistent Driver improvement... though I was king of the world along with PII 300

Matrox Millenium G200 - always wanted a Matrox in past years...got me hooked on good 2D quality...kept me from playing games for a while because of crappy 3D drivers and poor performance...barely faster than the Riva 128...but the 2D was amazing

ATI Radeon 32DDR - finally a kard that married exceptional 2D with good enough 3D. I can finally play games again. People say the drivers are terrible, but they obviously never used the G200. Good God! they were horrid.

Hoping that nVidia will get on the ball with 2D quality or Matrox come out with a worthwhile card.

 

[Smbu]

1)ATI Rage Pro Turbo 4mb agp(integrated on my LX mobo)
2)Real3D Starfighter Intel i740 4mb agp
3)Creative Labs 3D Blaster Voodoo 2 12mb pci
4)Iomagic Nvidia Riva TNT2 M64 32mb agp
5)Intel i752 4mb agp(integrated on my CUSL2)
6)Elsa Gladiac Geforce 2 GTS 32mb DDR agp
7)ATI All in Wonder Radeon 32mb DDR agp

 

[Moz]

1. 512K Video Memory (integrated)

2. 1MB Video Memory (can't remember the brand)

3. Diamond Stealth II

4. Diamond Monster Voodoo I 4MB

5. Diamond Monster Voodoo II 8MB

6. Matrox Millenium 4MB (2d baby!)

7. Voodoo II SLI 2x12MB (STB Blackmagic 3D I think)

8. Creative Labs TNT

9. Diamond Fire GL Pro 1000 8MB (for workstation)

10. Creative Labs TNT2 Ultra 16MB (served me well)

11. ATI Radeon LE 32MB DDR (now that I moved on to a 21" display, I like the crisp 2D, and I can't complain about gaming as I mainly play Q3. Nice image quality, lacking a bit on pure speed but I am happy for the moment - also considering what I paid for it).

I think that's it, had a bunch of other cards along the way but these were the main gaming cards (aside from the early years ).

 

[Mykex]

ATI LT/8mb Intergrated
Silly newbie bought a Compaq...Hey theres no AGP slot what the????
ATI All in Wonder Pro PCI
Though same maker would make install easier and using TV for games would be cool.......Silly Newbie
Diamond S540 32mb PCI
Good card tragic death in bizzare overclock/customize Compaq attempt>>>still Silly Newbie.....Took 22oz hammer to Compaq created a Compact Compaq no longer Silly Newbie
Onboard Trident
I was desperate and needed all in 1 board till I could recover.....Still in financial pain from previous lessons.
Creative Savage4 32mb PCI
Great card at first but PCI version was forgotten in driver updates,sold to finance upgrade along with all things SS7.
3DFX Voodoo 5 5500 AGP
From the pricing guesses that have come out I will not part with this card for a loooooong time. Chances of me paying more for a video card than I did fom my CPU/Mobo and ram ...not going to happen.:disgust:

BTW That sets price at 340$ max if it is under $300 and I have problems with the V5(doubtfull)I will consider it.

>(doubtfull)>Yes I have heard Giants has trouble but I just wont buy it.

:Q

 

[TbirdJayC]

Diamond Speedstar 1MB
ATI Mach 32 Ultra 2 or 4 MB Vram
Diamond Stealth 64
ATI Xpert@Play Rage Pro 8 MB
3DFX Voodoo 3 2000 16 MB
Diamond Viper V770 Ultra 32 MB
Elsa Erazor X 32 MB SDR
ATI Radeon 32 MB DDR

 

[pidge]

Oh man, I don't know if I can remember all the cards I have gone through. I won't give a reason but I will just go in order as best as I can remember starting with my first 3D video card.

Diamond Monster I
Creative Labs Voodoo II 12MB
Creative Labs Voodoo II 8MB (downgraded to save money)
Rendition Verte something or another (as my 2D card primarily)
PowerVR chip (it was only $50 and came with a very excellent racing game which I was about to buy for the same price)
ATI AIW 4MB
Diamond Viper 330 (primarily for 2D)
Matrox G200
CL TNT
Canopus Spectra 2500
Canopus Voodoo II 12MB SLI
Diamond Viper 770
Diamond Viper 770Ultra
Voodoo 3 2000
ATI Rage 128
Voodoo 3 3500
ATI Rage 128 Pro
ATI AIW 128
Matrox G400
ATI Rage Fury MAXX (got rid of it because I got fed up with waiting for Win2K drivers)
Hercules Prophet DDR
Asus Geforce 64MB DDR
Hercules Prophet DDR
Matrox G400 MAX(started getting into Web Page design again)
Hercules Prophet II 64MB
CL Annihilator 2 32MB
Voodoo 3 3k PCI (for second video card)
ATI AIW Radeon 32MB
Quadro 2 Pro 64MB
Hercules Prophet II Pro (Probably gonna keep this for a while since the drivers are excellent (especially under Win2K), all my games play silky smooth and games that take advantage of the Geforce 3 won't be available for a while, plus I have a new girlfriend now to spend on so can't keep upgrading that much anymore)

These are just the cards I have used in the past 3-4 years. This is not counting the video cards I have used in my parents systems, my sister's system or my ex-girlfriends system.

 

[esung]

Leaktek S3 Virge/DX with 4MB 45ns DRAM
it was S3's first attempt at 3D.. it was pretty good..

Guillemot Extreme Gamer^2 12MB
essentially a Voodoo2 with 12MB. bought it because Rainbow 6
is too slow on my S3...

3dfx Voodoo3 3000 AGP
Got this when I get my K7.. fairly satified, although
it didn't have the speed of the nVidia card, it's good
enough for me (and a lot of games I played are Glide based)



still debating when should I get a new card (well, now I have
a good monitor, maybe it's time...)

 

[Compellor]

Damn, Pidge, that's a lot of video cards! I wonder if anyone can top you?

 

[HappyGamer2]

a built in ati card, worthless for 3d, addded a single voodoo2 12 mb, it was great in it's day, still have this setup in one old pc.

next got a p3 when they came out, it had a worthless ati agp card(i knew it was going to be bad I just got the cheapest card i could get since I was going upgrade to a voodoo3, very soon. a friend let me use his tnt1 agp for a short time before getting the V3)
got the voodoo3 got a good deal, 120 dollars, I was very happy with it, loved glide(still do) but it didn't have the power for high res on some of the newer high load games later on. traded the voodoo3 to a freind as partial payment on a nice 19" Monitor.
got a voodoo5 agp next, I hated it the first few days, but I fell in love with it soon after.
next I Read all of the review site hype about the ATi Radeon, got a 32 mb ddr retail version, figured maybe the voodoo5 wasn't so great and figured i would give the radeon a try, big mistake, had it my pc for over a month tuned and tweaked it, updated drivers, reg tweaking , overclocked it............
pulled it out and went back to the voodoo5 and that's were I'm at now

voodoo2 12mb
tnt1 16mb agp
voodoo3 2000 pci
voodoo5 agp
Ati Radeon 32mb DDR
Voodoo5 agp

 

[Hawk]

Sierra Screamin' 3d (does this count?!) =)

Riva 128 (and no more Nvidia for me after this!!!)

ATI Fury (Rage 128, 32 MB with TV out)

Diamond Viper 2 (Savage 2000)

Matrox G400

3dfx Velocity 100 (for like 2 days)

Ati Radeon 32 MB DDR (for maybe 20 minutes)

Ati Radeon 64 MB DDR (used it for a while, then the AIW, and now back to the 64 MB)

Ati Radeon AIW (in my brother's computer)

Cards I had/didn't use:

Voodoo 2

Quantum Obsidian, traded to LED

 

[ChicagoMaroon]

In somewhat chronological order:

Intergraph Intense 3D (Voodoo Rush)
Diamond Viper V330 (Riva 128)
Creative Lab 3D Blaster (3Dlabs Permedia 2)
STB Velocity 128 (Riva 128)
ATI Xpert 128 (Rage 128)
Creative Labs 3D Blaster Banshee (3dfx Banshee)
3dfx Voodoo3 2000
Hercules Prophet II MX (Geforce2 MX)*
ATI AIW Radeon
ATI Radeon 64 VIVO*

* currently in use

 

[vlieps]

First had ATI something 4MB, useless for 3D
Then added Voodoo1 4 MB - it was amazing, games looked excellent.
Then switched to TNT, but had to return it because my AGP slot did not have enough power.
Changed it to 3dfx Banshee 16M, PCI - great card, had it for more than a year, tried out more than 40 games over that period, never ever had a single issue with Banshee.
Now changed it to V5 5500 AGP. Great card, UT plays excellent, all other games as well, best 2D I have ever seen. Great compatibility and drivers.
Never ever would buy a vid card for 600$, that is crazy.

 

[oldfart]

<< Took 22oz hammer to Compaq created a Compact Compaq >>


Heh, good one,

 

[cmaMath13]

Upgraded Video Cards:
1. Creative Labs Graphics Blaster
2. Diamond Monster3DII 8MB
3. Diamond Stealth G460 AGP
4. Second Monster3DII 8MB (SLI)
5. Diamond Viper V770 TNT2 Ultra (16MB)
6. Quantum Obsidian X-24 (SLI 25MB)
7. Hercules Prophet 2 Ultra (GeForce2 Ultra 64MB DDR)

I also tried a GeForce DDR and Voodoo5 5500, but returned them both within 1-week, because lack of performance increase over TNT2u/Obsidian Combo.

 

[Deeko]

First - integrated 256K Western Digital(not 3D)
Second - 512K Trident(not 3D)

third - Diamond Viper 330, based on nvidia Riva 128 and 4 MB RAM. Pretty crappy IMO, never could get OGL to work, D3D was SLOW.

fourth - Diamond Viper 770 ultra, based on nvidia TNT2 ultra and 32MB RAM. Very nice, got this card as soon as it came out, kept it for like 18 months.

fifth &amp; current - 3dfx Voodoo5 5500/64 MB RAM. Very happy with this card so far. Might not cut it with future games that are likely to be heavily T&amp;L based though, so it probably won't last through the summer.

 

[Yoshi]

1. Creative Labs Graphics Blaster Exxtreme 4Mb (Permedia 2) - First 3D card, nothing good to say about it. The thing could barely run Quake2 in OpenGL on my old Pentium 166.

2. Creative Labs Voodoo2 12Mb - Added this accelerator to my Pentium 166 way back when (1998??) to get a whopping 20fps in Quake2 at 640x480. Not to mention the image quality increase over software rendering. WOW real textures!

3. 3Dfx Voodoo3 3000 AGP - By this time I had built a new system with BH6 and 300A@450. I was still playing Glide based games at this time so I stuck with 3Dfx.

4. Creative Labs TNT2 32Mb - Curiosity killed the cat and at $130 retail I could not resist, had to try it out. Got mine cranking at TNT2 Ultra speeds with little additional cooling. I realized back then that nVidia's 2D image quality was average at best. In 3D things were different. My V3 could not hold a candle to the TNT2 in Q3 (framerate or eyecandy). This card still lives on today in my girlfriend's machine. I recently removed the RFI filters on the analog outputs and I think this mod is over-hyped. I was not blown away by the results.

5. Creative Labs Annihilator Pro 32Mb (GeForce256 DDR) - Picked this card up in Dec 99. Back then GeForce cards were new on the market and hard as hell to find. Bought this card because I could, Best Buy happend to have 3 of the in stock that day. Biggest leap in graphics since Voodoo2. Love this card, but IMO still had questionable 2D image quality. I lapped the heatslug on this card and a Socket370 heatsink. Put the two together with screws through the holes in the PCB and some arctic silver. Got the core up to a neckbreaking 165Mhz, did not matter much though, even DDR SGRAM could not feed data fast enough.

6. ATI Radeon 64Mb DDR VIVO - Again, on this one curiosity killed the cat, had to try it out. Hands down this card slays every nVidia based card I have ever seen in the image quality department (2D and 3D). Whatever your arguement, this is my opinion. Colors and textures never looked so good. I'm currently running this card with Win2k SP1. I don't have any driver complaints to speak of. Everything works like it should, just not as fast as they do in Win98/ME. I'm confident that ATI will improve things, then again I was never a Maxx owner!! Overall, this card is an great bargain. Personally I would not pay the price premium for a GTS Pro 64Mb for the extra fps. I'll take Radeon's lower price and again IMO superior image quality.

There you have it...my adventure in 3D so far.

I'm looking forward to seeing the real world performance GeForce3, indeed and exciting product. Even more interesting will be how today's card perform with the Doom3 engine.

 

[Hanky]

Pidge: OH MY GOD

My cards:

1) Diamond Monster 3D (Voodoo)
2) Diamond Monster 3D-II 12 MB (Voodoo2)
3) some crappy SiS integrated AGP chipset
4) 3dfx Voodoo3 2000 PCI
5) Matrox Millennium G400 Max
6) Hercules 3D Prophet DDR-DVI

 

[12Guage]

I can't even remember what I had on my 386.
2 meg mach 64
Matrox Mystique 2 meg
Verite 1000 4 meg (VQuake was awsome)
Matrox Mystique 220 4 Meg + Diamond Monster 3D
CL VooDoo 2 8 meg
Diamond VooDoo 2 12 Meg
Diamond VooDoo 2 12 Meg SLI
Matrox Millenium G200 + diamond VooDoo 2 SLI
3dfx V3 3000
3dfx V3 3500
Geforce 2 MX
V5 5500
ATI Radeon 64 vivo

I spend WAY too much money on my computer.

 

[ndee]

Integrated Cirrus Logic 5436 4MB
Diamond Monster 3D II 8MB (FIFA 98 kicked a$$)
Diamond Viper V330 (I was young and thought that games would run faster when I have a Voodoo 2 and also a fast video card )
3Dfx Voodoo 3 2000 AGP

Maybe a Radeon 64MB to come. Or a GTS with _good_ 2D quality.

 

[Skooch]

Just a list in no particular order, dont remember why I bought most of these cards to begin with except to upgrade.

1) Diamond Stealth 64
2) Diamond Stealth s220
3) Voodoo 1
4) Diamond Viper 330
5) Voodoo 2
6) Voodoo 2 SLI
7) Matrox Millenium
8) Matrox G200
9) Intel i740
10) Elsa TNT
11) Voodoo3 2k
12) Hercules Prophet DDR DVI
13) Elsa Geforce 2 GTS

That's about all of them I can remember at the moment.