Post your 3D video card history

[UsandThem]

Here were my upgrade paths:

1. 1996 onboard video of some kind
2. Added Diamond Monster 3d card ***Wow***
3. Diamond V330
4. Creative Labs Banshee card
5. Creative Labs TNT Blaster card
6. SLI Diamond Monster 3D II
7. Asus 6800 Geforce DDR
8. Creative Labs Geforce2 card
9. Creative Labs Voodoo II SLI
10. ATI AIW Radeon
11. Asus V7700 Deluxe

Last upgrade I will do for a long time

 

[Priit]

I had several videocards before, but those weren't 3D by any standart.

1. ATI Xpert@Play (4Mb SGRAM@75Mhz, 230Mhz RAMDAC, PCI, Rage Pro chipset, TV-out) Upgraded from ATI 3D Charger (2Mb). I had no idea that this card is 3D-capable at all until I got "Need For Speed 3". That game ran beautifully in 640x480 with 15-bit colour with Xpert@Play on my K6-200. X-windows ran pretty fast as well.

2. ATI All-In-Wonder (8Mb SGRAM@75Mhz, 230Mhz RAMDAC, Rage Pro Turbo chipset, all other fancy features) When I got SS7 board with AGP slot, I wanted AGP graphics card and bought All-In-Wonder. It wasn't any faster than Xpert@Play in 3D, but it's TV/Video features made me happy. I played Blood2 through using this card (400x300, 16-bit colour, details and other stuff at "medium", seemed to run pretty smooth @ ~25FPS ). Again, X-windows worked beautifully, even got TV-tuner work under linux

3. CL Graphics Blaster TnT (16Mb SDRAM@90Mhz, 250Mhz RAMDAC, Nvidia RIVA TnT chipset) Got that one really cheep from my friend. Damn, how much faster 3D stuff ran and how beautiful it was ! Started to play UT, it ran ~40FPS average @ 640x468 16-bit with my K6-2+/450.
First time got working hardware-accelated 3D under linux, 2D was considerably faster than with ATI, too.

4. VideoExcel A500 (32Mb SDRAM@175Mhz, 350Mhz RAMDAC, Nvidia GeForce2 MX chipset) Bought with Duron, now things move a bit faster, nothing more to say compared with TnT. Quake3 under linux runs about 90FPS@1024x768, 16-bit colour.

That's all for now. I'm not a real gamer (have never been) either...

 

[Mem]

Diamond monster Voodoo1 PCI 4mb
CL TNT1 16mb AGP
Sparkle Geforce2 MX AGP 32mb(my present card)

 

[jeremy806]

1996 - STB Trio64+ 2MB - original card that came with my first PC.

1998 - Velocity 128 (Riva 128ZX)

1998 - Voodoo2

1998 - Another Voodoo2 (had just upgraded to a 19 inch monitor from a 15)

Dec., 1999 - Creative TNT2 - Sold all the old cards and bought this, was tired of filling up my whole motherboard with video cards.

2001 - Creative GTS

jeremy806

 

[SuperGroove]

Cards I actually played "3d" games on:

ATi Rage II - Decent at the time, played MDK in software mode fairly well
3dfx VooDoo Rush - This was my first computer upgrade and man did I love 3dfx.
ATi Rage Pro 8MB - I bought my computer because of this very card. Sucked ass. DVD was good though...
Diamond Monster 3D II 8MB - Bought it the very first day. Oh my gosh...this was probably the biggest upgrade for my PII400
Diamond Monster 3D II 12MB - I couldn't handle having the slowest card, so I returned the 8MB V2 and got the Monster 3DII 12MB when it came out.
Asus V3400TV - Probably the best money I've ever spent on my computer. I bought the card for $150 when I couldn't get my hands on a Canopus Spectra 2500. OH well...it was a VERY well featured card.
GeForce SDR - Umm...Fast? Buggy as hell too. It finally made my AMD 800 Classic a viable gaming system.
V5 5500 - Best damn video card I've ever owned. It'll be obsolete faster than any card I"ve owned too. Sad Current.

Paul

 

[ltk007]

1) Diamond Viper V333 (4mb) Riva 128

Nice crisp 2D, slow ass intolerable 3D. Nvidia WAS suck when it came to 3D until TNT2

2) Asus V6600 Deluxe Geforce SDR

Was a huge step up when I finally built my old computer. A sweet card that was an ocing champ (ram went to 220! and core 155). I lapped the core, attached a special heatsink, and made it my baby for a couple months till I traded it for my...

3) Elsa Erazor X2 Geforce DDR

Gotta love DDR. Core/ram overclocks very poorly, but I'm happy just having a great card to go along with my system.

 

[MegalodoN]

1.) My First card was one of those cheapy on board SVGA adapters that's about all I know...

2.) Diamond Edge 3D 2MB (Think this was one of Nvidia's first graphics processors - I still have it too )

3.) Diamond Velocity 4400 16MB TNT

4.) Creative TNT2 Ultra 32MB

5.) Current Card - Elsa Glaidiac Geforce2 GTS 32MB

 

[Charles]

Mid 1997 - Matrox G200 8MB SGRAM
Early 1998 - Diamond Viper V770 TNT2 Ultra 32MB SDRAM
Late 1999 - Leadtek GeForce DDR Rev.B 32MB DDR SGRAM
Summer 2000 - Creative GeForce2 GTS 32MB DDR SGRAM
Future Upgrade - Any GeForce3 MX 64MB DDR SGRAM

These are only since I bought my second computer. My first computer was a 386DX system with an ATI Graphic card I think, it was back in early 1990.

 

[Night Blade]

There's no way I can figure the order or even some of the name's, but here's a try...

ATI 1 MB PCI (486)
ATI 2 MB PCI
Cirrus Logic 2 MB PCI
Cirrus Logic 4 MB PCI
(mustof been more 2/4 meg cards mixed in there)
ATI 8 MB (586)
(start of 3D Cards)
Diamond S220 ? Meg PCI
Diamond Voodoo 1 4 Meg PCI
Diamond Voodoo 2 8 Meg PCI
Diamond Voodoo 2 12 Meg PCI
Creative Labs TNT1 16 Meg AGP (686 or P2/P3)
Voodoo 3 2000 16 Meg AGP
Voodoo 3 3000 16 Meg AGP (Athlon Duron/TB)
PowerColor Geforce 2 MX 32 Meg AGP
ATI Radeon 32 Meg DDR
ATI Radeon 64 Meg DDR (ES)

Server currently using a ATI AIW 128 Pro 16 Meg AGP, this machine has a long list aswell but mostly 2D cards.

 

[Schola]

Well here goes mine.
Cirrus Logic 256k VLB Card (486)
Circus Logic 1MB onboard (P100) later upgraded to 2 MB
Creative Labs TNT 16MB for my P233 system later upgraded to a Dimaond Viper V550 TNT 16mb + Voodoo I 4mb, also to k6-2 300.
Next came the two Voodoo II's 12mb
Then my new system Athlon 650 with Matrox G400.
Still waiting for either G800 or Radeon II.

Schola

 

[Choralone]

Here are my cards, starting with the first one that did ANY sort of 3D (de)acceleration...

Diamond Stealth 3D 4MB Yes I know no Virge based cards but I couldn't afford a Monster 3D and a decent 2D card for my first REAL PC so I settled for this. It could play SOME games in 3D at 320x240 and still be faster than in SW mode! Although I played mainly 2d games with this one (LOTS of Diablo and C&C!)

CL 3D Blaster Banshee (3dFX Banshee 16MB) My first REAL 3D card. Sure I was stuck to 640x480 in 3D, as anything higher was too slow, but this card served me quite well. Had it for almost 2 years until...

3DFX Velocity 100 (3DFX V3 core 8MB) Picked this up because it was cheap ($40!!!) and with a small hack it was as fast as a REAL V3-2000 in lower res games, although with 8MB RAM it runs out of vid memory VERY fast in 3D. O/C'd it to V3-3000 speeds for over a year. Then I got for X-mas from my wife...

ATI Radeon 32 DDR My wife decided it was time for me to have something better. May not be the fastest thing out but I can handle Q3A 1024x768x32 @ 75FPS in Win2K. I think I'll keep this for at least a year, depends on what's released from now on.

I still have the old Diamond card, it's in my Linux box (after a stint in my parents PC before a thunderstorm took most of that machine out). The Banshee is in a friends machine who only occasionally needs 3D. The Velocity I'll keep as a spare in case I kill the Radeon when I mod my new case and move everything over to it.

edit/ spelling...

 

[SniperWulf]

Jesus christ I dunno If I can remember them all:

1. Diamond Stealth 2000 (Virge I think)
2. S3 Trio 64V+
3. Matrox Mystique
4. Tseng Labs ET600 W/ Diamond Monster3D
5. Diamond Stealth 2200 ( Rendition 2200 )
6. Matrox M3d (PowerVR2)
7. Quantum 3d Voodoo2
8. Trident 9750 4MB
9. Trident 9850 8MB
10. SiS 6326 4MB
11. Matrox G200 8MB
12. Matrox G200 16MB
13. Quantum 3d Raven (Banshee)
14. Diamond Monster Fusion (Banshee)
15. STB Velocity 4400 (used about a week)
16. 3dfx Voodoo3 3000 (lasted me over a year)
17. Creative TNT2 (used about 3 days, couldn't stand the slow ass performance and sorry 3.XX series drivers compared to my Voodoo3)
18. 3dfx Voodoo3 1000
19. 3dfx Voodoo5 5500 (great card, lasted me 10 months)
20. Creative GTS 64MB (used about 3 days)
21. VisionTEK Gfart2 Ultra

This is all I can think of.. I'm sure there are a lot that I left out

 

[slaytr2]

Fall 98
1. Creative Labs Banshee , I thought I was doing so good at the time. A new 3dfx card, woohoo, then I researched it after I bought it and found out about the single texture unit. It shoudld have been what the Voodoo3 was.
March 99
2. Bought a Voodoo3, read all the hype over 32bit color and decided not to get into another dead end as I did with the Banshee. I returned the V3 and ordered an OEM Diamond TNT2 16mb card. Loved it. That card has lasted me a long time.
Winter 2000
3. Hercules Geforce MX (retail) couldn't tell a huge difference so I took it back and put the old TNT2 back in.
February 23, 2001
4. Decided I did need a Geforce 2 after all but had to have DDR ram. Got a wild hair and paid outrageous overnight shipping to get my card on Saturday. I got a Evga Geforce Pro. I don't think it is really a Pro. The clock settings are 200/333. I set the memory at 400 and it was ok with it but I don't want to hurt it and haven't researched that enough to chance it. Looks like a good replacement for my TNT2 until the Geforce 4s come out. Giants has never looked better!

Slaytr

 

[slaytr2]

Fall 98
1. Creative Labs Banshee , I thought I was doing so good at the time. A new 3dfx card, woohoo, then I researched it after I bought it and found out about the single texture unit. It shoudld have been what the Voodoo3 was.
March 99
2. Bought a Voodoo3, read all the hype over 32bit color and decided not to get into another dead end as I did with the Banshee. I returned the V3 and ordered an OEM Diamond TNT2 16mb card. Loved it. That card has lasted me a long time.
Winter 2000
3. Hercules Geforce MX (retail) couldn't tell a huge difference so I took it back and put the old TNT2 back in.
February 23, 2001
4. Decided I did need a Geforce 2 after all but had to have DDR ram. Got a wild hair and paid outrageous overnight shipping to get my card on Saturday. I got a Evga Geforce Pro. I don't think it is really a Pro. The clock settings are 200/333. I set the memory at 400 and it was ok with it but I don't want to hurt it and haven't researched that enough to chance it. Looks like a good replacement for my TNT2 until the Geforce 4s come out. Giants has never looked better!

Slaytr

 

[RazorX]

1) Diamond Viper 330 (Riva 128 4mb) - Bought it to replace my IBM's on board video. (Big mistake should of gotten a Voodoo; fell for the hype about the card.) *Current Satus: Dead*

2) Canopus Pure3DII (Voodoo2 12mb) - Used on a Dell computer that came with an STB Velocity 128; best update for a video card I ever got. *Current Status: Card is still in the Dell computer.*

3) CL 3D Blaster TNT2 Ultra - Used in my Gateway comupter to replace the STB Velocity 4400 that came with it and brought. (Another big mistake died twice on me; once in it's frist month of owning it and after I put it in my rig (current system) it broke a 2 months later again.) *Current Satus: Dead*

4) 3dfx Voodoo3 3500 - Used to replace my TNT2 after it broke the second time, bought it and used it for few months waiting to see the V5 6000 and/or Rampage. *Current Status: Not in use; Plan to be used with old MB when I upgrade.*

5) 3dfx Voodoo5 5500 - Replaced my V3 once the V5 6000 was canceled. I conder this one of the best upgrades I made since I gotten my Voodoo2. *Current Status: In current system; plan to be put in upgraded system (when ever I upgrade)*

Video Cards that I tired and returned:

1) Hercules 3D ProphetII 64MB Geforce 2 GTS (Had for 2 days)- I truely believe this is the video card from hell. I tried to replace my TNT2 with it and at first it would not work with Windows correctly (fixed with a reformat) then once that was sloved I started to have cold boot problems with my MB (KA7). With my TNT2 back in my computer the drivers (Geforce and TNT2) were causing Win2k to freeze at the desktop randomly. (Fixed with another refomat of C drive.)

2) CL Geforce 2 GTS (Had for 3 days) - This card worked ok (no cold boot problems) but had bad memory so it was returned. The drivers also caused my TNT2 to freeze but with only 1 game; my V3 (and later V5) fixed that problem (no reformat needed).

 

[aniki]

Diamond Monster 2 12 megs
Voodoo 3000
Hercles 3d Prophet 2

 

[aniki]

Diamond Monster 2 12 megs
Voodoo 3
3D Prophet 2

 

[G3DN]

These are the cards I've had in my main machine
-----------------------------------------------
Intergrated Cirus Logic 1MB
Diamond Stealth 2000 Virge 3D 4MB
Orchid Righeous 3D Voodoo1 4MB
Diamond Viper 330 Riva 128 4MB
2 12MB Wicked 3D Voodoo2's
Quantum 3D Obsidian 100SB
Real3D Starfighter AGP i740 8MB
Matrox G100
Matrox G200 Mystique 16MB SDRAM
Matrox G200 Millienum 16MB SGRAM
Matrox Marvel G200 16MB SDRAM
Creative Lab's TNT2 32MB
Creative Lab's TNT2 Ultra 32MB
3dfx Voodoo5 5500

These are cards I've had in my other 2
--------------------------------------
Diamond Stealth 2200 4MB
Skywell Magic3D Voodoo1 4MB
Jazz Multimedia Adrenaline Rush 4MB
Hercules Stingray 128 Voodoo Rush 8MB
Creative Lab's Voodoo Banshee 16MB
Creative Lab's TNT 16MB
Diamond Stealth G460
Diamond Stealth 550
Hercules Thiller 3D
STB Velocity 128
STB Velocity 128ZX
STB Velocity 4400 TNT
ATI Rage Pro 8MB
ATI Rage Fury 128 16MB
Abit Geforce 2 MX 32MB
ATI Radeon 32MB DDR

The card that impressed me the most when I first used it was the Orchid Righeous 3D..it just flew on my blazing fast P100 back then! =)

 

[hans007]

hahah you will never beat me.

3d card history

voodoo1 , free sample from a trade show
hercules savage3d, piece of crap didnt like super7
guillemot banshee, got it at best buy the voodoo 1 got slow
guillemot banshee again, the other one died
ati xpert128, good 32bit color, but slower than tnt2, 2d was good
diamond v770 tnt2, piece of crap , could barely read 2d and wierd refresh lines
voodoo2, why you ask, i was gonna get a v3 but my crap pa-2013 fic board couldn't handle the voltage
voodoo3 2000, made me think of my old voodooo1
voodoo3 2000 again, this one had 6ns ram, so i ran it at 183mhz
matrox g400 16mb, pretty good 3d drivers sucked ass in win2k though
elsa erazor x 32mb sdr, well had this for like a week, was pretty good, but the v6800 ddr replaced it
asus v6800 64mb ddr, free sample since i was reselling them on commission, 2d wasnt that great at 1280 and up though
asus v7700 32mb ddr, another sample, but didnt like it, had worse 2d than the 6800
3dfx voodoo5 5500, finally working 3d in win2k in diablo2
3dfx voodoo4 4500, well i didnt play any games for a while so downgraded
matrox g400 32mb, ok sick yeah, but 3dfx went out of business and well i wanted a company that was still in business
ati radeon LE, my current card

 

[hclarkjr]

packard bell onboard video with DX2 66 MHZ computer
S4 VIRGE 4 MEG
VOODOO 1
VOODOO BANSHEE
VOODOO 3 3000
xentor TNT2 16 MEG WITH VOODOO2 for glide games
geforce 32 meg ddr
radeon 32 meg ddr

 

[kw3i]

VooDoo Rush Board!
Dual VooDoo 2 12 MB
TNT classic
Geforce DDR

 

[gregshin]

1996 - I had a S3 Virge 4MB 3D DEACCELARATOR i was broke and in college
1996 - 1 month later i bought an ASUS Riva128 4MB card. I thought i was the shiznet until i saw my friends Camopus Voodoo1 Card.
1997 - Got me the canopus Voodoo1 card
1998 - I got a Creative Labs Bansee, i thought it was ok. Can you believe i ran the banshee for 2 years until i got my next upgrade!
2000 - Asus Geforce 6800 deluxe DDR 32MB, this is when i started to work full time and i had money to burn.
2000 - 3 months later i decided to go for an ATI Radeon 64MB

 

[masterskartrg]

sis 6326 8mb(first card i installed thought was an awesome card realize now that it sucks)

ati 16mb rage (best 2d card and for dvd viewing too bad it sucks in 3d)

v3 2k (loved it)

v3 3k (even better w/tv-out)

inndo geforce sdr (2d really sucks but 3d awesome started getting my eyes blurry thought because it was a no-name brand)

gullimont geforce sdr (geez same 2d quailty)

geforce 256 ddr (was impress with 3d buuut 2d had to go)

last but not least

voodoo3 3500 (dont play that much 3d games no more and love the 2d quality so this must be my fav. card)

maybe a radeon next

 

[Cpt. Duke]

My illustrious video card history :

#1) 1 MB Cirrus Logic PCI (9/96)-- worked fine in Win 95 and for playing DOS games. At this point I never played FPS so it was all good...

#2) ATI Xpert 98 (12/97) -- I decided to get this card because it was 2x AGP and 8 mb of RAM! Unheard of. At this point I still had no idea about computers so I thought it was a great buy.

#3) Voodoo3 2000 (4/99) -- The card I still use today. I play some Counterstrike and Team Fortress and it's cool for what I need. The best part about it is I can run my Sony 19" at 100 hz at 1024*768.

#4) GeForce3 MX -- hopefully they will announce something like this soon . . .

 

[JayPatel]

ATI Mach64GT
STB Riva128 4 Meg
Diamond Monster Voodoo 2 12 meg w/Riva128
Creative Labs Riva TNT
Guillemot Maxi Gamer TNT2Ultra
Creative Labs Geforce 1 SDR<--awesome clocker...got it up to 175/220 Mhz
Currently running a CL Annihilator GTS