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My First PC Graphics Card
- Thread starter KiraXD
- Start date
MoGamesXNA
Unconfirmed Member
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FormallyMegadrive
Member
My first non-integrated was an nVidia 7600GT, used that for way too many years then upgraded to a whole new computer setup with a Radeon HD6950 that I overclocked to a 6970
lunchtoast
Member
I don't remember what it was. I needed one that could use direct 3D for Jedi knight II. It was around 100 at Best Buy. First PC I boult I bought a Radeon 9700 pro. It was a big deal at the time
I had a PC that came with some sort of ATI Rage variant, but the first dedicated graphics card I bought and installed was a Voodoo Banshee.
For fun, here's the Tom's Hardware review of the Banshee from way back in 1998.
For fun, here's the Tom's Hardware review of the Banshee from way back in 1998.
jim-jam bongs
Member
6 megs of pure power and the TV output was revolutionary to me at the time.
Bro. This was my second card. I used it for years, my mates and I were still playing GTA 2 multiplayer on a LAN with a patchwork PC made from this and other parts in like 2006.
plumpblumpkin
Member
My very first video card was a Sapphire 9200se.
exmachina64
Banned
ATI 9800 SE
Bought it to play Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.
Good times.
Bought it to play Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.
Good times.
Cuban Legend
Member
from the 560 to the 760 what where your general FPS gains in %. ie: 50%, 25%, etc.
jim-jam bongs
Member
You know I guess if we're going all the way back, my first real graphics card was a Diamond Stealth 3d 2000. That was some hot shit before 3d acceleration came along.
Ricerocket
Member
Mon Dieu.
Its been so long I honestly cant remember...but this looks familiar... It might not have been the pro.
I was an ATI guy for years....now its Nvidia.
Confusion Illusion
Banned
It was a 3DFX Voodoo PCI card with 16MB VRAM on it. I think Unreal was the first game I played after installing it.
I don't remember my first card but I remember this was my second and the biggest upgrade I had ever see in graphics at the time. It was glorious.
7DollarHagane
Banned
This thing was so fucking good for quake 3, unreal tournament, and half life.
Had to abandon it when hardware shaders became more standard but it lasted me a long time.
I remember trying to play Jedi knight 2, mafia , and Warcraft 3 with it and failing miserably.
facepalm007
Member
WinFast GeForce 2 GTS. Boy I loved that computer.
Das Mookid
Banned
Technically my first "3D card" was a 12MB Voodoo 2, but it was given to me by the bloke my parents had contracted to itemise and build our next system as our then-current PC was still rockin' a 2MB S3 card that could only do DirectDraw. The GPU that was in the new system was a 64MB GeForce 2 Ti, although the first GPU that I bought myself, out of my own pocket, was a 256MB 7900GS.
SpecialAgentZ
Member
Wow... my very first "my own PC" had a FX 5200. Pretty bad card, even for it's time, but it worked as it should.
I think it was in 2003 or 2004.
I think it was in 2003 or 2004.
Rushersauce
Banned
My first video card was a Nvidia 6200 with 256MB ram and then I got an amazing Nvidia 7950GT with a whooping (for its time) 512MB of Vram.
Edit: This 7950GT to be exact
Edit: This 7950GT to be exact
Demigod Mac
Member
Techworks Power3D for Macintosh. (Voodoo 1 4MB)
I was a hardcore enough Myth player to get one.
meanspartan
Member
Radeon 5770. Upgeaded to a 7850 in summer 2012
CadetMahoney
Member
Can't remember but I know it was shit.
FritoBandito
Banned
GeForce MX420. Playing Counter-Strike with that thing after using integrated graphics on a 1.3ghz Celeron was night and day.
Because add-on cards and openGL are for suckers, my first GPU was a NV3 Nvidia Riva 128 with 4GB of memory and AGP interface. It was inside a Dell PC, that was the only way to get them at the time.
I remember getting it in September 1997 and it only had D3D drivers. OGL drivers (QUAKE!!!) only came in 1998.
I remember getting it in September 1997 and it only had D3D drivers. OGL drivers (QUAKE!!!) only came in 1998.
Buggy Loop
Gold Member
I think i had a 3DFX voodoo as my first card. I can only remember the voodoo banshee clearly as i guess it was my next upgrade, but i remember having an ATI 2D card and a 3DFX 3D card (cause yes, there were no 2d/3d all in one at that time lol). So i guess it was ATI + voodoo.
Demigod Mac
Member
Actually I sort of take that back.
the Mac I eventually installed that in was a clone, a Power Computing machine. It had an ATI Rage II (4MB) onboard. Borderline 3D de-celerator.
But it did have one very important use later in life...
iD Software released the Quake 3 Test to the Mac platform first, citing the consistency of the OS and hardware making it a better platform to begin public testing on. Suddenly PC gaming sites were rushing to the stores to pick up iMacs so they could play the game and write up articles. (which is the story behind this Penny Arcade comic) http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/1999/04/28
By then I had the Techworks Voodoo1 card, but proper OpenGL drivers hadn't been written for it yet. There was a hobbyist working on a Mesa GL wrapper for Mac in his sparetime; and suddenly it became his responsibility to make Quake 3 work on non-ATI Mac graphics cards. While he was working on that, I managed to get Quake 3 test to run on mine by disabling the Voodoo card. Had to run it in the lowest settings and resolution, but it worked and was playable (about 10-15 fps or so).
Later he released a new Mesa GL that worked with Quake 3 Test. Night and day difference it made. Buttery smooth 30 fps and high detail settings.
the Mac I eventually installed that in was a clone, a Power Computing machine. It had an ATI Rage II (4MB) onboard. Borderline 3D de-celerator.
But it did have one very important use later in life...
iD Software released the Quake 3 Test to the Mac platform first, citing the consistency of the OS and hardware making it a better platform to begin public testing on. Suddenly PC gaming sites were rushing to the stores to pick up iMacs so they could play the game and write up articles. (which is the story behind this Penny Arcade comic) http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/1999/04/28
By then I had the Techworks Voodoo1 card, but proper OpenGL drivers hadn't been written for it yet. There was a hobbyist working on a Mesa GL wrapper for Mac in his sparetime; and suddenly it became his responsibility to make Quake 3 work on non-ATI Mac graphics cards. While he was working on that, I managed to get Quake 3 test to run on mine by disabling the Voodoo card. Had to run it in the lowest settings and resolution, but it worked and was playable (about 10-15 fps or so).
Later he released a new Mesa GL that worked with Quake 3 Test. Night and day difference it made. Buttery smooth 30 fps and high detail settings.
Bigdrbingo
Neo Member
My first was an nVidia GT 7900GS if my memory is right. Served me well for quite a while.
my virginity buster as well - such a let-down.
My very first graphic card S3 Virge DX with 2MB VRAM
At least it can play Fury3 and Hellbender well although any hardware acceleration for games like Quake, Unreal, Half-Life prompted me to get my dad to upgrade to this in late 1998:
The bundled Forsaken and Incoming runs reallly smooth at 60fps that time with it.
The Riva TNT serve me well untill 2002 where my graphic card purchase have been like this:
GeForce4 MX440 64MB -> ATI Radeon 9600SE 128MB (can be softmodded to unlock the extra pipeline for slight performance increase) -> GeForce 7600GT 256MB OC -> GeForce 9800GT 512MB -> GeForce GTX780 3GB (this is my biggest leap in graphic card upgrades and the performance is HUGE).
At least it can play Fury3 and Hellbender well although any hardware acceleration for games like Quake, Unreal, Half-Life prompted me to get my dad to upgrade to this in late 1998:
The bundled Forsaken and Incoming runs reallly smooth at 60fps that time with it.
The Riva TNT serve me well untill 2002 where my graphic card purchase have been like this:
GeForce4 MX440 64MB -> ATI Radeon 9600SE 128MB (can be softmodded to unlock the extra pipeline for slight performance increase) -> GeForce 7600GT 256MB OC -> GeForce 9800GT 512MB -> GeForce GTX780 3GB (this is my biggest leap in graphic card upgrades and the performance is HUGE).
3dfx was the greatest company... ever.
the voodoo 2 revolutionized 3d graphics card at the time.
Appollowexx
Member
Ha, this was my first upgrade too! Half Life and Quake 2 ran smooth as butter after installing this beauty!
BennyBlanco
aka IMurRIVAL69
my computer wouldn't run morrowind respectably and i was really disappointed until my dad surprised me with one of these out of nowhere, thanks dad miss you
The first graphics card I lusted after was one that could do video acceleration for mpeg files, so it doesn't count. The next was a 3dfx Voodoo (of course!) but I thought I'd be smart and wait for the Voodoo Rush.
Bad mistake. The Voodoo Rush it turned out was terrible at Z-buffered alpha blending so quake ran like a dog. So much so that there was a mass recall/refund offered and they took back the daughter board and gave me an OG 3dfx card in its place.
Then later I bought a Voodoo2 which I consider my first real graphics card without trauma
Bad mistake. The Voodoo Rush it turned out was terrible at Z-buffered alpha blending so quake ran like a dog. So much so that there was a mass recall/refund offered and they took back the daughter board and gave me an OG 3dfx card in its place.
Then later I bought a Voodoo2 which I consider my first real graphics card without trauma
CoolMarquis97
Banned
GTX 550 Ti was my first but I have since then upgraded to an ASUS GTX 770