In Pictures: The Best Graphics Card Values In History

[Saxito Pau]

An interesting slide on the best cost-effective video cards in history  (price/performance ratio)

http://www.tomshardware.com/picturestory/578-Radeon-GeForce-video-card-graphics-budget.html

[TriniXaeno]

Slick

I've owned at least half of those

Will make a list later

+1

[LQDSNK]

Owned a couple of them myself. Never quite had the cash to run through even budget cards until now though.

Good times when you finally get your hands on that all powerful mid-range card. Now men buy two high end and dissatisfied lol

[TriniXaeno]

collated the list.

These are the best-bang-for-buck cards I've owned over the years.

It's only my latest card, the 6970 that doesn't qualify for such a distinction, it being firmly on the high-end and overpriced bracket, lol

Still, a man should be able to splurge at least once in his life. no love lost.

Batted for both teams, red and green. Wherever the best value could have been found.

memories. good times, good times.

*Oops, also not on the list were my Voodoo 1 (first 3D Graphics card ever purchased) and Matrox Millennium (which was  highend but only 2D)

[VirtueTT]

Why does your profile have 6970 and not 50? 0_o

[TriniXaeno]

*ninja edit*

meant to say 6970

[TriniXaeno]

wtmc

VERY impressive list there Hard O/C. Very impressive indeed.

[shivanandrs]

This thread bring back memories yes. I had a few on that list as well as a couple others of which only few survived over the years.

I've put together my graphic card history along with pics of the exact model card I owned, some taken by me others I googled. All i could ever afford in the early days were the mid-ranged stuff, so here they are.

Well actually my first Windows computer came with this card, it's the ATI Rage II. After so long I can't remember the exact details but it did look very similar to this:


I eventually upgraded to the RIVA TNT 2


Then the GeForce 3 Ti200 - One of the few survivors.


Skipped the 4 series completely and got myself the FX 5900XT - AGP. Good card but looked really awkward in my system as the blue didn't match with anything. (Deceased)



When the 5900XT finally gave out I got myself the 7950GT AGP. Ended up purchasing this as it was one of the few AGP cards on the market and didn't have the cash to upgrade the rest of the system. I suppose this one is still working as it was removed from service in good working condition and have it packed away in the retail box.


When I finally built over a new gaming system I got myself the 8800 GT superclocked edition from EVGA. I got around two years service before it died.


The 8800GT died at the worst possible time as I was in the running for a few team & driver sim racing championships at race2play.com and needed to get back in the game asap. Not only that but the GTX 4xx series was going to hit the market just a few months later. I finally gave in after two days and got the GTX 285. It was bloody expensive at the time but i didn't regret it. The 4xx series cards launched 2-3 months later I think...and for the same price i paid for the 285. 


Then finally a full system upgrade for BF3 and a shiny new GTX580. 

[Doomtack]

Not feeling to do pictures... but here's my list:

Nvidia FX5200
Nvidia 6600GT
Nvidia 8800GT
Nvidia GTX260
Nvida GTX280
Nvida GTX280 SLI
Nvidia GTX 470
Nvidia GTX 470 SLI
Nvidia GTX580
Nvidia GTX580 SLI (current rig)

[LQDSNK]

i present to you Doomtack! Awed with mid, unsatisfied with 2 high end!

[TriniXaeno]

I am detecting a pattern here.

A lot of us have maintained low end / mid tier cards for most of our gaming lives, yet our current graphics card is high end.

What happened?

Did GATTers suddenly win cashpot and bush whe whe in 2011? Or was there some killer app that forced our hand into doling out for the top tier cards?

Only thing I could think of would be Battlefield 3.

[LQDSNK]

I think it might be more of a global availability thing. When we were younger, 99% of your parts would be bought on the local market, if they only had mid, you can only get mid. As the international lines blur (and gamers start working) we find ourselves wanting to get the best.

[shivanandrs]

I've been buying my parts online since around 2000-2001, but back then I was still in school and could only afford to spend whatever little I can save form doing little jobs and allowance. lol!

When I started working the first thing I did was build a new gaming system, that same Q6600 system I was running up until late last year. That's when I got the 8800 GT as well. I went from a Pentium 4 HT straight to a Quad.

As for the 2011 upgrade, I got more than 4 years service form my Q6600 but it was starting to show it's age. Although most games ran without a problem, BF3 was the game that made it clear it was time for an upgrade.

[Arcmanov]

Some of you seemed to missed the 'point' of this thread. 

...but LQDSNK nailed it though.

We only bought what a) was available locally, and b) we could afford.
Now that we're a lot more tech-savvy, and armed with internet and skybox, the sky is literally the limit.

Not to mention, more overtime, PJs, and Christmas bonuses. 

I was actually still a console-only gamer until 2003.  I had a PC which I bought in 1997, but it was
nowhere near gaming pedigree until I upgraded it in 2003, which included a GeForce FX5200,
which I thought was 'bess', until I saw a FX5900 Ultra in action. 

The only cards I've owned on that list however, were the 6600 GT, 8800 GT, HD 4870, and HD 6870.

Of those, I think the 6600 GT, and 8800 GT were the most memorable (for me).

[Doomtack]

Yeah lqd nailed it mostly.
The main reason I started getting high end cards recently is that i've been able to set aside the $ for it due to better job etc.

[captainchris]

Imagine i owned a nvidia tnt  32mb... i feel old so young LOL. I gaming since baby milk

Tapped from LG G2x with nVIDIA TEGRA2