What was your first 3D card?

Discussion in 'Graphics Cards & Displays' started by Adrian Wong, Aug 22, 2004.

  1. Olle P

    Olle P Newbie

    My first private experience with 3D was a Compaq Presario something (3800?) in 1998 when Voodoo2 and GeForce256 were (just about to be) released. It had a LT Rage Pro chipset on the motherboard. (4MB RAM, 2xAGP). (A computer I rented somewhat cheap for a three year period.)
    What disappointments it gave me! :shock: First I went shopping for some cool 3D games to really use this rig, that was a major improvement from my previous (and first) computer. I found a triple flightsim package called "Front Line Fighters", including Apache Longbow, Hind and F-16 Fighting Falcon from Digital Integrations. The box was full of "3dFx"-signs, that I read as "Three dimensional effects." Just what I was looking for! :thumb:
    Installing the first program with full 3d support resulted in an error message. "Can't find glide32.dll" or something like that. A call to the support gave me an answer: The games used Glide routines, property of the company 3dFx, to create full 3d graphics. My ATI chip didn't support that. :wall:
    I could still run the games in "software" mode, but they didn't look as good as they should. :(
    I had some fun with other games using Direct3D, though, until...
    Summer 2000. Release of Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord. This is a Direct3D program, using DirectX 5, I think, and I could not see any rain, fog or transparent walls. Smoke was only visible in the ugly "fast and compatible" mode. :( Why? Because ATI have never (and never will) supported the Direct3D feature called table/pixle fog! :nuts: :evil: :wall: :boohoo:

    I endured the autumn before deciding to buy myself a brand new computer to my own specs, even though I had to pay rent for the current computer for another year.
    By now GeForce2 GT was state of the art, but I couldn't afford that. I chose between the cheapest GF2 available (MX?) or a GF256. The retailer suggested me to buy a Leadtech GF256, but I'd never heard of Leadtech and thought better to go for a quality brand. Finally I made the decision to buy an Asus V6800 deLuxe. GF256, 32MB DDR, 3D-goggles and a heap of bundled software! :cool:
    Pretty soon I realised that the GF256 wasn't fast enough to make use of the 3D-goggles in the applications I wanted. :cry:
    Lesson learned: Opt for a faster GPU rather than a fancy brand and/or bundled items.

    I kept the Asus card for a while though, and when it was time to get a new one nVidia had just released their Ti-series and ATI the Radeon 7500 and 8500. Within my budget was GF2 Ti (easy), Radeon 7500 (how about that fog support?), and, stretching it a bit, GF3 Ti200. The retailer I bought my computer from recommended the Radeon, and promised full Direct3D support, including table fog. I was sceptic though, and other sources confirmed lack of table fog.
    I bought a Point of View GF3 Ti200, 64MB RAM, that was the first graphics card never to go below expectations! :clap:

    Some 20 months ago it was time for a new upgrade. Not that I really needed it, but more because I wanted to and the price seemed right.
    Nvidia had recently released the GF6-series and the next-to-top FX series cards dropped in price. I bought myself a Gainward Ultra/1100 (GF FX5900 with 128MB "slow" RAM. Plenty of room for overclocking the GPU...). The graphics do run faster and smoother now than with my previous card.

    In keeping with my trend to skip every other generation of nVidia GPU, my next card will probably be based on the new G70 engine, once it's in the price range where GF6600GT and GF6800 currently are...

    Cheers
    Olle
     
    1 person likes this.
  2. Tsunam-i

    Tsunam-i Newbie

    Diamond Edge 3D .. good ol' times. *sigh* ^^
     
  3. acedriver

    acedriver Just Started

    a Voodoo - Diamond Monster 3D

    my jaw dropped when first time playing mechwarrior 2 on it..
     
  4. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    My jaw dropped when I first played NFS2SE on it! :haha:
     
  5. athlonxp

    athlonxp Newbie

    RIVA TNT2 M64


    my eye drop when play counter strike on it :shifty:
     
  6. sry for posting here so late, but my first 3d cardd was the ati rage pro 8mb!
    also, my friend is currently using the first card you had adrian.
    this is in a a64 3200+ system..!
    he's replacing it in a few days though, with a vanilla 6800
     
  7. Fat`Albert

    Fat`Albert Newbie

    mine was an ati rage 32mb PCI card (since my compaq did not have an agp slot) :D

    i still remember that faithful day when i was able to switch from software mode in counterstrike to OpenGL muahahah
     
  8. Dashken

    Dashken Administrator!

    Geforce2 MX 400... bought it at RM160+... :thumb:
     
  9. Talisman

    Talisman Newbie

    My first 1 was Nvidia Vanta 16 mb video memory. I used it with a P III.
     
  10. goldfries

    goldfries www.goldfries.com

    did you know that's the game that drove me to spend RM 600 on my 1st ever graphic card? :) that's it's a 8mb Voodoo add-on from Canopus.

    heck. in fact i never spent more than RM 600 on a card. next RM 600 card was Matrox G400.
     
  11. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    That's one of the last NFS I was really interested in, that's when I bought the relatively cheap Gainward Voodoo1.
     
  12. The_YongGrand

    The_YongGrand Just Started

    Sorry for being another thread-digger,but since it's the your 1st 3d card place, let me list 'em down:

    My first 3d card is a nVidia RIVA 128ZX. How, I loved this card so badly. It made my jaw dropped when I played fifa 2000 and HL. I deeply regretted selling this as well. If I can get back this card, I'll really really want to keep it back as a souvenir. :(

    2nd? Riva TNT2 M64. Don't ask me why I got it, I bought it by accident. I thought my Riva 128ZX is busted (forgot to install AGP drivers) so I go and purchase one from a nearest comp shop.

    3rd? Years later, the Radeon 9200. Cheap, but inefficient especially in modern games. But heck, it's another better card for a placeholder for a more better card. (I got a 7300GT afterwards!)

    edit: I have a Savage4 and some S3 video card lying about in my storerooms. I gonna turn it to a museum one day... :haha:
     
  13. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    Wow... Well, I used to own a RIVA 128 but way before that, I owned a few S3 ViRGE models, even one of their S3 968 2D VRAM graphics card (for a very short time!), but the RIVA 128 (Diamond Multimedia Stealth 3D?) was a real turning point. :thumb:
     
  14. The_YongGrand

    The_YongGrand Just Started

    S3 Virge is nice if you are doing something else that doesn't involve gaming. I have two of 'em (one is 1MB and one is 4MB) and they are doing well in my older frankenputers. :haha:

    I only want the Riva 128ZX PCI or AGP card only. I love this thing so much. I believe that Riva 128ZX made nVidia very good and famous. (I am no fanboy here, I like both Radeon and Geforce altogether!)

    What was that S3 968 card anyway? And how did you bought so much of S3 Virge cards, Adrian? For experiments?

    also, I love to see one of these Voodoo PCI cards. But not anymore even in local auction sites. Apparently, I found unopened new boxes of Voodoo3 cards in a 2nd hand store in Low Yat Plaza. They cost RM60 and they are in a form of AGP. Well, I wanted that PCI version...
     
  15. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    I think I still have Voodoo2 and Voodoo3.

    RIVA 128 should be Viper series.
     
  16. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    Well, the only difference between the RIVA 128 and the RIVA 128ZX is the framebuffer support - 4MB and 8MB.

    The S3 968 was not as great as S3 made it out to be. It was supposed to be a real killer 2D card with super-expensive VRAM. Back in those days, it cost something like RM 1600 (USD 450)?

    When I tested it, it was horrendous. It couldn't even play MPEG-1 movies without dropping frames. And it does not come with any support 3D rendering. Fortunately, I was able to return it. Phew!!!

    Anyway, the high cost was only because of it was a professional-grade processor and the super-expensive dual-ported VRAM meant for very high refresh rates.
     
  17. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    I suppose it was. I can't really remember. LOL!
     
  18. The_YongGrand

    The_YongGrand Just Started

    Cool info.

    Just another question - I'm thinking of supercharging my old classic Pentium rig with a videocard. I will only spend a few ringgits outta it since I hate paying through my nose on old PCI videocards, so I hunt for them in auctions sites.

    Okay - is Matrox Millenium II 4MB really can do Half-Life classic, or the older The Sims? I searched around for info for support of these cards on these games, but to no avail. :haha:

    and also, is ATi RAGE 128 sufficient too for these HL stuff too? Like the Quake 2 engine? :shifty:
     
  19. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    Hmm.. I'm not sure about those cards but I think I played Half Life on my RIVA TNT. :think:
     
  20. sherwin

    sherwin Newbie

    Let''s see.. i started of with the S3 Savage 3D I think:haha:
    Drivers were so buggy at that time that there were many issues with games recognizing it

    Other cards after the Savage3D:

    Riva128
    Riva TNT2
    Geforce 2MX
    Geforce 4MX
    Geforce 6200

    I'm still on AGP.. :wall:
     

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