Nvidia grahpics through the years - Overclock.net

TheSandman · 03-30-09

Well we all know about Nvidia but how much about them do we really know, many are new to this world and some can remember back before computers had 3d. Well I'm going back in a breif recap of Nvidia for everyone.

1995 The NV-1

NV-1

The NV-1, while it was the first many don't even know this card was ever made. To make some sense of this let me fill you in, in 1995 the market was wide open several API's competing and Nvidia went with quadratics the same used on the Sega Saturn, but later that year Microsoft came out with DirectX based on Triangles and the NV1 died.

1997 The Riva128

Riva 128

The NV-3 aka Riva 128 was Nvidia's big break you could say, it was one of the first cards to scare 3dfx who was at there prime and was cheaper, while it was plauged with poor image quaility and spotty openGL it sold well, being so cheap many OEM's adopted it. A refreash came out the Riva 128ZX that doubled the frame buffer

1998 The Riva TNT

RivaTNT

Meet RivaTNT the card that got Nvidia into the gamer market while 3DFX controlled the market the TNT offered 32bit color and 16mb of ram allowed 12x10 to be used in games for the first time. It was slower than annouced and because of this wasn't quite able to beat the Voodoo 2 but it started something Nvidia would finish in a few years.

1999 The Riva TNT2

Riva TNT2

The RivaTNT2, many know this card some are still in computers today, this card turned the tide on 3DFX it was everything the TNT was but alot faster and on top of that added 32mb of fast SD-Ram making 32bit gaming a reality not just a feature. Nvidia overtook 3DFX for the first time with the TNT2 and I didn't give anything back.

The Geforce256

Geforce 256 DDR

The Geforce has arrived, while it may not look like much this card single handly took the market away from everyone else, bringing true Hardware TnL, DirectX 7 and unheard of speed, compared to the older cards this thing was a beast. The Geforce 256 was the very first GPU and the one that lead a revolution.

2000 The Geforce2

Geforce2 Ultra

If the Geforce 256 was fast, this thing was a god, bringing many aspects gamers needed, the high speed GTS, TI, Pro, and Ultra along with the best selling video cards of all time the Geforce2 MX. Geforce2 saw the Death of 3DFX and the rise of ATI as a compitior to the crown. It wasn't all good though, memory issues cropped up left and right, the card didn't have an efficent memory subsystem and for that suffered never reaching quite as far as it could have.

2001 The Geforce3

Geforce3

DirectX 8 has arrived with the Geforce3 and while it may have started off loosing to the Geforce2 Ultra as soon as DirectX8 titles hit the stores the Geforce3 showed us what a pixel pipeline could really do, and did what the Geforce2 256 had done before it, brought games to life like never before, and thanks to this one card gamers demanded the graphics not the speed.

2002 The Geforce 4

Geforce4 Ti 4200

The Geforce4 was everything the Geforce3 was but faster adding an extra vertex shader into the mix. While it was a simple refreash and nothing new happened something exciting did happen. We meet our friend the Ti-4200 which remained in active service for years, because it was fast and cheap. You could get a Ti-4600 for 200 bucks if you could OC and that enticed many buyers.

2003 The Geforce FX

GeforceFX 5800Ultra

Everyone makes mistakes at least thats what Nvidia said to themselves in 2003, not the brighest day, it could even be said to be the worst. Meet the GeforceFX, it was DirectX9 but in spirt only, as we saw with Half Life2 and FarCry Shaders killed the card, but it did decent in OpenGL, this card spelled the end to Nvidia dominance for many years.

2004 The Geforce6

Geforce 6600GT

Meet the redeemer and meet Shader Model 3. Nvidia is back and they're pissed. With the Geforce 6 cards, they took a gun and aimed it square at ATI and got back into the game almost as fast as they dropped out. From top to bottom, the Geforce 6 was there, and the 6600GT card offered last years 500 dollar power for a mere 200 bucks. We had the Ti-4200 all over again, and the people cheered. Nvidia also brought back SLI which brought back the days of linking to cards together to get more power. Now you could get one video card and save up for another and get high end power over time instead of waiting months to save up

2005 The Geforce7

Geforce 7950GX2

The G70 broke with the old NV naming and went new, but dont be decivied this is a Geforce6 update but brought more power and more speed, so who cared that it was a 6800Ultra on steriods? This card dominated the market thanks to ATI being late to release and you can still find these in many places. And lets not forget bringing the first GX2 to market, the 7950GX2 was a beast but quad SLI didnt quite work right.

2006 The Geforce8

Geforce 8800Ultra

Does it seem strange to you that a 3 year old card can still keep up and play the newest games at max quality? Well if it was any other line of cards I'd say yes, but the G80 wasn't a joke, it showed Nvidia still has what it takes though the lower end confused many with there poor preformance but the Geforce8 isnt defined by the 8600 its by the 8800GT.

2007 The Geforce9

Geforce 9800GTX

While nothing new Geforce9 was just rebranded Geforce8, it added nothing but did bring us the 9600GT to finally replace the 7600GT in our old systems.

2008 and beyond

Geforce GTX 295

Well we arrive at today with the GeforceGTX and what tomorrow bring we will never know, all we can do is sit and watch and hope the FX doesnt repeat itself, but we know Nvidia isnt sitting around anymore and that tomorrow is another bright day thanks to our friends on the green team

The Cards
NV1
Riva128
Riva128ZX
RivaTNT Vanta
RivaTNT
RivaTNT2 M64
RivaTNT2
Geforce 256 SDR
Geforce 256 DDR
Geforce2 MX200
Geforce2 MX
Geforce2 MX400
Geforce2 GTS
Geforce2 Pro
Geforce2 Ti
Geforce2 Ultra
Geforce3 Ti 200
Geforce3
Geforce3 Ti 500
Geforce4 MX420
Geforce4 MX440
Geforce4 MX460
Geforce4 MX4000
Geforce4 Ti 4200
Geforce4 Ti 4400
Geforce4 Ti 4600
Geforce4 Ti 4800
GeforceFX 5200
GeforceFX 5200 Ultra
GeforceFX PCX5300
GeforceFX 5500
GeforceFX 5600XT
GeforceFX 5600
GeforceFX 5600Ultra
GeforceFX 5700LE
GeforceFX 5700
GeforceFX PCX5700
GeforceFX 5700Ultra
GeforceFX PCX 5750Ultra
GeforceFX 5800
GeforceFX 5800 Ultra
GeforceFX 5900XT
GeforceFX 5900
GeforceFX PCX5900
GeforceFX 5900Ultra
GeforceFX 5950Ultra
GeforceFX PCX5950
Geforce 6200TC
Geforce 6200
Geforce 6600LE
Geforce 6600
Geforce 6600DDR2
Geforce 6600GT
Geforce 6800LE
Geforce 6800XT
Geforce 6800
Geforce 6800GS
Geforce 6800GT
Geforce 6800Ultra
Geforce 7100GS
Geforce 7200GS
Geforce 7300LE
Geforce 7300SE
Geforce 7300GS
Geforce 7300GT
Geforce 7600GS
Geforce 7600GT
Geforce 7800GS
Geforce 7800GT
Geforce 7800GTX
Geforce 7800GTX 512
Geforce 7900GS
Geforce 7900GT
Geforce 7950GT
Geforce 7900GTO
Geforce 7900GTX
Geforce 7950GX2
Geforce 8300
Geforce 8400GS
Geforce 8500GT
Geforce 8600GT
Geforce 8600GTS
Geforce 8800GS
Geforce 8800GT
Geforce 8800GTS 320
Geforce 8800GTS 640
Geforce 8800GTS 512
Geforce 8800GTX
Geforce 8800 Ultra
Geforce 9500GT
Geforce 9600GS
Geforce 9600GSO
Geforce 9600GT
Geforce 9800 GT
Geforce 9800GTX
Geforce 9800GX2
Geforce GTS 240
Geforce GTS 250
Geforce GTX 260
Geforce GTX 260 216
Geforce GTX 275
Geforce GTX 280
Geforce GTX 285
Geforce GTX 295