What is the best "time-proof" classic video card out there

[Roguestar]

9700Pro. Those were the days.

 

[oynaz]

Riva TnT

 

[Sunner]

Tough one.
While my trusty 9800 is a strong contender, I think I'm gonna have to give the title to the GeForce 256 DDR.
But maybe that's just me being nostalgic

 

[conlan]

Too close to call between these three:

V2 1000 (SLI)

GeForce 256 DDR

Radeon 9700/9800

 

[mercanucaribe]

I'd still be using my 9800 Pro if it didn't die. It ran WoW at 1920x1200 with settings turned down.

 

[Vogel515]

I am still using my Ti4200, I think it's time for an upgrade.

This has been a great card though. (5 years and counting)

 

[acegazda]

Originally posted by: adairusmc

Originally posted by: jfall
Voodoo2

:thumbsup:

I had a voodoo 3000 untill 2 years ago when my pentium II dell xps kicked the can. Played everything solid on the 15" crt, then later, the 17" crt.

 

[dguy6789]

Radeon 9700 Pro.

 

[mcurphy]

Originally posted by: dguy6789
Radeon 9700 Pro.

 

[SparkyJJO]

Radeon 9800 pro. My brother still has his that he got a couple months after launch and it still performs well for its age.

 

[snowdogg187]

TI4200 is my vote. It got me by for a long time!

 

[Zolty]

TI4600 &TI4400 series, I used a 4400 until 4 months ago.

 

[crimson117]

My 6800GT 256mb has held up well since I got it in September 2004 for $350 (which was a pretty good deal at the time), and I don't plan to replace it until perhaps September 2007 or later, and then really only because it's AGP.

Admittedly, I don't play highly demanding games on it - WoW and Half Life 2 are the main ones right now, albeit at 1600x1200.

Before that I had the 9700 Pro AIW, which I recently gave to a friend so she could play WoW better than with her GeForce FX 5200

I'd probably vote for the 9700 Pro, because it was much more affordable than the 6800GT even though it was top of the line in its day.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: Vogel515
I am still using my Ti4200, I think it's time for an upgrade.

This has been a great card though. (5 years and counting)

Yeah. I'm still using several Ti4200s. They've been flawless.

I had Voodoo 2 SLI, also. But those suckers generated SO much heat. I had to add fans and cut a giant hole in the front of my case. Otherwise, the top of the (large) tower case got almost too hot to touch. I was glad when Voodoo 3 came along. Better performance than Voodoo 2 SLI, and it ran MUCH cooler. And Voodoo 3 was compatible with everything, unlike Voodoo 2 SLI, which crashed Grand Prix Legends, required patches for Falcon 3, and actually SLOWED DOWN a few games.

 

[HannibalX]

Two of the best video cards made: Original Geforce DDR and Radeon 9800 Pro. These cards for their time seemed to take anything you could throw at them and were able to handle games years and years after they were in their prime.

 

[fivetiger]

I bought my 9800 Pro used on ebay 3 years ago and I'm still using it.

However, I'm building a new computer next month....which new cards will be as good to me as the 9800 was? Any (predicted) classics available now?

 

[KoolDrew]

My vote goes for the 9800 Pro.

 

[Agentbolt]

The 9800 Pro is simply a dressed-up 9700 Pro. When I was poking around for a new video card I specifically thought "What's most likely to be the next 9700 Pro" and decided on the 8800GTS.

A 9700 Pro could still run pretty much any modern game as long as the resolution isn't ridiculous. A lot of us with 19 inch LCDs could still use one. Considering how long ago it came out, that is a monumental achivement that ATI should be very proud of.

 

[gneGne]

My vote also goes to the 9700pro...

PC graphics had been rapidly increasing in a hunger for power in the 9700pro's years. Yet it would still eat games raw.

 

[kashwashwa]

First vote goes to the:

1. Geforce 4 Ti4200 - best cost to performance ratio for longest period of time... I used that thing for years and it wasn't even very expensive brand new.

2. Radeon 9800 non-pro - becuase it overclocked well and I bought it on ebay 2 years ago for $54


I think the 7900 GS is another in the running

 

[PianoMan]

Agree on the Ti4200 & 9800 series. Good cards! :thumbsup:

PM

 

[Crassus]

Originally posted by: oynaz
Riva TnT

:thumbsup: Diamond Viper V550 :c)

also Ti4200, 6800GT

Incidentally, I owned all of the above

 

[RandomFool]

The geforce 2 was around forever too! I still use one in my second machine.

 

[MegaVovaN]

6800gt

 

[bluemax]

The classic cards with future longevity? I'd say the 9700/9800 series is the closest thing to that. It was so far ahead of its time, it can still keep up now... although not the amazing performer it used to be... it's about equivalent to a low-end X1300Pro but that's still 2x better than even the latest, best IGP is.