DF Retro: The Story of Nvidia GeForce 256 - The Original 'GPU' [Sponsored]

Content sponsored by Nvidia. In this DF Retro special, we revisit the original GPU - the Nvidia GeForce 256. First released in 1999 in an age of phenomenal progress in the graphics space, the GeForce 256 was promoted as the first 'Graphics Processing Unit' - or GPU. In addition to state-of-the-art performance, GeForce 256 also brought about new features such as hardware transform and lighting and full DirectX 7 support.
John Linneman shares his perspective on the hardware and also talks to Phil Scott - now Nvidia's Director of EMEA developer relations, but back in 1999, a developer working on the exciting new range of PC graphics accelerators.
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[@billyb7119]

Seeing some of those old 3D Mark demos set off a nostalgia bomb in my brain.

[@ModernVintageGamer]

top tier video as always John

[@totty2524]

We don't deserve DF Retro, it's too good

[@ionseven]

John's videos are vastly superior to the rest of DF.

[@Jennifer-cg5ih]

@@ionseven nah Matthew is a star

[@UlyssesM]

@@ionseven did you really have to say that

[@ssabykoops]

@@totty2524 I deserve it, and more

[@Rumteldat]

Going from software rendering to an actual GPU was mind blowing for me. Keep up the great work with these videos.

[@kyles8524]

same, when I was a kid I wanted to play motocross madness but couldnt even get it to install cause it didnt detect 3d hardware, finally got an SIS 6326 and was able to play it and I also played Star Wars Dark forces 2 and was blown away..............then I was mind blown when I upgraded to a voodoo2 lol cause I went from playing carmageddon 2 at 20 fps with the sis 6326 to about 80 fps with the voodoo 2 lol.I still own these cards too

[@rodneyabrett]

I remember playing Unreal 1 in software mode for the longest time until the day arrived where I could finally afford an accelerator. It was a Voodoo card and going from software to GPU rendering was like stepping into an entirely different world.

[@conyo985]

As a kid it was amazing! Back then my sister's boyfriend installed a 3DFX card on our PC and the graphics got so good. My first experience was on NFSIII. I ended up playing that game so much I memorized all the tracks shortcuts and speed lines.

[@kyles8524]

@@conyo985 Im glad I kept all my old 3dfx cards lol. I have a box full of them

[@lukaszkaszak]

@@kyles8524 haha, its little bit frighting because I got exactly the same expierence. I started with onboard SIS 6326 that I later upgraded to Voodoo 2. My mindblowing games were: NFS 2, DF2 and the og UT. Transition from 2d to software 3d and to glide 3d is something revolutionary. In my opinion even virtual goggles won't be so influential for gaming like graphic accelerators.

[@madpistol]

The days of GPUs when you were sometimes just happy that it ran, not necessarily how fast it ran. It was definitely an exciting time. Great video, John!

[@Games-tt9hu]

I dont know by 99 you were expecting it to run and hopefully run fast. The shit not being compatible era was more like 2 years earlier.

[@03chrisv]

@@Games-tt9hu Maybe for Quake and Unreal Tournament players, but most PC players by 1999 were happy to just run the game at decent settings and resolution. Graphics tech was moving so fast from the late 90s to mid 2000s that trying to run games at super fast framerates were not a top priority for most PC gamers. In those days PC gamers dabbling on the high end were trying to run games at max graphical settings at 30 fps which was usually preferable to running the same game at lower settings at 60 fps. PC gamers back then were more interested in experiencing cutting edge graphics than higher performance, only fast paced shooters were the exception where higher framerates were more desirable.

[@danielgomez7236]

Back then I was just happy that games like Unreal Tournament, Half-Life, The Sims, Starcraft, Need for Speed III, Quake II, and such could run on my crappy PC.

[@rizzo-films]

@@03chrisv yeah I can confirm, at least in my experience. Most of the PC gamers and nerds I knew in high school back then (right before consumer GPU'S) were playing simulators, RTS games, top-down 2D shooters or dungeon crawlers and were OK with the 15 fps or whatever their shit ran at back then. When I got my first computer that could run games with texture filtering at 60fps my mind was absolutely blown! And it had a 3dfx Voodoo card, which wasn't even classified as a GPU. Seeing normal mapping, bump mapping, real-time shadows and high poly counts on a GeForce card later was equally mind-blowing! These days, you're not considered a serious PC gamer unless you drop $3k or more on your rig, which is fairly common. That's not even counting the price of your 240hz OLED monitor. The debate quickly becomes classist and about status symbols.

[@fungo6631]

That was true in the mid 90s. And even then people were making fun of the S3 Virge as a graphics decelerator.

[@geminijinxies7258]

I remember EVERY game, demo and benchmark in this video from back when owning a GeForce 256. ..But most people thought I was wildly crazy when paying that much money for "just a graphics card". They probably would've fainted though, if they knew the GPU prices of today.

[@ruxandy]

Not to mention that the GeForce 256 still sells for quite a bit of money :-D

[@bionicgeekgrrl]

$299 in 1999 is the equivalent today of $518 when calculated for inflation. Given the 256 was at launch the top tier card, yeah I would have been laughed at by my father for asking for the equivalent of the top tier today (which I consider to be the 3080ti, as the 3090/3090ti are overkill for the price). I did manage to get a voodoo1 card back in the 90s though , which was impressive enough. I think I jumped to the getorce 2 or 3 after that skipped the 256 entirely.

[@OptimumSlinky]

GeForce 2 Ultra. Had an INSANE 64 MB of VRAM. Crushed everything I threw at with a 1 GHz Pentium III and an unheard of 512 MB of RAM. My first high-end gaming PC. Good memories.

[@alangeorge5592]

There's something about old games and old gpus that brings a smile on my face.

[@ebridgewater]

@@alangeorge5592 Nostalgia.

[@alangeorge5592]

@@ebridgewater Also the fact that nowadays the games have amazing graphics but they still don't appeal to me as much as the old low poly graphics.

[@RiasatSalminSami]

@@alangeorge5592 Cause most of these games feels like copy paste of templates, cashgrabs, filled with microtransactions and dlcs and requiring patches [since the game is broken on launch date] and shit like that. Not to mention, the artstyle of many of these current games look cartoonish compared to older games where textures had grit and looked realistic.

[@alangeorge5592]

@@RiasatSalminSami yeah, I could play a game from 90s or early 2000s for hours, but get so bored playing today's games even after 1 hour.

[@pc-sound-legacy]

The late 90s... It was such a great time for PC tech/gaming. Thank you so much for this trip! I remember very well progress in PC tech and 3D gaming was awesome back then.

[@Kynareth6]

Yeah, these days things are moving so slowly.

[@grumpyrocker]

I remember spending a small fortune on my first new pc. And it had a AGP Geforce DDR. It seemed amazing at the time.

[@sherlockholmes7630]

Hug me mate. Nothing can beat a 16MB AGP card. I remember playing a game Hell in Vietnam and it was like a multichrome scatter fest. Good old days.

[@medovk]

well you can spend a fortune on a pc today too. just got a email from a local store that a 3090 is available for 3500e ridiculous.

[@5izzy557]

Correction my good sir, It was amazing at the time.

[@Torbjorn.Lindgren]

Not only seemed, it WAS amazing at the time!

[@guily6669]

First pc I had was my father's Pentium 1 way before Nvidia stuff...

[@smrutimanmohanty7780]

Man we've come so far in graphics quality. Its unbelievable.

[@Aggrofool]

And price too LMAO

[@Diablokiller999]

@@Aggrofool Well, the GeForce 2 GTS launched for around $350-400, that's roughly $600-650 for inflation. The MSRP of an RTX 3080 was around $750? So not much more expensive I guess...

[@wanhl2440]

@@Diablokiller999 but the street price is much more inflated now :(

[@Diablokiller999]

@@wanhl2440 Sure, but that's another topic why it's like that and not compareable to 20 years ago. But NV and AMD listened, they will surely increase MSRP for the next generation, if Intel is not up to the fight.

[@xXJeReMiAhXx99]

@@Diablokiller999 yeah it was reasonable until the recent explosion in price, if ethereum becomes unminable tho we're in for some very cheap gpus later this year, thats for sure

[@offspringfan89]

Yet another great documentary by Mr. Linneman. Like someone else said, DF Retro deserves its own channel.

[@marioluigi1523]

Here here

[@Cinetyk]

I was 15 in '99 and somehow convinced my parents to buy this for me. It came with a CD with the first "Unreal" game (not Tournament). Man, first reaction from me was: "wow, this needs a fan???", second reaction was with the Unreal game. OMG, the 3D detail! :)

[@incubator2k3]

Told my parents it was needed to run word xD

[@Cinetyk]

@@incubator2k3 Ahah, well done

[@Norweeg]

Did you ever play that demo game Dagoth Moor Zoological Gardens? I was blown away by that card when I bought it in 1999 and saw T&L being utilized by the hardware.

[@zhaf]

I had a Riva TNT and later upgraded to a GeForce 2 with 64mb vram. I remember everyone of my friends thought I were out of my mind and would never find a use case for so much vram.

[@alext3811]

I remember hearing that someone was able to use a the VRAM on a Quadro to run Doom 2016 or something like that.

[@IgoByaGo]

It made a big difference. I had a Geforce GTS 32MB and my friend had the 64MB with the same CPU setup and he would get 5 to 10 FPS higher than me at 1024x768 in most games.

[@zhaf]

@@IgoByaGo I didn’t know anything about computer hardware back then. It essentially boiled down to 64>32 and it was within my budget. But I guess it made a difference :)

[@chemergency]

The original GeForce was nuts. The graphics it could run was like pre-rendered CGI cutscenes from games just a few years ago running in real time.

[@andrewmonk9367]

1999 ; such a great year for so many reasons - GeForce, Dreamcast, RR4, my first pentium3 pc etc. This video brought back so many great memories - 3Dmark!! Thanks John and the DF team.

[@Olibelus]

These retro episodes are really fascinating, damn! Super interesting stuff. Thank you!

[@HouseNorwayBear]

This reminds me of going from software rendered Quake II to running a Riva TNT2, crazy difference. I got it from a store that bought and sold used VHS tapes, they had like four boxes on their hardware shelf.

[@elimalinsky7069]

Quake II was the first game I've tried after buying the 3dfx Voodoo 2 in the summer of 1998. I was totally blown away by it. Both the graphical fidelity and the framerate were out of this world. I soon got my hands on Unreal and it was just as advertised... unreal!

[@redfoxbennaton]

Imagine buying a graphics card to play a orange and brown game with low res everything but faster.

[@nexxusty]

LOL, how much did you pay? I had a 32mb Riva TNT2. Probably my most favorite card.

[@HouseNorwayBear]

@@nexxusty Same, it's too long ago to remember what I paid.

[@nexxusty]

@@HouseNorwayBear Aww, yeah I guess I can say the same. I THINK I paid $175. Not positive. So many memories with that card though.

[@CasepbX]

Thank you for doing these! So much nostalgia I can't get enough.

[@trajektoor]

i remember running 3dmark2001se thinking this would be the peak. if there would be games looking like that we wouldnt have to go any further. quite funny to think about it

[@MadsterV]

We've come so far that often we need a side-by-side to understand the latest improvement, they're subtler now. Diminishing returns!

[@IsaacSperrow]

Great video. A lot of interesting stuff. Love the behind the scenes perspective of the whole thing. Thank you to Phil for all the insights.

[@JJW410]

I didn't touch PC gaming until I was in my late teens in 2014, but these retro videos are so well-made and fascinating there always an instant-click for me! Thanks for all your great work John :D

[@jackdaft258]

DF Retro is like my favorite show on youtube. Great episode, and may there be plenty to come in the future.

Outstanding documentary! It's great to learn all these things about the history of graphics, and to have interview with an actual industry expert who was there when it all was happening is so amazing! Looking forward to many more documentaries like this one!

[@bombjack1984]

Huge nostalgia pang seeing that 3DMark footage. Great video too, the early years of 3D accelerator cards are fascinating.

[@THU31]

Awesome episode. I would love to see an entire series of these videos, showcasing subsequent GeForce and Radeon cards (possibly CPUs as well), what technological advancements they brought and what games benefited the most from those advancements. 2003 was when I really got into PCs. I experimented with so much different hardware, mostly low-end or mid-range, as I was constantly swapping things around. I would love to awaken those memories.

[@Animated__Freak]

Fantastic video! DF retro may not come out often. but when it does, it's always a banger of a video!

[@loutronz4708]

Thank you for taking me back!!! I love DF!!!

[@onlyeyeno]

Thanks for another fantastic video, especially appreciate the participation of a developer who was "in the trenches" when it all happened !! And the flashbacks were frequent and nostalgic ;)

[@oddf3llow]

In terms of nostalgia, this video delivers! Thank you so much for this 😎

[@El.Duder-ino]

Excellent episode of the DF retro - we need more of these HW retro vids John ;)

[@thebuccaneersden]

That was a fun trip down memory lane. Thanks!

[@borisdg]

Fantastic work as usual. It brought me back to the 90s... so good man.

[@UnknownZA]

Thanks for the nostalgia trip John! Ah the memories and games of the times.

[@devvvinparker1203]

Loving this type of content. Been hoping a channel I watch would release something like this for a long while. Much obliged

[@xcipherx]

What a great trip down memory lane. Hope you have more planned

[@oifbert]

I really love learning about the evolution of computer graphics. This is one of the most interesting videos DF has released so far. Please continue this series about the history of new graphics features in rendering hardware.

[@SHGames97]

Wow, another stunner John! Absolutely great video.

[@SAIIIURAI]

So much beautiful nostalgia! I was so proud with my Geforce256 DDR and god only knows how often i run and saw this 3dmark benchmarks over and over again after tweaking and new drivers! I also can recall that 3dmark 2000 had a bad ass soundtrack! Well i will search for it now! ^^ Thx John! Really awesome times!

[@pkaulf]

It's incredible to think that we're approaching a quarter century of GPUs in PCs and consoles.

[@Nak287]

What a great video...Loved the trip down memory lane...

[@Desmo46]

Excellent watch, cheers John

[@RiksRandomRetro]

Fascinating look back and great video as always.

[@Alex-nk8bw]

This! Is one of the best tech videos I've ever watched on YT. Fantastic job! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[@RealJeffTidwell]

Excellent breakdown as always, John! This was around the time that I came of age as a PC gamer. My first full build was the classic 300MHz Celeron OCed to 450MHz, Voodoo3 if I recall correctly. My dad and I had bumped up our Pentium 100MHz with a Voodoo Rush in 1998, but I didn’t get a taste of 60fps in Quake 2 until the Celeron. When the GeForce came out, it was a leap over everything else on the market at the time. ATI/AMD and 3Dfx did catch up, but by that time nVidia had already established relative dominance. The last time I cared about GPU wars was the Voodoo5 5500 versus the GeForce2. GeForce3 brought in pixel shaders for the first time, showcased by DOOM 3 (which barely ran on the card) and the rest is history. Ah, memories.

[@Genkaku]

I had a 466mhz celeron and thought it was the shit, until I bought a GeForce 2 and unlocked its full potential lol

[@RealJeffTidwell]

@@Genkaku What was the stock card, or onboard video? GF2 was very popular, I remember. I was a 3Dfx fanboy (Rush, 3, 5, and I actually had a Voodoo2 for Glide support in old games later on) but I don't need to dig up ancient benchmarks to remind you that the GeForce2 > Voodoo5 in terms of performance. I wanted the somewhat more vibrant and smooth 32-bit color support (not to mention a fantastic early version of Anti-Aliasing) offered by the Voodoo5, but IIRC GF2 had a consistent 10-20% framerate advantage. The first Radeon card dropped around then too.

[@AlexWaltz21]

Dude, such a great video, this was exactly what i was looking for.

[@DouglasWhitcomb]

Love the transparency. This is why Digital Foundry is one step ahead of everyone.

[@BinaryAudio]

Excellent video. This graphics technology progression tracks right alongside my own personal discovery and love of PC gaming, so it brings back lots of happy memories.

[@sev2300]

This video encouraged me to do some research cub maps and reflections. Thank you for creating such informative content.

[@BryantCaudill]

Great vid DF, such a cool look back!

[@GarryMah85]

Thanks for the trip down memory lane. My PC gaming experience started out with graphics like these, when I got the GeForce 2

[@dipshidian]

The first games that took full advantage of the GeForce256's DOT3 Bump Mapping (Normal Mapping) both came out in the year 2000; Evolva and Giants: Citizen Kabuto. The "Bump Map Patch" (July 2000) for Evolva, which came out a short while after the original retail release, lets you toggle between different modes for the bump maps using one of the function keys. It was used on both the environment and the player characters. Giants came out in December 2000 and used lots of DOT3 bump maps for the landscape and for the titular beast Kabuto, which looks really awesome in motion.

[@mechanicalmonk2020]

Holy lord that 3D Mark video is such a nostalgia kick

[@Gloamy17]

Oh shit! So much nostalgia! I remember buying a 256 2-3 years after release for my first "proper" gaming PC. I was stunned by the benchmarks at the time 😂 played Incoming, Unreal Tournament, Midtown Madness, Max Payne, Serious Sam, Rogue Squadron etc. for thousands and thousands of hours. those were the days... Great vid 😌

[@mipe3844]

My first GPU was the Riva 128 back in 1997. Going from software rendering to GPU rendering in Quake II was absolutely mindblowing.

[@slowlymakingsmoke]

Brilliant doccie. Definitely want to see more and would love to get Ito the weeds of the technical stuff

[@mbsfaridi]

These kind of sponsored content are the best, where you get insight from main people. Hoprfully DF can score more sponsored content like this.

[@EposVox]

Great video dude! Love this

[@rodneyabrett]

Expendable was so impressive at the time. I hadn't played anything like it. The amount of effects going on simultaneously. Really felt like you were playing an action movie flick.

[@Mokkatomic]

Gotta love these deep dive videos, didn't know I needed to know these things. The GeForce 256 DDR was the first discrete GPU I ever bought, upgrading from the TNT 2 in my prebuilt Pentium 3 machine. My Giants: Citizen Kabuto ran so smoothly

[@93836]

John, you’re killin’ it with these videos. I can always count on you, Rich, and Alex to create awesome content.

[@TranscendentPhoenix]

Subtle slap in the face to Tom eh

[@boffifis1]

@@TranscendentPhoenix Tom is great

[@93836]

The other staff are uninteresting.

[@TranscendentPhoenix]

@@boffifis1 apparently the op doesn't think so. Lol

[@troublesome07]

Great vid.. Makes me feel old though cuz I remember all those cards and 3d mark suites

[@mobius006]

Awesome video as always. Thanks

[@epobirs]

This brings back a lot of memories. I was in the room when Huang publicly announced the GeForce 256 to the world. This was at the Intel Developers Forum, at the Palm Springs Convention Center. Unlike the massive stage shows the company puts on today, this was in a fairly small room, with at most 40 of us IDF attendees present. I still have the nice long sleeve Geforce 256 jersey they gave out. (Along with the Nvidia jacket I received years later at the GeForce 4 press event in San Francisco.) Plus, they served cake and it wasn't a lie. Back then, Nvidia was this little up and coming company. The presentation was quite a surprise, with the feeling that this was the start of something big.

[@crakghoul]

Great video. This was my first GPU for my first PC, based on a slot A 700mhz AMD Thunderbird from memory!

[@mynameisrama]

This is a really great retrospective! The only thing that would make it better (and benefit some of your other videos too!) would be to have the titles of the games onscreen when showing footage of them. Some are incredibly famous, some are maybe not so familiar to people anymore.

[@saketron]

Absolutely love videos like this. Thank you

[@MooseheadStudios]

Love this kinda content!!! Well done

[@Protonwar]

Awesome vid dude :) keep it up!

[@Justathought81]

Awesome video, really did enjoy more please!!

[@sco77yg]

Takes me back to installing the first 3DFX card in my PC and patching a racing game I had ( 'Screamer' I think ) and my jaw hitting the floor! Great video.

[@stimpy1]

It was a great card, took me back. Thanks for the vid, the interview particularly interesting.

[@noahthebrickster]

Great video! I am a developer but don't work with graphics and the level of technical detail in this episode is perfect to "get it" and understand the paradigm changes in graphics. Would love more developer interviews at this level!

[@D3lor34n]

Well done, thank you. I love this kind of content.

[@NoverianSnowCone]

So glad to have a fellow Geordie in a DF video!!!!!

[@flyingplantwhale545]

Such a fascinating episode.

[@99Vood99]

Remember those days vividly; went from a S3 Virge to Riva TNT & Voodoo 2 combo - which was nothing short of amazing. Had that combo for several years until I got a Radeon 8500. Followed that one up with a GeForce 2 GTS. Couldn't keep up with the exploding CPU and video card prices so switched to console gaming after that. :(

[@mrburns366]

My first GPU was a Voodoo 2 also :) going from Quake 2 software rendering to OpenGL was mind blowing

[@99Vood99]

@@mrburns366 yes it was incredible - the sharper, cleaner textures, amazing frame rates - completely transformed the playing experience. Some of the 3DFX enhanced games had additional graphical features also.

[@lhb82]

"so switched to console gaming after that" Not all Stories can end well ;) But jokes aside, the prices weren't that bad back then. Plus not that many games really needed the best graphics card, so I was a happy PC and Console gamer.

[@99Vood99]

@@lhb82 Should've mentioned I was a teenager and had to convince Mom to buy the stuff until I could started earning myself at 16 and got the Radeon. I'm also in Canada - not too many deals around these parts in those days. 😂

[@JohnDoe-ip3oq]

Makes no sense to go from dx8 8500 to a dx7 gf2. Maybe you had a 7500, but if you didn't, that was a terrible downgrade.

[@Desfes]

Just started the video...and you put the perfect music..... .... og deus ex....Well, back to the video.....even before hitting play I was sure "this will be good"...but now...even more so..... thnks man

[@DaCocoBrova]

Great episode. Stroll down memory lane

[@-aexc-]

I really appreciate the sponsored tag in the title :)

[@PAKA62]

Back then I couldn't afford a Geforce 256 so I had to settle for a TNT2. Some of the Rage Software games of this era are available on Steam and GOG. Excellent video.

[@masterquake7]

I went straight from a Voodoo 2 to a Geforce 4 so all of the in between stuff I mostly missed, so this was very interesting.

[@nunyobiznez875]

Great video. It's also very nostalgic. I remember these early days, like it was yesterday. Partly because I had already bought an ATI card just before the GeForce 256 released, and was envious of it. But also because the rapid evolution of hardware was very exciting back then. The GeForce 256 was a revolutionary card, that really defined Nvidia, and put it on the path to becoming the company they are today. The Riva line were good, but nothing that stood out the way the GeForce 256 did. Oh, how I miss the days when you could buy a top tier card for around only $200.

[@techieg33k]

This us awesome! I remember these early days, but so much i didn't know

[@Saturn2888]

This is a great video. I had a Radeon VE for dual monitor at this time. I was really hoping you'd do some benchmarks too! ☺

[@JPgreekgaming]

The viper v330 with the riva 128 will always have a special place in my heart. Absolutetly incredible at the time, and what a time it was for gaming!

[@pc-sound-legacy]

The crisp look of the textures in comparison with the blurry 3DFX look was noticeable. I remember playing Need for Speed - Hot Pursuit on this card, great times🤗

[@Downphoenix]

My first dedicated graphics card was an Nvidia Riva TNT2 from the Gateway computer I got back in 1999. I think it was the card they had before this one.

[@detonator620]

I can watch this type of video forever!!!

[@jasonroche3690]

This was brilliant John, my family had a Pentium 75Mhz that I started gaming on. I upgraded it to a Pentium 133mhz and added a Voodoo 1 and later a Voodoo Banshee. Then in 2000, I got my very first Pc, an Athlon 650Mhz with a. Geforce 256. The Voodoo 1 blew my mind but getting that Athlon System with the Geforce, going from playing Quake 3 arena, Half Life and Tiberian Sun on the 133, to my Amd Athlon. That was something else. Finally good frame rates 😅😊. Excellent video, I remember all of these tech demos and games. Incoming was amazing 😊. Love it! Now I have a 5900X and 3090Fe, how far we have come.... where will we be in another 20 years!

[@Diablokiller999]

Nostalgia hitting hard here! :D Love this technical deep dives into the past, hope you can get Ross Smith, Scott Sellers or Gary Tarolli on the phone to do a 3dfx Voodoo 1 story as well.

[@TUB3T3CH]

Digging these Tekken (Tag 2) songs during some of these videos. It seems John is a big fan of them as well 😁

[@danielgomez7236]

Always great to take a look back at Unreal Tournament and late 90's games.

[@harunv.2731]

My first PC was Pentium 3 with some 8MB graphics card I got beginning of 2000, I remember not being able to play GTA3, so later I managed to get my hands on the GeForce 256... Those were great times, these 3D demos and games were so impressive for me as a kid, much more than any RTX thing I have tried these days. Great video and reminder of those careless days :)

[@prla5400]

Amazing video. Nice lunch with this

[@retropolis1]

I entered the Geforce era with the Geforce 2 MX before it was split up into MX 200 and MX400 types. The original GF2 MX (and the almost identical GF2 MX400) was a little stronger than the GF 256 except for its lower memory bandwidth, so, boy, did I have a blast with that thing playing Unreal Tournament on a Pentium 3 @ 800 MHz. I also loved 3D mark 2000 and used it constantly for tweaks of my hardware. I still have the music in my ear when just seeing the demo graphics in this DF Video. Fond memories.

[@hit47n]

Great video, thank you very much.

[@LionHeartGamesBR]

This video is a masterpiece. It made me come back to 90's which by the way was the one of the greatest time for PC gaming. Man, I LOVED this video.

[@suprem1ty]

This was a really interesting blast through the past! As someone who was a kid (albiet interested in computers) during this era of computers and games / graphics, it was very nostalgic for me!

[@Luckyn00bOC]

Ahhh that 3DMark2000 helicopter demo at 1:26 bring back so much good old memories

[@brunoagostinho3539]

Loved this, thanks for the Nostalgia... Remembered of my old P3 500 with a Riva TNT2 M64 32Mb and the upgrade for a GeForce 4 MX 440 64Mb :D Thanks for the memories

[@mmarreri]

I'll mention the S3 Savage 2000. It was also released in 1999, had hardware T&L... that didn't work. Before 1999 there were so many choices: ATi Rage 128, Riva TNT, Matrox G200, VideoLogic Apocalypse (PowerVR), Voodoo 3, and Intel 740. CPUs were also into 3D gaming, Intel MMX is from 1997, AMD 3DNow is from 1998. I guess the GeForce caught everyone off-guard, except ATi (AMD) and 3Dfx which was bought by nVidia.

[@mauriciochacon]

Trident too lol

[@DarkShroom]

yeah except the difference was all the graphics cards sucked and where largely incompatible.... the times before i had a geforce 2 where largely painful ... before that only the voodoo card i had seemed to have any decent support, Power VR cards and the ati Rage where mistakes i made

[@mauriciochacon]

@@DarkShroom nvidia, ati and 3dfx had good drivers (usually) had ati rage 128 and played the hell of everything.

[@mauriciochacon]

@Ali Cuntë yes i know about ati drivers, they had 16bit colour issues and later on ogl issues. But on my case they were awesome Ati rage 128 Ati x200 x300 x600 X800 Amd 4830 270x 580

[@silent_hero]

Heavenly Garden from Tag2 as the background music? I see you John, and I respect it.