Sure, turn on vsync and triple-buffering and it won’t go over 60fps.
I remember when the high-end cards cost 300 to 350. I realize that that was probably in the early “noughties” but still.
My last high-end card was the 7800GTX all those years ago, for around $800 CDN, if I remember correctly. All the 2080 & Ti versions on Newegg.ca, for example, are north of $1000, and some hitting over $1700. I laugh and laugh and laugh and cry and laugh.
Yeah, I remember when dropping 300 was a big deal. That is the cost of an entire xbox 360!! For one component!
Looking back over the past 15 years, the price/performance champ has always been around $400 until recently when Nvidia started inflating prices. AMD has always come in cheaper, but (other than the 9800pro) slower.
| Year | Card | Launch MSRP |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | ATI 9800pro | $399 |
| 2004 | NV 6800GT | $399 |
| 2006 | NV 8800GTS | $399 |
| 2007 | NV 8800GT | $299 |
| 2009 | NV GTX280 | $349 |
| 2009 | AMD HD5850 | $259 |
| 2010 | NV GTX570 | $349 |
| 2012 | NV GTX670 | $399 |
| 2012 | AMD HD7850 | $250 |
| 2013 | NV GTX770 | $399 |
| 2014 | NV GTX970 | $329 |
| 2016 | AMD RX480 | $239 |
| 2016 | NV GTX1070 | $379 |
| 2017 | NV GTX1070ti | $449 |
| 2017 | AMD RX580 | $229 |
| 2018 | NV GTX2070 | $499 |
This was my JAM!
Yep, I went 9800pro --> 8800GTS --> HD5850 --> GTX 770 --> GTX1080 myself. Other than the 1080 when I finally bought the top-end card rather than the price/perf champ, and the ridiculously strong HD5850, all around $400.
You stopped one year shy of my favorite GPU all time, the NV 4600 Ti. An awesome card, and held up valiantly for the following year when NV’s 5000 leafblower series was a generation to skip.
I forget what I had before my 6600gt, here has been my upgrades over the last few years.
6600gt > 8800gt > GTX260 > GTX460 >GTX670 >GTX970 >GTX1080 > GTR2080 (maybe)
The 8800 series is definitely in my GPU Hall of Fame.
8800GT and HD5850 are in close competition for the best graphics card of the past 15 years. Overall I think HD5850 wins, that was an amazing card for the time.
I really enjoyed the 4850, I had a pair in crossfire mode way back. I think the 48xx series was the start of a good run for AMD. It is going to be Nvidia for a while now though.
It has already been Nvidia for a while.
The X480/x580 are great cards easily picked up for 200 dollars. Nvidia isn’t even in that space, except with that weirdo 3GB 1060, sort of. I realize those are not the benchmarking leaders there but come on, a 200 dollar card that can run anything well. Those cards are just awesome for budget systems.
Disagree with all of you - the 9700 pro. I bought it as it was going to be the ‘Half Life 2’ card … and then Half Life 2 was delayed for two and a half years and the 9700 pro was STILL one of the best cards for it. I ended up running that card until 2010. That kind of longevity is great today but was unheard of in the early 2000’s, after 3DFX iterations every year.
I had the All-in-Wonder 9700 Pro! Not only was it an awesome gaming card, but I could also use my PC as a DVR and record shows to watch on my Pocket PC when traveling!
What the heck was a Pocket PC? An early precursor to smart phones?
I owned one.
@Woolen_Horde’s was at least a smartphone. That was one of the last PPCs.
The original Pocket PCs only had Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. They were Microsoft’s answer to the Palm Pilot. Great hardware, but the worst OS since Windows 1.0.
Yup, the 9700s were fantastic. I bought one of the 9500 non-pro cards with 128MB of VRAM that soft modded to 9700 Pro specs. Incredible value.