The Greatest Graphics Cards of All Time

I’ve been a PC user almost all my life, but up until about ten years ago, I never had an extreme interest in PC hardware, focusing more on software and games. I am not sure what clicked inside me and made me develop a keen interest in hardware, but like most enthusiasts, I retain a mental list of hardware I consider to be nostalgic – hardware, that when mentioned by name, brings back fond memories of the day.

Of any PC component, it’s graphics cards that more often than not I think about when pondering the computers I’ve owned growing up. Even though my hardware interest began late, I still almost get chills when I think back to some of the oldest cards out there that either I owned, or my friends owned. 3dfx Voodoo 1, anyone? NVIDIA Riva TNT? NVIDIA GeForce Ti 4000 series? ATI Radeon 9700 PRO?

Tom’s Hardware currently has a top list featuring 23 of the “greatest” graphics cards of all time, or perhaps the most important. Those mentioned above made the list, and it’s the GeForce Ti (4200, specifically) and Radeon 9700 Pro that bring back the most memories for me. I didn’t own a 9700 Pro, but did a 9600 XT and was forever in awe of the 9800 XT.

The most recent on their list? The Radeon HD 6990 and GeForce GTX 590 – both dual-GPU offerings, and depending on who you ask, one of them happens to be the fastest graphics card ever created.

Do you guys have any fond memories of specific graphics cards of your own?