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Look at how unhinged GPU box art was in the 2000s (2024)

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Re: Look at how unhinged GPU box art was in the 2000s (2024)

#61

Post by vladvasiliu »

vinkelhake wrote: post #43

Besides the box art, I miss the days when 1) the graphics card didn't cost more than the rest of the components put together, 2) the graphics card got all of its damn power through the connector itself, and 3) MSRP meant something.

> 3) MSRP meant something

I'm not in the market for a 5090 or similar, but the other day I was looking at a lower-end model, an AMD 9060 or Nvidia 5060. What shocked me was the massive variation in prices for the same model (9060 XT 16 GB or 5060 Ti 16 GB).

The AMD could be had for anywhere from 400 to 600 euros, depending on the brand. What can explain that? Are there actual performance differences? I see models pretending to be "overclocked", but in practice they barely have a few extra MHz. I'm not sure if that's going to do anything noticeable.

Since I'm considering the AMD more and it's cheaper, I didn't take that close a look at the Nvidia prices.

Re: Look at how unhinged GPU box art was in the 2000s (2024)

#62

Post by IlikeKitties »

jakebasile wrote: post #2

I miss when gaming in general was less mainstream and more weird like this. Now the silicon manufacturers hate that they even have to sell us their scraps, let alone spend time on making unique designs for their boxes. I bought a small press book with a collection of this art and it was a fun little trip down memory lane, as I’ve owned some of the hardware (boxes) depicted in it. For anyone else interested: https://l…

> Now the silicon manufacturers hate that they even have to sell us their scraps, let alone spend time on making unique designs for their boxes.

I genuinely don't believe this to be true for AMD. I bought a 6600xt on Release Day and by the time I was able to build my complete PC, it had upstream linux kernel support. You can say what you will about AMD but any company that respects my freedoms enough to build a product with great linux support and without requiring any privacy invading proprietary software to use is a-ok in my book.

Fuck NVidia though.

Re: Look at how unhinged GPU box art was in the 2000s (2024)

#64

Post by davidjytang »

vinkelhake wrote: post #43

Besides the box art, I miss the days when 1) the graphics card didn't cost more than the rest of the components put together, 2) the graphics card got all of its damn power through the connector itself, and 3) MSRP meant something.

4) games come in a retail box accompanied by detailed manuals, booklets printed with back stories, and some swags.

Re: Look at how unhinged GPU box art was in the 2000s (2024)

#65

Post by justsomehnguy »

MaxikCZ wrote: post #59
Gigachad wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the plus side, PC gaming hardware seems to last ages now. I built my gaming desktop in 2020, I had a look lately at what a reasonable modern mid tier setup is and they are still recommending a lot of the parts I have. So I'll probably keep using it all for another 5 years then.

Its a double edge sword. Yes, back then 2 year old computer was old, but at the same time every 2 years a new generation of games came out that were like never seen before. Each generation was a massive step-up. Today, a layman couldnt chronologically sort CoD games from past 10 years from looks/play/feel, new Fifa and similar is _the_ same game but with new teams added to it, and virtually every game made is a "copy…

Yes, thanks, I don't need "technical invention" in the form of more shaders for hiding the ass quality of the gameplay. Mirror's Edge Catalyst still looks great despite being almost 10 y.o. and manages to bring 2080Ti on it's knees in FullHD+.

Re: Look at how unhinged GPU box art was in the 2000s (2024)

#66

Post by Flamingoat »

I had a Powercolor 9000 pro "Evil Commando". My friends and I thought it looked like a terrorist out of some old action movies. It kinda looked a bit like Universal Soldier.

Later on I bought a Sapphire 9800pro "Atlantis" which had some T1000 esque figure on the box art.

After that a lot of stuff becoming more corporate and boring.

Re: Look at how unhinged GPU box art was in the 2000s (2024)

#67

Post by pjc50 »

brokenmachine wrote: post #39
Gigachad wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the plus side, PC gaming hardware seems to last ages now. I built my gaming desktop in 2020, I had a look lately at what a reasonable modern mid tier setup is and they are still recommending a lot of the parts I have. So I'll probably keep using it all for another 5 years then.

But your stuff from 2020 probably isn't AI "enhanced"!! Throw it in the garbage!

I was planning on hanging on to my Win10 PC, which was perfectly fine except that Microsoft were both pestering me to upgrade and telling me it wasn't possible, but the death of its SSD after 7 years put paid to that.

Re: Look at how unhinged GPU box art was in the 2000s (2024)

#68

Post by yourusername »

vladvasiliu wrote: post #61
vinkelhake wrote: post #43

Besides the box art, I miss the days when 1) the graphics card didn't cost more than the rest of the components put together, 2) the graphics card got all of its damn power through the connector itself, and 3) MSRP meant something.

> 3) MSRP meant something I'm not in the market for a 5090 or similar, but the other day I was looking at a lower-end model, an AMD 9060 or Nvidia 5060. What shocked me was the massive variation in prices for the same model (9060 XT 16 GB or 5060 Ti 16 GB). The AMD could be had for anywhere from 400 to 600 euros, depending on the brand. What can explain that? Are there actual performance differences? I see models pre…

> What can explain that?

Looks. I'm not joking. The market is aimed at people with a fish bowl PC case that care about having a cooler with a appealing design, a interesting PCB colour and the flashiest RGB. Some may have a bit better cooling but the price for that is also likely marked up several times considering a full dual tower CPU cooler costs $35.

Re: Look at how unhinged GPU box art was in the 2000s (2024)

#69

Post by pjc50 »

Wurdan wrote: post #60
jzwinck wrote: post #41

Sound cards too. The Hercules website still proudly shows all their boxes from back when sound cards were popular for gaming and more: https://support.hercules.com/en/cat-soundcards-en/ Several models don't even have pictures of the card, but every one of them shows the crazy box. They also still list all their old GPUs. Compare the wild boxes at the top with the TV tuner boxes at the bottom: https://support.hercules…

Just the mention of pieces of hardware we don't really need anymore (sound cards, modems, etc) triggers a flood of nostalgia. I used to spend DAYs poring over PC part catalogues dreaming of my ideal rig. And brands like Hercules, Creative, Matrox all trigger the same feelings. Crazy contrast to me having spent the past weekend wondering if cloud gaming services like Geforce Now are matured enough that I can fully mov…

The technology works, but the business model doesn't, so there's the eternal risk that it might get shut down at short notice with no way to export your saves.

Re: Look at how unhinged GPU box art was in the 2000s (2024)

#70

Post by pjc50 »

vinkelhake wrote: post #43

Besides the box art, I miss the days when 1) the graphics card didn't cost more than the rest of the components put together, 2) the graphics card got all of its damn power through the connector itself, and 3) MSRP meant something.

> the graphics card didn't cost more than the rest of the components put together

In fairness, the graphics card has many times more processing power than the rest of the components. The CPU is just there to run some of the physics engine and stream textures from disk.

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