Collector Gathers More Than $10,000 Worth of Old Graphics Processing Units Over 14 Years, Surprised at the Journey Beginning with a $28 Purchase
An Epic Tale of a GPU Hoarder
Last year, I kicked back enjoying my spiffy new RTX 4070 Super, but a little peek at Reddit had me questioning my humble gaming setup. One nostalgic Reddit user, known as u/GPU-Collector, has amassed a mind-blowing collection of vintage Nvidia GPUs that nearly toppled the shelf they were resting on.
Starting from the Riva TNT chip (first released in 1998), this collection stretches all the way to the Nvidia GeForce 8800 Ultra, which hit the market in 2007. But how does someone score themselves a loot worth $10,000 to $20,000 from a relatively short timespan? Seems it comes with a hell of a lot of effort.
I gave u/GPU-Collector a shout, and they spilled the beans that their collection cutoff point is the "8^{th} generation of Nvidia cards, including the 8800 GTX and Ultra." That sounds like a wise decision since the 8800 is one of our all-time favorite GPUs too.
The rarest GPU in their collection is a "pair of 6800 Ultras by Gainward. The Cool FX cards. They were the first ever water-cooled graphics cards from the factory." They've also secured an Elsa Gloria XXL in the box with accessories, which fetches multiple thousands of dollars today.
The worth of their GPU collection is tough to pin down, with the price highly dependent on passionate collectors willing to shell out several hundred dollars for a 20-year-old piece of kit.
Collecting retro graphics cards can be a compelling hobby, as there certainly appears to be some coin in it, but u/GPU-Collector's favorite GPU isn't their most expensive one. Instead, their heart belongs to the GeForce 6800 Ultra from 2004. That was the year we jumped from 32 to 64-bit CPUs and from AGP to the PCIe standard. They can't get enough of classics like Far Cry, Half-Life, and, shudder, Doom 3.
Amazingly, despite coughing up hundreds or thousands for some of these beauties, the 6800 Ultra didn't break the bank. They picked it up for just €25 (or about $28) on eBay back in 2010.
Their favorite GPU box art isn't the one that houses their favorite GPU. No, that prize goes to the Albatron Medusa GeForce 4 Ti 4800, with its seductive rendering of Medusa and her slithering serpents, beckoning gamers of yesteryear to pick up the box. It's pure nostalgia at its finest.
The pile of GPUs hovering above looks pretty impressive, but the elusive prize for u/GPU-Collector is currently the GeForce FX 5800 Ultra, an ambitious GPU from 2003 boasting a mighty 500 MHz memory clock and 128 MB of lightning-fast GDDR2 RAM. This beast could crunch through textures if you let it.
What makes the 5800 Ultra such a rare find is the fact that it's not exactly the Most Wanted. Overpriced and unfortunately burdened with an attention-grabbing, if not garish, cooling system, the 5800 Ultra's flaws are part of its charm – a testament to history's less-perfect moments.
While u/GPU-Collector is clearly into retro cards, they're certainly not neglecting the present. They've let me in on their secret: they're currently rolling with an Asus RTX 5080. Lucky bastard.
Top CPU for gaming: The best chips from Intel and AMD.Top gaming motherboard: The right boards.Top graphics card: Your dream pixel-pusher awaits.Top SSD for gaming: Get into the game first.
James BentleyJames is the newest addition to the PC Gaming family, having succumbed to the lure of PC screens, cases, and motherboards in 2019. After finishing degrees in law and media, they decided to jump ship, construct their own PC, and write about the game instead. With a passion for the latest gadgets, they've covered everything gaming since then. Hey, it's better than writing case briefs.
- Despite owning a brand new RTX 4070 Super for gaming, u/GPU-Collector's interest was piqued by a Reddit user's vintage Nvidia GPU collection, spanning from the Riva TNT in 1998 to the GeForce 8800 Ultra in 2007.
- u/GPU-Collector revealed that their collection's cutoff point is the 8th generation of Nvidia cards, such as the 8800 GTX and Ultra, which they find to be an impressive and favorable choice.
- Apart from the financial value, u/GPU-Collector acknowledged a sentimental attachment to the GeForce 6800 Ultra from 2004, reminiscing about the era when CPUs switched from 32 to 64-bit and from AGP to PCIe standard, and playing games like Far Cry, Half-Life, and Doom 3.
- In the search for the elusive prize, u/GPU-Collector is seeking the GeForce FX 5800 Ultra, a less-desirable yet charming GPU from 2003 with a 500 MHz memory clock and 128 MB of GDDR2 RAM, known for its less-perfect yet historical attributes.
