New video shows the rise and fall of AMD, Intel and Nvidia graphics cards

YouTube channel TheRankings has made an incredible video showing the 15 most popular graphics cards over time, based on data from the Steam Hardware Survey. The animation packs fifteen years of history - from 2004 to 2019 - into a brief three minute video that's well worth watching - whether you're a long-time PC gamer looking for a hit of nostalgia or a relative newcomer seeking a bit of perspective.

When the video starts in April 2004, there are already some big names on the list, like the legendary Nvidia TNT2 and the ATI Radeon 9600. However, it's the GeForce4 and GeForce4 MX that are the out-and-out leaders, making up 28.5 per cent of all Steam users at the time. It's fascinating to see how ATI and Nvidia are close rivals early on, with the GeForce 6600 and 7600 proving popular but AMD's counterparts holding strong too. Things get turned on their head in late 2007 though, as the GeForce 8800 gives Nvidia a massive advantage, shooting up to 13 per cent of all graphics cards on Steam and staying in the number one slot until early 2010.

The next era is again close, with AMD's HD 4000-series and 5000-series holding firm in the early 2010s. AMD take first place in March 2012 with the Radeon HD 5770, but soon lose ground to the runaway success that is the GTX 560; AMD never holds the top slot again. Intel integrated graphics chips were added to the Steam Hardware survey in 2012 and immediately become a force to be reckoned with, speaking to the vast amount of Steam users playing on laptops - the HD 3000 and HD 4000 take the top two slots from June 2013 to July 2015.

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