Now there was a point in example 1 I want to single out specifically, “rarity”. This is something that to some people is as black and white as chalk on a blackboard. But in the eyes of others is nothing but someone else's personal opinion.
The Rarity of anything in all aspects of life is subject to many factors. And one of the biggest “grind my gears” things I read, was involved with, and tried to help with over the years was aimless and endless forum fights about the rarity of pc video cards.
I wanted to create a tool that might not cure the fights from breaking out, but would be a resourceful place anyone grabs a link from that provides educational information about pc video card rarity. Help explain why an FX 5800 Ultra might be worth more than a current-gen flagship card, or why that Radeon 9250 64mb 64bit card isn’t worth the bit data its eBay listed in created with.
Another key example would be, “Why is that Ti 4600 worth $400 euro, but this other one isn’t? That doesn’t make sense”.
One key part of the Rarity explanation for each specific card would be explaining why that particular model is maybe rare, more desirable to collectors, or importantly desirable for that one specific reason verse all the other same-by-name-only models out there. It helps break down why that very specific card is so important, outstanding, or rare. As a key example, you may understand. A real green blower FX 5800 Ultra vs a Quadro FX 2000 turned “FX 5800 Ultra” via a simple bios flash. Almost all the rarity and value lies with the original genuine article, not the hacked “replica” card. One might be worth a thousand euro, while the other would be lucky to fetch 20 USD in an open global auction.
I had aimed at having the goal of being a global community relevant tool, backed by multi-sourced information, presented in a historically informative, easy-to-read, and navigate way. The site would offer something that isn’t just a bland Wiki listing.
So what happened, how far did I get to reaching that goal and where doesn't his project stand now.
First, all concept work was complete. It had me very excited and on paper looked exactly how I had dreamt it. I had done multiple isolated mock-ups of various pages fully working within their own bubble. But I was lacking the time, resources, and skills to pull it all together on my own without giving the idea away. I spent about 3 years solidly learning and building up my HTML and Java skills to get some key aspects of the site working. But I kept hitting roadblocks that meant it would get shelved for months at a time. Only to restart it and not like what I had done, and started again. Or just lacked the skills and time to gain the skills to progress further.
By 2021 I had a fully working submission and a temporary/rudimentary data storing and sorting system. The card page design was mostly complete with most key layouts and structural elements done.
But by early 2022 however, I had at a pretty hard roadblock on multiple fronts, work, life, and skills. The key I had no knowledge of how to make the search engine work how I had dreamt it to work. Every bit of information I researched didn’t apply to what I was trying to do. Or that there were tools that I could use to do it, but they had ongoing licensing fees associated with them totally out of the scope of what I was trying to do. After all, this would be a 100% ad-free & income-free website.
Then just as my 2nd child came along I realized I just didn't care about the project anymore. It had become a totally meaningless and unnecessary part of a general hobby I was still kind of clinging to. No sad feeling about never getting it done, or what the impact would have been. nothing. Now it's just an idea out there for anyone else to wonder about or take up if they wish.
Changing gear back to the channel and my active part with this hobby. It was almost around the same time I realized I had finally really moved on from hardware collection altogether. I realized I had a garage stacked with boxes that I wouldn’t get to open at all over the next 10-20 years. That most of the hardware in storage would end up rusted or corroded before I could even use it again. So I started sorting and selling off or giving away what I could.
I'm now left with enough that fits into a built-in spare wardrobe and the few fully built systems I can tuck under a 2nd desk in the corner of my office. I have a bookshelf with only 2 small shelves dedicated to a handful of personally special video cards. A mear shadow of my GPU collections former self. And yes a part of me does miss and regard letting go of a couple of the cards I have done. But I also know I really did enjoy my time with them as well. As for those cards in question, I did at least use and enjoy them enough to feel satisfied with having owned them.
What remains of my final card collection I’m very happy and content with. I’ve ticked the box I set out to tick all those years ago. All fully working, in pristine condition without breaking the bank to pay for any of them. The collection is complete…. Plus one little neon green monster that in 2023 was the last ever edition. A card that's finding too perfectly closes this chapter of my life. Found sitting in a machine, buried in dust and rust, under a tarp tucked in the corner of a boat, in a warehouse, originally handed to its previous owner by an engineer that help market it. A yellow stickered sample, given for review to the very magazine that I had subscribed to every month, had my own PC featured in another edition of. I had learned almost all my initial Pc knowledge from and swooned over all these video card benchmarks each month, all those years ago. Now I have the very card sitting proudly in front of the article behind the glass, and all it cost me was a beer.
So thank you to everyone who has remained subscribed over the years. It has been an awesome ride, from just some random place to upload my atomic f1 club sim races to becoming a small but somewhat known channel in the retro community. I exit with still some good friends who I do very much consider lifelong friends. But my journey on this channel comes to a complete end. I will no longer produce any content for this channel moving forward. I will keep active my Instagram account, but the nature of its content will likely shift from retro to modern hardware with more family in the mix as well. I may one day post some retro-related content if my kids ever show an interest in the hobby. But moving forward, my hobby youtube channel will be my other golf-related channel if any of you feel like you wish to find me over there.
Have fun with the hobby but remember, your opinion is your opinion, and it may not matter or be shared by anyone else. And that's ok.
This will be my last post/upload on this channel. Due to further changes in life, I have made the decision to step away from Youtube retro PC content altogether.
With this decision also comes my ability to disclose a big project I have been progressively working on that will also come to an end.
In 2017 after the aftermath of a very toxic outbreak from a very particular retro community member. "bvr" you know who you are. An idea started forming in my mind of a project that could not only help with the historical archive of PC video cards. But also serve as a global destination for anyone wanting performance, pricing, value, rarity, history, and imagery among other things for all kinds of PC video cards.
In short, This would be a community-filtered and maintained database, search engine/wiki about all things PC video card related to serving as a one-stop-shop for the whole retro and PC community as a whole. (With the potential to expand into other parts in the future.)
To explain some key features a little further I'll use some examples.
Example 1.
Someone Is looking at buying a very particular old video card for a retro build. They know what basic model card they want, but no brand or technical information about the card, and they have no idea what it will cost.
They head over to the said website, and type in the model eg: "Radeon 9700". Instead of seeing a typical list like Google would throw back at you. You are presented with a simplified wiki-style page about the ATi Radeon 9700.
At the top is a simple short paragraph summary of the 9700 card family and its brief history. With links to expand on that historical info if they wish to read more.
But crucially below that, it has a breakdown of all the aibs/1st and 3rd party brands, etc for every 9700 variations from all across the world. Clicking on one of the brands would expand a section showing all the models of that card that the brand made with zoomable photos of each model. Allowing the user the visually identify the card they are looking for, and proceed to another page dedicated to that card.
And that's where the hidden strength and value of this site is found.
After navigating to the exact model you are looking for, the page you are presented with will have all the relevant historical information regarding its concept, launch, reception, relative performance to even global reach depending on the region you want to see. Did the card sell better in the USA vs Europe for example? But also importantly it has information on its current market value & rarity provided by retro communities and members. People that own, collect, and or even built the cards themselves. (modern-day voodoo rebuilds for example)
How do you ask? Well, that's where example 2 comes into play.
Example 2.
Someone has just found an old agp video card in an old box and has no idea what to do with it. Typically they would maybe bin it, or maybe hang onto it. But some might want to sell it, they could list it on eBay for a random amount they deem it's valued at, and it might sit there forever never selling, or might sell for less than they expected or much more. But it's a gamble into the depths of eBay or general auction websites.
What they really need is information on its market value, its historical importance, and maybe its rarity. So they can determine if it's worth the effort or not to even list on eBay.
So they head over to the said website where they are presented with a search bar and below it a simple sentence that reads something like “have an unknown card you need help identifying”
Clicking this link sends you to a simple page where it asks you to upload a predefined set image of the card, front/back/stickers, and ports to name some examples. It then asks for any relevant information that you might know or have determined from what they have on hand. Port type, or sticker with random letters or numbers on it. Once completed, It would then sit on a "Help Identify Me" dedicated section of the website, where public community members could send in feedback about the card in order to fill out, find out and complete the historical information about the card. This in turn would then provide a curator with enough information to create a complete listing or page for the card, linking it to its attributes.
To avoid the website looking or feeling like a dictatorship or misinformed as such, or even being abused, clear new listing warnings and a “help complete me” banner is presented where anyone coming across the card, also knows that information is new, maybe incompleted and that additional information is welcome to help fine-tune the accuracy, credibility, and value of the information that provided.
All sources of information are also made available, with who provided the information time stamped. This could be in the form of 1st part information like from already known and established sources. And all newly provided information from community sources.
Unfortunately due to severe flooding here in Victoria, my work has been devastated. Im not able to share any photos at this time. But were over the worst of it and progressing in cleanup. This has meant my attentions have been away from the content that was supposed to be released this past week/weekend. However it will come out soon and i cant wait to share it with you all.
Cutting-Edge Retro
Cutting-Edge Retro
If I started uploading car related vlog style videos, are you guys interested?
2 years ago | [YT] | 1
View 0 replies
Cutting-Edge Retro
PART 2 -
Now there was a point in example 1 I want to single out specifically, “rarity”. This is something that to some people is as black and white as chalk on a blackboard. But in the eyes of others is nothing but someone else's personal opinion.
The Rarity of anything in all aspects of life is subject to many factors. And one of the biggest “grind my gears” things I read, was involved with, and tried to help with over the years was aimless and endless forum fights about the rarity of pc video cards.
I wanted to create a tool that might not cure the fights from breaking out, but would be a resourceful place anyone grabs a link from that provides educational information about pc video card rarity. Help explain why an FX 5800 Ultra might be worth more than a current-gen flagship card, or why that Radeon 9250 64mb 64bit card isn’t worth the bit data its eBay listed in created with.
Another key example would be, “Why is that Ti 4600 worth $400 euro, but this other one isn’t? That doesn’t make sense”.
One key part of the Rarity explanation for each specific card would be explaining why that particular model is maybe rare, more desirable to collectors, or importantly desirable for that one specific reason verse all the other same-by-name-only models out there. It helps break down why that very specific card is so important, outstanding, or rare. As a key example, you may understand. A real green blower FX 5800 Ultra vs a Quadro FX 2000 turned “FX 5800 Ultra” via a simple bios flash. Almost all the rarity and value lies with the original genuine article, not the hacked “replica” card. One might be worth a thousand euro, while the other would be lucky to fetch 20 USD in an open global auction.
I had aimed at having the goal of being a global community relevant tool, backed by multi-sourced information, presented in a historically informative, easy-to-read, and navigate way. The site would offer something that isn’t just a bland Wiki listing.
So what happened, how far did I get to reaching that goal and where doesn't his project stand now.
First, all concept work was complete. It had me very excited and on paper looked exactly how I had dreamt it. I had done multiple isolated mock-ups of various pages fully working within their own bubble. But I was lacking the time, resources, and skills to pull it all together on my own without giving the idea away. I spent about 3 years solidly learning and building up my HTML and Java skills to get some key aspects of the site working. But I kept hitting roadblocks that meant it would get shelved for months at a time. Only to restart it and not like what I had done, and started again. Or just lacked the skills and time to gain the skills to progress further.
By 2021 I had a fully working submission and a temporary/rudimentary data storing and sorting system. The card page design was mostly complete with most key layouts and structural elements done.
But by early 2022 however, I had at a pretty hard roadblock on multiple fronts, work, life, and skills. The key I had no knowledge of how to make the search engine work how I had dreamt it to work. Every bit of information I researched didn’t apply to what I was trying to do. Or that there were tools that I could use to do it, but they had ongoing licensing fees associated with them totally out of the scope of what I was trying to do. After all, this would be a 100% ad-free & income-free website.
Then just as my 2nd child came along I realized I just didn't care about the project anymore. It had become a totally meaningless and unnecessary part of a general hobby I was still kind of clinging to. No sad feeling about never getting it done, or what the impact would have been. nothing. Now it's just an idea out there for anyone else to wonder about or take up if they wish.
Changing gear back to the channel and my active part with this hobby. It was almost around the same time I realized I had finally really moved on from hardware collection altogether. I realized I had a garage stacked with boxes that I wouldn’t get to open at all over the next 10-20 years. That most of the hardware in storage would end up rusted or corroded before I could even use it again. So I started sorting and selling off or giving away what I could.
I'm now left with enough that fits into a built-in spare wardrobe and the few fully built systems I can tuck under a 2nd desk in the corner of my office. I have a bookshelf with only 2 small shelves dedicated to a handful of personally special video cards. A mear shadow of my GPU collections former self. And yes a part of me does miss and regard letting go of a couple of the cards I have done. But I also know I really did enjoy my time with them as well. As for those cards in question, I did at least use and enjoy them enough to feel satisfied with having owned them.
What remains of my final card collection I’m very happy and content with. I’ve ticked the box I set out to tick all those years ago. All fully working, in pristine condition without breaking the bank to pay for any of them. The collection is complete….
Plus one little neon green monster that in 2023 was the last ever edition. A card that's finding too perfectly closes this chapter of my life. Found sitting in a machine, buried in dust and rust, under a tarp tucked in the corner of a boat, in a warehouse, originally handed to its previous owner by an engineer that help market it. A yellow stickered sample, given for review to the very magazine that I had subscribed to every month, had my own PC featured in another edition of. I had learned almost all my initial Pc knowledge from and swooned over all these video card benchmarks each month, all those years ago. Now I have the very card sitting proudly in front of the article behind the glass, and all it cost me was a beer.
So thank you to everyone who has remained subscribed over the years. It has been an awesome ride, from just some random place to upload my atomic f1 club sim races to becoming a small but somewhat known channel in the retro community. I exit with still some good friends who I do very much consider lifelong friends.
But my journey on this channel comes to a complete end. I will no longer produce any content for this channel moving forward. I will keep active my Instagram account, but the nature of its content will likely shift from retro to modern hardware with more family in the mix as well. I may one day post some retro-related content if my kids ever show an interest in the hobby. But moving forward, my hobby youtube channel will be my other golf-related channel if any of you feel like you wish to find me over there.
Have fun with the hobby but remember, your opinion is your opinion, and it may not matter or be shared by anyone else. And that's ok.
2 years ago (edited) | [YT] | 6
View 0 replies
Cutting-Edge Retro
PART 1 -
Hello everyone.
This will be my last post/upload on this channel. Due to further changes in life, I have made the decision to step away from Youtube retro PC content altogether.
With this decision also comes my ability to disclose a big project I have been progressively working on that will also come to an end.
In 2017 after the aftermath of a very toxic outbreak from a very particular retro community member. "bvr" you know who you are. An idea started forming in my mind of a project that could not only help with the historical archive of PC video cards. But also serve as a global destination for anyone wanting performance, pricing, value, rarity, history, and imagery among other things for all kinds of PC video cards.
In short, This would be a community-filtered and maintained database, search engine/wiki about all things PC video card related to serving as a one-stop-shop for the whole retro and PC community as a whole. (With the potential to expand into other parts in the future.)
To explain some key features a little further I'll use some examples.
Example 1.
Someone Is looking at buying a very particular old video card for a retro build. They know what basic model card they want, but no brand or technical information about the card, and they have no idea what it will cost.
They head over to the said website, and type in the model eg: "Radeon 9700". Instead of seeing a typical list like Google would throw back at you. You are presented with a simplified wiki-style page about the ATi Radeon 9700.
At the top is a simple short paragraph summary of the 9700 card family and its brief history. With links to expand on that historical info if they wish to read more.
But crucially below that, it has a breakdown of all the aibs/1st and 3rd party brands, etc for every 9700 variations from all across the world. Clicking on one of the brands would expand a section showing all the models of that card that the brand made with zoomable photos of each model. Allowing the user the visually identify the card they are looking for, and proceed to another page dedicated to that card.
And that's where the hidden strength and value of this site is found.
After navigating to the exact model you are looking for, the page you are presented with will have all the relevant historical information regarding its concept, launch, reception, relative performance to even global reach depending on the region you want to see. Did the card sell better in the USA vs Europe for example? But also importantly it has information on its current market value & rarity provided by retro communities and members. People that own, collect, and or even built the cards themselves. (modern-day voodoo rebuilds for example)
How do you ask? Well, that's where example 2 comes into play.
Example 2.
Someone has just found an old agp video card in an old box and has no idea what to do with it. Typically they would maybe bin it, or maybe hang onto it. But some might want to sell it, they could list it on eBay for a random amount they deem it's valued at, and it might sit there forever never selling, or might sell for less than they expected or much more. But it's a gamble into the depths of eBay or general auction websites.
What they really need is information on its market value, its historical importance, and maybe its rarity. So they can determine if it's worth the effort or not to even list on eBay.
So they head over to the said website where they are presented with a search bar and below it a simple sentence that reads something like “have an unknown card you need help identifying”
Clicking this link sends you to a simple page where it asks you to upload a predefined set image of the card, front/back/stickers, and ports to name some examples. It then asks for any relevant information that you might know or have determined from what they have on hand. Port type, or sticker with random letters or numbers on it. Once completed, It would then sit on a "Help Identify Me" dedicated section of the website, where public community members could send in feedback about the card in order to fill out, find out and complete the historical information about the card. This in turn would then provide a curator with enough information to create a complete listing or page for the card, linking it to its attributes.
To avoid the website looking or feeling like a dictatorship or misinformed as such, or even being abused, clear new listing warnings and a “help complete me” banner is presented where anyone coming across the card, also knows that information is new, maybe incompleted and that additional information is welcome to help fine-tune the accuracy, credibility, and value of the information that provided.
All sources of information are also made available, with who provided the information time stamped. This could be in the form of 1st part information like from already known and established sources. And all newly provided information from community sources.
Please read part 2. to follow
2 years ago (edited) | [YT] | 4
View 0 replies
Cutting-Edge Retro
Unfortunately due to severe flooding here in Victoria, my work has been devastated. Im not able to share any photos at this time. But were over the worst of it and progressing in cleanup. This has meant my attentions have been away from the content that was supposed to be released this past week/weekend. However it will come out soon and i cant wait to share it with you all.
3 years ago | [YT] | 7
View 0 replies
Cutting-Edge Retro
I much needed return to retro. Just a few days away. :)
3 years ago | [YT] | 3
View 2 replies