Nvidia GeForce 3 celebrates its 25th anniversary – the first series of graphics cards with built-in programmable shaders.

NVIDIA celebrated the 25th anniversary of its GeForce3 family of graphics processors, which first went on sale on February 27, 2001. These were the company’s first consumer GPUs that opened access to programmable shaders.

Impact on the gaming market
The text emphasizes the role of GeForce3 in the era of “transition” for PC games toward more complex 3D engines. Among the mentioned games are Max Payne and Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, both of which had a significant influence on Windows graphics development.

Model lineup
At that time GeForce3 was a small family of chips expanded during 2001. Three main retail versions were available:

The game *Max Payne* was released for PC at the end of July 2001, and *Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos* in early July 2002.

NVIDIA’s activities in 2001
At the same time that GeForce3 debuted, the company was working on GPUs for Microsoft’s first‑generation Xbox. This confirms NVIDIA’s interest not only in the PC market but also in gaming consoles.

Cost in modern terms
From today’s perspective, graphics cards from that era seem extremely affordable – they cost only a few dozen dollars, whereas modern equivalents run into hundreds or even thousands of dollars.