GeForce3 at 25
© NVIDIA NVIDIA is marking the 25th anniversary of the GeForce3, which debuted on February 27, 2001. The company’s own product timeline lists GeForce3 as a February 2001 launch, and the card is widely remembered as NVIDIA’s first GeForce GPU to bring programmable shader support to consumers.
In a short memo shared on social media, NVIDIA also nodded to the PC gaming era around the GeForce3 launch. The post points to early-2000s staples, including Max Payne and Warcraft III, two titles that helped define the transition into more advanced 3D engines and effects on Windows PCs.
GeForce3 was a small family by today’s standards. NVIDIA’s lineup refresh arrived later in 2001, expanding the range into three main retail variants. GeForce3 series cards (retail models):
- GeForce3 (original)
- GeForce3 Ti 200 ($149 MSRP)
- GeForce3 Ti 500 ($349 MSRP)
© NVIDIA Those games line up closely with the GeForce3’s market window. Max Payne hit PC in late July 2001, while Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos shipped in early July 2002.
From a platform standpoint, GeForce3 was also part of a broader NVIDIA push in early 2001. NVIDIA’s timeline lists both GeForce3 and the original Xbox GPU work in the same February 2001 timeframe, highlighting how closely the company’s PC graphics and console efforts were aligned in that period.
I never owned GeForce 3 GPU, only 2 MX and 4 MX, the Ti cards were simply too expensive, little did know that their prices are extreme low in todays starandards.
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The GeForce 3 launched 25 years ago today, ushering in programmable shaders & an unforgettable era of PC gaming⚡
What was your most played PC game from the early 2000s? pic.twitter.com/2MJpNmsKnW
— NVIDIA GeForce UK (@NVIDIAGeForceUK) February 27, 2026
