Vintage Computer Chip Collectibles, Memorabilia & Jewelry

NVIDIA
NVIDIA Memorabilia
​​Company: NVIDIA Corporation
Based: Santa Clara, CA.

Founded: 1993
Founders: Jen-Hsun Huang, Chris Malachowsky & Curtis Priem
Specialty: Founded by Microprocessor designers from AMD and Sun, Invented the GPU, developer of wireless communications processors & Chipsets for Computers, Video Game Consoles, Smartphones, tablets, Mobile devices and autonomous vehicles. NVIDIA's chips were irginally manufactured by SGS-Thomson Microelectronics, but now are manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Co., Ltd. (TSMC)


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NVIDIA CMP crypto mining processor GPU chip
NVIDIA CMP crypto mining processor GPU chip (2021)
GPU chip



                         
​ GPU
(Graphics Processing Unit)

a single-chip processor with integrated transform, lighting, triangle setup / clipping, & rendering engines that is capable of processing a minimum of 10 million polygons per second.


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History of ​NVIDIA's Semiconductor Foundry Wafer Manufacturing partnerships:
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SGS-Thomson Microelectronics                                                Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing
NVIDIA STMicroelectronics
1994 to 1998
Picture
/tsmc-taiwan-semiconductor.htmlNVIDIA TSMC
1998 to Present



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                                             NVIDIA Historical Timeline

1993     NVIDIA Corporation is founded
1994     First manufacturing partnership is formed with SGS-Thomson Microelectronics (now STmicroelectronics)
1995     NVIDIA's first graphics accelerator chip is introduced, the NV1, manufactured by SGS-Thomson Microelectronics 
1995     Sega's "Virtua Fighter" is first 3D video game to run on NVIDIA graphics
1997     World's first 128-bit 3D graphics processor is introduced, the NVIDIA RIVA 128 NV3
1997     NVIDIA voted industry's most respected private fabless semiconductor company
1998     NVIDIA forms new manufacturing partnership with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC)
1999     Invents the world's first GPU, the GeForce 256, manufactured by TSMC
1999     NVIDIA announces initial public stock offering on NASDAQ at $12 a share
2000     NVIDIA acquires competitor 3DFX
2000     Microsoft selects NVIDIA to provide the GPU for their first XBOX gaming system
2000     World's first GPU for notebook computers is introduced, the NVIDIA GeForce2 Go.
2001     NVIDIA invents the first programmable GPU, the GeForce3
2001     NVIDIA becomes fastest semiconductor company ever to reach revenue of $1 billion
2001     NVIDIA stock added to the S & P 500
2001     NVIDIA nForce integrated graphics chipset is introduced for use with AMD Athlon / Duron powered PC's
2002     NVIDIA ships their 100 millionth graphics processor
2002     NVIDIA named fastest growing company in the U.S.
2004     NASA uses NVIDIA technology to 3D render the terrain on Mars
2005     NVIDIA selected to develop the graphics processor for the Sony PlayStation 3 video game console
2006     NVIDIA introduces the CUDA parallel computing platform & programming model for use with their GPU's
2006     NVIDIA ships their 500 millionth graphics processor
2007     First quarter to reach $1 Billion in revenue
2007     NVIDIA introduces their Tesla GPU, designed for high-performance scientific, engineering, and technical computing
2008     Launches PhysX physics engine software for desktops and gaming consoles
2008     Tsubame 1.2 Japanese supercomputer with 680 NVIDIA Tesla GPUs ranks 29th fastest supercomputer in the world
2008     NVIDIA's Tegra mobile processor is introduced for notebook computers
2008     Apple chooses NVIDIA GeForce 9400M GPU for their new MacBook, MacBook Pro & MacBook Air notebooks
2010     Introduces the NVIDIA Tegra 2, the first Dual-core SOC Mobile chip for android tablets & smartphones
2012     NVIDIA announces the world's first GPU for cloud computing, the Nvidia VGX
2012     NVIDIA announces their 
Tegra 3 chip will be used in Audi's In-Vehicle Infotainment systems and digital display.
2021     NVIDIA announces their Nvidia CMP (Crypto Mining Processor),
 a GPU card made specifically for Crypto Currency Mining, which will have no video outputs, and run at a lower power 






​NVIDIA 10 year anniversary of Graphic Chips & GPUs Paperweight (2003)

Nvidia GPU paperweight
Item #776

​This NVIDIA Lucite anniversary paperweight was created to celebrate their highly successful video accelerator chips and GPU's that they have shipped during NVIDIA's first 10 years.

Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC) has been NVIDIA's primary chip manufacturing foundry since they formed a partnership together in 1998, manufacturing NVIDIA's numerous GPU technologies.

On the front of the paperweight it reads "1993-2003. 10 years of Excellence" and "Over 200 million shipped". There is a 3D version of the NVIDIA logo embedded in the center of the paperweight.



At the bottom of the paperweight the logo badges are shown for NVIDIA's graphic chips & GPU's released during their first ten years:

  • Riva 128 (1997) "NV3" one of the first graphic chips to integrate 3D acceleration along with traditional 2D and video acceleration
  • TNT (1998) "NV4" 90MHz 2D/3D/video graphics accelerator chip for the PC
  • GeForce (1999) "NV10" 120MHz, The worlds first GPU
  • Quadro (1999) "NV10GL" High-end GPU for CAD and DCC (digital content creation) workstations
  • nForce (2001) 266MHz, Integrated Graphics Chip-set created for AMD Athlon and Duron CPU's
  • GeForce Go (2000) The worlds first mobile GPU for notebooks
  • Xbox (2001) "NV2A" 233 MHz custom GPU created for the Microsoft Xbox gaming console

Measures 3-3/4" wide x 4-3/4" tall.



NVIDIA / TSMC G98 GPU Chip Keychain (2009)

Nvidia GPU keychain
Item #435 (#436 similiar)
 NVIDIA is a Fab-Less Semiconductor design company that contracts manufacturing of it's GPU processors to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (TSMC).

NVIDIA and TSMC began high-volume production in 1998 when NVIDIA was developing processors on 0.35 micron technology.

Today, NVIDIA leverages TSMC's process technology leadership and is producing processors in state-of-the-art 300mm 300mm wafer fabs.

 This is an NVIDIA G98 GPU Chip encased in Lucite with lasered NVIDIA logo on top of the chip. This GPU was manufactured by TSMC using 65nm technology.

The G98 GPU introduced in June 2008 would have been used in the 9300 GE/GS series of Video Cards from NVIDIA, as well as in the GeForce 9100 & 9200 series. Since the chip found it's way into a keychain it is typically a rejected, flawed or under-performing unit that was not suitable for sale to a customer.


The NVIDIA G98 GPU offered an improved memory controller to compete with their biggest competitor's latest chip, the ATI technologies RV670 GPU. The G98 chip had 16 shader processors and it operated at 450 MHz.

Measures 1.5" square.
NVIDIA store part #GS-NV1544
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Nvidia keychain
Back of Nvidia G98 Keychain

Galaxy G94 NVIDIA / TSMC GPU Keychain (2009)

Nvidia GPU keychain
Courtesy of GALAXY Microsystems Ltd.
Galaxy, a maker of video cards using NVIDIA GPU's offered it's own version of the NVIDIA keychain in 2009.

The keychain featured a different chip however, the NVIDIA G94 GPU, and was awarded as a prize at Galaxy promotional events. It not offered for sale to the public like NVIDIA 's keychains were.

Clear Lucite, measures 1.5" square.


Nvidia keychain
Courtesy of GALAXY Microsystems Ltd.
Nvidia G94 keychain
Courtesy of GALAXY Microsystems Ltd.

NVIDIA TEGRA Mobile SOC Chip Keychain (2010)

Nvidia tegra mobile processor chip keychain

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This is an NVIDIA keychain given out as a promotion to attendees at the 2010 CES Consumer Electronics Show.

It contains an NVIDIA Tegra Mobile SoC chip embedded in Lucite.​

The Tegra chip were designed for mobile devices such as smart phones, smart books, media players, and PDA's.



NVIDIA Tegra 2 SOC Mobile Chip Keychain (2011)

NVIDIA GPU chip tegra 2 mobileItem #832

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This is an NVIDIA keychain that contains an NVIDIA Tegra 2 Mobile SoC (system on a chip) embedded in Lucite. 

The NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor (AP20H) powered mobile devices including Android smartphones and tablets and competed directly with the Apple A4 SoC chip.

The 1 GHz Tegra 2 SoC chip integrated both CPU (ARM Dual Cortex-A9 processors w/ 1 MB of on-die L2 cache), SDRAM memory  (1GB) & GPU (ULP GeForce - 8 cores) onto a single silicon chip and was manufactured by TSMC using their 40 nm semiconductor wafer manufacturing technology.


This BGA (Ball Grid Array) Packaged Chip is marked with part # AP20H-PH-A4. Keychain reads  "NVIDIA Driving Innovation".

New, unused, Measures 1.5" square.

Nvidia Tegra 2
Nvidia Tegra 2 Chip Architecture
Nvidia Tegra 2 keychain
Back of Nvidia Tegra 2 Keychain showing BGA Packaging

NVIDIA PCB Engineer's Design ruler  (2012)

Nvidia ruler

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This is an NVIDIA PCB design ruler used by employees, and also given out as a promotional item, or gift. Offered exclusively at the Nvidia employee gift store.

Measures 12" long.




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VIDEO: NVIDIA - History of the GPU (2013)

Related:        AMD          Taiwan Semiconductor          ​Microsoft Xbox GPU chip

               Nvidia GPU chips in cars          SGS-Thomson         Atari Computer chips

                                    ATI Technologies           Nintendo GPU chips


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Explore our collection of memorabilia from the world's leading Electronics & Semiconductor Companies​​


ADS    AKAI    AMD    ​Amdahl    Ampex    AMS    Analog Devices    Apple    Applied Materials    Atari    ATI    AT&T    Bell Labs

Bosch
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​Data General
    Data Terminal Systems    DEC    Delco    Destron Fearing    Elbit    EMR    ESI    Fairchild    Fastcomm    Ferranti    Ford

Freescale    ​Fujitsu    GE
    General Instrument    GM    GTE    Hitachi    Honeywell    HP    Hughes    Hybrid Systems    Hyundai    ​IBM

Intel    Interdesign
    ITT    Kyocera    Lear Siegler    Lucid    Memorex    ​Micron    Microsoft    ​Microvision    MIPS    MIT    Mitsubishi

Motorola
    NAPA ECHLIN    National Semiconductor    NCR    ​NEC    Nintendo    NTK​    NMBS    NorthStar Computers    NVIDIA

OKI Electric
    Pacific Semi    ​Panasonic    PHILCO    Philips    Pixim    Precision Monolithics    Ramtron    Raytheon    RCA

Remington Rand    Samsung    Seeq    ​Siemens    SGS - Thomson    Sharp    Signetics
    Smith - Corona Marchant    Sony

SpaceX    ​Sperry    Storage Technology
    STMicroelectronics    Sun Microsystems    Sylvania Electric    Tandem Computers

Tesla
    Texas Instruments    Teledyne    Toshiba    Tung - Sol    TSMC    United Technologies    Unitrode    UNIVAC    VeriChip

Volvo    VLSI    Wavesat    Western Electric    Westinghouse    WYSE    Etc.
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