Riva 128 PCI

PCI RIVA 128 variant for systems that needed NVIDIA's first mainstream 2D and 3D accelerator without AGP.

NV3 / RIVARIVA SeriesDesktopSDR1997NVIDIA

Key Metrics

Architecture
NV3 / RIVA
Launch Date
1997-04-01
Memory
4 MB SDR
Memory Bandwidth
1.6 GB/s
TDP/TBP
4 W
Interface
PCI
Process Node
ST 350 nm
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Why It Mattered

Riva 128 PCI brought NVIDIA's first broadly successful 2D and 3D accelerator into non-AGP systems. It is historically useful for documenting the bridge between older PCI-only PCs and the first wave of AGP graphics cards.

Collector Notes

Record board vendor, PCI revision, memory chips, BIOS label, VGA output, optional TV-out, and driver disk. PCI RIVA 128 boards are useful for builds where AGP is unavailable, but the exact board partner still matters.

Common Failure Points

Typical problems are driver-era compatibility, weak late-game OpenGL expectations, and sellers confusing RIVA 128, RIVA 128ZX, and later TNT cards. Some boards may need period drivers to behave correctly.

Reviews1 review

Board-partner, reference-card, article, and video reviews that cover this GPU.

Related GPUs

Back to RIVA Series

Previous in series: Riva 128Next in series: Riva 128ZX
Sources

Sources reviewed: 2026-06-21

This entry is still being source-checked.

Data confidence and source status

Partial entry. Core specifications may be present, but history, variant notes, known issues, and source review may be incomplete.

  • Verified: core specifications and historical notes have been reviewed against listed sources.
  • Partial: core specifications may be present, but history, variant notes, known issues, and source review may be incomplete.
  • Imported: spec-only imported entry pending editorial source review.
  • Needs source review: narrative notes are incomplete until reviewed.

Primary / manufacturer sources

  1. DOS Days RIVA 128 SeriesBoard examples, memory notes, clocks, and period contextOpen source

Independent reference sources

  1. TechPowerUp Riva 128 PCI GPU SpecsModel-level specification referenceOpen source

Other sources

  1. RIVA 128 128-bit 3D multimedia accelerator datasheetProduct-level feature and memory-interface referenceOpen source
  2. 86Box RIVA 128 architecture historyTechnical history and emulator-oriented architecture contextOpen source

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