
329: A Plaid Decade
From Brad & Will Made a Tech Pod. by Brad Shoemaker, Will Smith
March 8, 2026 · 1h 29m · Episode 329
About this episode
The episode reflects on the 25th anniversary of the GeForce 3 and discusses various retro tech topics.
We just passed the 25th anniversary of the GeForce 3, which felt like a good reason to dust off the April 2001 issue of Maximum PC. We reflect on both a quarter-century of programmable pixel shaders -- the tech that's defined 3D rendering ever since -- and Will's cover story on the new GPU, including the secretive trip to Nvidia to benchmark it, a random Tim Sweeney interview, and more. There's also plenty of other fun retro tech to dish about in here, including super-early home wi-fi devices, the reveal of Windows XP, Pentium 4 RD-RAM weirdness, some classic Gordon Mah Ung hijinks, and more.
People in this episode
Hosts: Brad Shoemaker, Will Smith
Topics covered
- GPU technology
- 3D rendering
- retro tech
- programmable pixel shaders
- Nvidia
- Maximum PC
Keywords
- GeForce 3
- Maximum PC
- Nvidia
- 3D rendering
- Windows XP
- Pentium 4
- retro technology
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Nvidia, Maximum PC
Products: GeForce 3, Pentium 4 RD-RAM
More episodes of Brad & Will Made a Tech Pod.
- 342: Faster Thinner Quieter Cooler Cheaper · June 7, 2026 · 1h 19m
- 341: F2 Is My Most Used F · May 31, 2026 · 1h 20m
- 340: Like a Bong for Your CPU · May 24, 2026 · 1h 10m
- 339: Billionaires Versus Dinosaurs · May 17, 2026 · 1h 22m
- 338: Everything for Everything · May 10, 2026 · 58 min
- 337: They're 3D-Printing Shoes Now · May 3, 2026 · 1h 15m
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Brad & Will Made a Tech Pod. podcast page.