Featuring a frog in a mech suit, among other monstrosities

The very specific horror of old graphics card packaging art

Relive some packaging sins of the past with these horrifying old GPU boxes...

We'd like to think the brainstorming session for this packaging began and ended with the words "frog in a mech suit?" hastily scribbled on a whiteboard.

1. Palit GeForce 9600GT Sonic (2008)

It's a little known fact Jared Leto based his portrayal of the Joker in Suicide Squad on this art. We still think the above render makes a better Prince of Knaves.

2. Hercules 3D Prophet 9500 Pro (2003)

It's a little alien made out of liquid metal. What more can we say? If this ropey render popped up in the first season of The X-Files, it would still look horribly dated.

3. Sapphire ATI Radeon 9800 XT (2003)

Someone over at Leadtek clearly had quite the thing for wizards. The PX6600 GT was one of several GPUs that rocked a bearded CG spell-slinger on the box.

4. Leadtek WinFast PX6600 GT TDH (2005)

You have to respect Asus for trying something different. Robots? Goblins? Frog mechs? Please. We're going to use the kid from Problem Child to sell our GPU.

5. Asus GeForce 256 (2000)

Is it an alien? Is it a creepy naked goblin thing? Why the hell is it striking that weird pose? And why is it looking off-camera in horror? Please, just make it go away.

6. Sapphire ATI Radeon X550 (2005)

Cyborgs are a graphics card packaging classic. There are a ton to choose from, but we're all about this blue lady and her half-Terminator exposed robo-head.

6. PNY Verto GeForce FX 5200 (2003)

Now we've hit the big time. This guy has come from the future to give us the good frame rates. Oh, and 128MB of DDR memory? What an age we live in.

8. PowerColor Radeon 9700 Pro (2002)

Read the full article at

READ MORE