https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/ a great resource, ranking
https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/ - another benchmark site
http://gpuboss.com/http://www.gpuzoo.com/for alot of people; understanding what graphic cards are good vs what cards are bad is very confusing territory. this page aims to help people understand which cards are top of the line for what time frame.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7287386?start=0&tstart=0
Ati mach 64 - 1994
Late 1990s >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The 3D RAGE was released in April 1996
s3 virge july 1996
matrox Mystique on August 14, 1996.
rage pro LT -Nov 1996
ATI's 3D RAGE™ PRO - match 1997
matrox mystique 220 - 1997 ?
Matrox Millenium 2 - Jul 1997
Voodoo Rush - Aug 1997
Riva 128 - Oct 1997
The first RIVA TNT released on June 15, 1998
Rage 128 GL Aug 1998
banta march 1999
Riva TNT2 - May 1999
ATI Rage 128 Pro - August 1999
matrox g400 released in September 1999
The Geforce 256 was released on Oct 11 1999
Riva TNT2 M64 - Oct 1999
Riva TNT Pro - Oct 1999
Early 2000s >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Radeon DDR (R100) 32mb/64mb - May 2000
Geforce 2 - April 2000,
Radeon SDR (R100) - July 2000
GeForce2 MX - September 7, 2000
Geforce 3 - January 2001
Radeon 7500 (RV200) - July 2001
Radeon 8500 (R200) - Oct 2001 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radeon_8000_Series
Geforce 4 Ti (NV25) - April 2002[/b] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_4_series
Radeon 7000 mac edition (RV100) april 2002
Radeon 9700 pro (R300) - Aug 2002
Radeon 9000 - Aug 2002
Radeon 9500 - Oct 2002
Radeon 9200 - April 2003
Radeon 9800 Pro (R350) - March 2003
GeForce FX 5200 - april 2003
Radeon 9200 LE (RV280) - may 2003
GeForce FX 5900 Ultra - May 2003
GeForce FX 5700 - oct 2003
Geforce FX 5900XT - Dec 2003 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_FX_series
Radeon 9600 XT - Sept 2003
Radeon 9800 XT - Sep 2003 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radeon_9000_Series
Geforce 6600 GT - Sep 7, 2004
Radeon X800 - Dec 2004
search ebay for early 2000s graphics cards
Late 2000s >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Radeon X850 XT - Feb 2005
GeForce 7800 GTX June 2005
Geforce 7800 GS - Feb 2006 (AGP)
Radeon X1950 XT - Oct 2006
Geforce 8800 GTX - Nov 2006
Radeon HD 2900 XT - May 2007
GeForce 7950 GT - Apr 2007 (AGP)
Radeon HD 2600 PRO Jun 28, 2007 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radeon_HD_2000_series
Radeon HD 3870 - Nov 2007 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radeon_HD_3000_Series
Geforce 9800 GTX - July 2008
GeForce GT 120 March 10, 2009 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_100_series
Radeon HD 4890 - Apr 2009 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radeon_HD_4000_series
Radeon HD 5870 - Sep 2009 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radeon_HD_5000_Series
GeForce GT 220 October 12, 2009 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_200_series
Radeon HD 5770 Oct 13, 2009
Geforce 280 GTX - Nov 2009
gtx 260, gtx 275, gtx 280, gtx 285, gtx 295
search for late 2000s graphics cards on ebay
Early 2010s >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
GeForce 480 GTX- Mar 2010 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_400_series
Radeon HD 6870 - Oct 2010 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radeon_HD_6000_Series
Geforce 590 GTX - Mar 2011 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_500_series
Geforce 680 GTX - Mar 2012 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_600_series
Radeon HD 7950 - Jan 2012 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radeon_HD_7000_Series
Radeon HD 7990 - Apr 2013 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radeon_HD_7000_Series
Radeon HD 8990 apr 2013 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radeon_HD_8000_series
Geforce 780 GTX - May 2013 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_700_series
Radeon R9 290 - Nov 2013 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_Radeon_Rx_200_series
Radeon R9 290X - Nov 2014 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_Radeon_Rx_200_series
Geforce 980 GTX - Sep 2014 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_900_series
search for early 2010 cards on ebay
Late 2010s >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
GeForce GTX 980 Ti - June 2015 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_900_series
Radeon R9 380X - Nov 2015 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_Radeon_Rx_300_series
Geforce 1080 GTX - May 2016 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_10_series
Radeon RX 470D - Oct 2016 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_Radeon_400_series
Radeon RX 580 - apr 2017 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_Radeon_500_series
GeForce GTX 1080 Ti - Mar 2017 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_10_series
Radeon RX 590 - Nov 2018 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_Radeon_500_series
references:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_AMD_graphics_processing_units
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nvidia_graphics_processing_units
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nvidia_Quadro