New graphics card for a P4

[b0redom]

Hi All,
My parents in law have a really old P4 2.0Ghz PC. I know it'd be better to throw it away and start again, but I've just dropped in a couple of GB of RAM and it's performing a little better now.

Can anyone recommend a modest AGP graphics card? I know it'll not run Crysis, but it's got an old Radeon 9500 in it, and if one can be had which will give more performance without costing a fortune, that'd be cool.

Cheers....

[staffsMike]

if you want the best then this was just released
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 3850 Pro 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (AGP) - Retail

this is a fair bit cheaper
Sapphire ATI Radeon 2600 Pro 512MB DDR2 HDTV/DVI (AGP) - Retail (11115-01-20)

[vicar]

Try and find a second hand Ati 9800.

[Pob255]

Or a x1950pro or 7900gs

I've got an old 6800LE 128mb I was thinking of selling, not a great card (the 128mb limits it on newer games) but better that that 9500

EDIT: just had a quick look on fleabay a 7900gs 256mb agp going for around £55
x1950pro 256mb agp £60-70

[b0redom]

What's the tipping point likely to be? Obviously at Radeon 2400 will be vastly faster than the CPU, so wouldn't it be a bit of a pointless upgrade?

[Pob255]

In all honesty I'm not sure, however the benefits of a low end hd2xxx or 8xxxx are dubious remembering that a high end dx9 card will out perform them.

Stick a high end dx9 card in there, go back 5 years and that's a damb good gaming rig.
Keep your OS neat and tidy
Stick with smaller monitor (17-19) not some grate big 32"monster
And something like prey should run quite well at high setting.