Worth it to put a geforce 6600gt agp in Athlon XP 2200+ box?

A friend of mine plays those games at medium resolutions without any trouble.

He has the following configuration

AMD Athlon XP 2600+
1GB RAM (recommended for BF2).
6600GT
Some Abit motherboard

It should last you a year or so, maybe even two, with the caveat that you might have troubles in future games that require alot of CPU dependance.

You should also consider the X800 GT in the same price range.

What do you think about the specific games I listed? (as far as CPU strain)

HL2 should be OK, painkiller should be OK too. BF2, I hear, likes alot of onboard memory, so if you have the choice between a 128 and 256mb card, go with the 256.

Okay, thanks for the input.

You might need to upgrade that PSU though. That sounds fairly low. You could give it a go, but if you have a lot of drives/cards it might not prove enough. I'd stick a nice one in there, as you can then use it in the upgrade later on.

Yeah, I'm leaning that direction. I don't have many devices, but a good PSU will be useful in the future as well. What do you guys think of:

Thermaltake TR2 W0070 430W PSU for $37
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153023

or

Ultra X-Connect 500W (has $50 rebate) for $20
http://www.microcenter.com/byos/byos_single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0230417

I'm liking the Ultra PSU.
In addition, will both of these run an ATI Radeon X850XT for AGP bus with no power difficulties?

While I'm upgrading this computer, I thought I might do the case as well. Is this one a good choice? I like the price and its looks.

http://www.microcenter.com/byos/byos_single_product_results.phtml?product_id=205974

While the X800 may be a slightly better card, it runs about $20-50 dollars more. What's more, I can't seem to find one in stock anywhere. Do you have a link to one in stock, Cleeve?

Edit: You may want to do your case shopping in a PC store. You're more likely to get something that suits your needs that way. You should definitely look at the insides of a case to see how its laid out before buying it. Take it from me, I learned the hard way.  

X800 GT in stock at newegg (but in PCI-Express, whoops)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102573

*buzzzzzz*

Wrong answer.

That's the PCIe version and we're talking about AGP.   Silly burglar.

The X800GT AGP cards at NewEgg.com that were listed as not in stock yesterday aren't even listed anymore.

  Oops. My fault.

That's probably a good suggestion. I think I will. Things just seem so much cheaper online.

Why bother - Find a case you like, and then find reviews online! If you're planning to keep the case a while, it's worth spending extra on a good one.

One thing I would say, is that cases (especially cheap ones) never look as good "in the flesh" as they do on the photos.

I spent years only buying cheaper cases, until last year I bought an Antec P-160. The difference in quality and design is amazing. Everything thought out properly, nothing feels flimsy, and the cooling is fantastic. I'd modified my old case to improve the cooling (adding fans to cool hard disks, generally improving airflow), but even so in the antec My temps were immediately 5-10C lower, and of course the nice big fans make less noise.

That's a good point, but seeing the layout and quality of construction with your own eyes is worth something. Like you said, "cases never look as good in the flesh as they do on the photos."

Well, yeah, you can almost never go wrong with an Antec.

TB, if you're worried about price. Find the case in a store and then order it online.   But don't forget that often times you'll be paying the difference in prices in shipping. I still think its best to look at the case in person. You get a better feel for how you're going to be putting the thing together.

I've had an Antec PSU before, and currently use an Antec case for another machine. It is a quality brand. I like their designs too. I may try to find another one.

Would an X800GTO be a better AGP choice for an older box such as mine?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102608