Squeezing 1 more year out of my current rig...suggestions?

That's about the cream of the crop as far as AGP goes. Sounds exactly like what you're looking for.

Well it depends on what games she plays and how much more time it will take to save money for a new rig if you get a really expensive card.... if the games are that demanding and you can afford it go for the 1950, if not try something like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131420

oh and of course consider the power supply

well this should help

http://tomshardware.co.uk/2007/01/10/agp-platform-analy...
this shows how well a athalonXP 2500 holds up, the 9600XT is about the same as a 9800SE. but is better then the 9700PRO.

http://tomshardware.co.uk/2007/02/01/agp-platform-analy...
this shows a socket 939 3400+ compares. to be honest your 754 is prob. closer to the 2500 then the 939.
also have a look at the VGA charts for performance and the Best of line up
http://tomshardware.co.uk/graphics/charts.html

AGP stuff starts on pg 6 i think
http://tomshardware.co.uk/2007/02/06/the_best_gaming_vi...

A X1950PRO is worlds ahead of the 9600XT. Performance isn't even comparable. Your wife will be able to enjoy all 200 Sims 2 mods at full... for years :roll: :wink:

Wow. That was pretty sexist...  

Awesome, thanks for the input. What about DX10? Is MS going to force a DX10 system build on me in the next year, or will games be DX9 compatible for a good while yet?

She's playing/played recently:

LOTRO
Oblivion
Titan Quest
Dungeon Siege 2

I know the last 2 are no sweat, but I'd like her to be able to run the first 2 at max settings as well.

You will NOT be able to run Oblivion at max without a good CPU, lot of RAM (2GO min) and possibly a 8800. And yes down the road Microsoft is going to force you to buy Vista and a DX10 card. (in about 2 years)

you wont need to be forced to use it, and dx9 games will be released awhile from now.

dont worry about it, just dont listen to any Bestbuy or circuitcity peeps who tell you otherwise.

Doubtfull that most games will force DX10 as most current DX9 are still compatable with DX8, and some still with 7 - Vista is compliant with DX9, 8, and 7 also. A great buy right now is the 8800GTS 320mb for about 300 smackers. DX10 compatable and a smokin' DX9 card. This card will last longer than the X1950PRO; ofcourse it depends on the amount you want to spend.

Oblivion isn't going to run full on a X1950PRO. All around better results with any 8800 (obviously).

Good comparison among current high-enders: http://www.hardware.info/en-UK/articles/amdnY2pwZGGa/Ge...

In reply to Borat: :twisted:

it really depends on what ur max budget is. it doesnt take 1000 dollars for a great system if you want to build an entirely new one that is. although oblivion is an extremely demanding game, at the right resolution (1024x768) a 7600 gt can handle it. right now im running a 65w x2 3800 ($109), asus board ($65), microfly w/ 400watt psu ($75), 7600 gt ($100 after rebate), 1 gig ddr2 533 ($80), wd 160gb ($53), and asus dvd burner ($28). if you don't like the included psu you can always get an fsp for ~$50. my budget was really tight at 500 but i was able to have a decent replacement. my build definitely will not blow any game away but if i ever ran into a game that i couldnt run at all the case itself allows for a full-size psu replacement and an 8800 gts later on. ya have to figure that while buying the 1950pro is a great choice as a stopgap, when you eventually build a new computer it'll be useless as its agp unless u get a board with an agp slot.

It's not all that sexist, bottom line is that most women who game play the sims, yeah there's a few that play other genres but not many. and don't post and say oh i'm a woman and i post on here therefore that makes me wrong. It doesn't as again this is a very small cross-section of the populace.
Back to the issue tho, my 2500 was struggling to keep up with a geforce 6 so maybe a cheap chip upgrade too if u can manage it.

That's all very nice but the OP is using AGP. The 1950PRO is the best AGP card out there at the moment