Fastest PCI Video Card for Gaming ?

No.

Only if you like 1024x768 at very lowest graphical settings....but even then it probably wouldn't be a smooth experiance.

The best ones still avalible (and the only ones which would come close to that level of performance) are probably the X1550 w/256MB @ 128bit. Like this DIAMOND.

Of corse, for almost $100, it's a total rip-off!

don't need to add much here, other than to say, that the new integrated solutions from nV and AMD would likely compete very well or better than those PCI based X1550s. And then from there of course you can later upgrade to whatever you want.

Just a suggestion you might want to look into.

No way, the X1550 is no powerhouse, but it'll still dust off anything integrated.
On Tom's "Best Gaming Graphics for the Money: September 2007" article, they list it in the same tier as the Radeon 9800Pro and the nVidia FX 5950 Ultra. I would put most integrated solutions two or three tiers down from there.

The only reason I would get a PCI card is to replace an integrated GPU that got fried on someone's system they use for email. If I do that, I just get the cheapest one I can find.

PCI is an interface...what powers the card is the GPU, the chip itself.

The point you miss is the PCI interface is a bottleneck. And depending on the game it can be a noticeable one. The X1550 still is OK, but considering the new crop of intergrated, they're much faster than before, which is why I say they would likely compete well, not cost him much of anything and not be dead weight when he upgrades. PCI cards are expensive and slow.

I don't disagree that the PCIe version of the X1550 is ok, but I wouldn't pay the price or hope for the performance of the PCI model, especially a card that is omitted by name in the Bioshock specs.

So unless you have something that shows the PCI version being stellar I'd say the latest and upcoming intergrated solutions are a better path, and then add a PCIe card later.

Can't say I have much to add. Do a little research before you buy. Just worked on a Pentium 4 D 3GHz Dell, all that it had for expandability was PCI. Person said they have owned it for about a year. Needed new hard drive, just out of Dells warranty. Just saying that so nobody asks "what did you recommend he buy?"