Yes, well the 2600 are PCI-E, and so this cuts him out of most reasonable gaming cards.
If your wanting to play the latest games at top resolution, with all features enabled, I'd replace the box...
If its just having it work acceptably, a second hand AGP card would be the best, I agree the 9800 series are good bang for buck, but nowhere the value of the latest PCI-E offerings..
And then there is the processor limits, the new core duo and quads are soooo much more bang for buck, sooo much better at running cool and with lower power. The bus speeds have gone from 533MHz (yours) to the current 9000 series (expensive, which is why I recommended a 8500 (8000 series Pentium) which operates at 1600MHz.
memory has more than doubled in speed, and worst of all, I expect your computer may not last the additional 2-3 years you require (depending on its use), expecting it is at least that old already.
My father asked me what computer to get for his last one ever...
He wants it to last for 15 years...
My brother replies with "well get it in 13 years time then..."
We could suggest something for a given dollar value, or to meet some software requirement...
Plus, the chips you would need to upgrade this unit are the extreme P4D 3.66 which are still highly sources by overclockers and have that price premium to reflect their uniqueness and scarcity. And still not enough bang to warrant the effort..
