I forgot to mention my pc only has a agp slotKrendog

Oh yeah i forgot about this article Gamespot did...check this out:

http://www.gamespot.com/features/6164940/index.html?tag=topslot;title;4&om_act=convert&om_clk=topslot

It will help you make your decision.  They did notice some game slowdowns with Vista running on certain systems!  And to your questions about the 8600 cards...no they arent super expensive like i said before the Geforce 8600's will be affordable.  Check out my post on the details on their release here:

http://www.gamespot.com/pages/forums/show_msgs.php?topic_id=25356077

Wait to buy vista until you need/want to play DX10 games.  The only practical reason to upgrade to vista now is if you can obtain it via "cheap means."  I played with vista at Best Buy today and its deffinately not worth its price tag...plus there are some known compatibility issues with certain games.  However, the aero effect is pretty...ill give it that.  Anyways, i say give vista some time to fix the kinks and at the earliest...think about upgrading in March.  The reason I say March is because this is when the release date of the Geforce 8600 and top of the line ATI RADEON card (both dx10) will be realeased.  Also, the 8600 will be an affordable $190 for the 512 version.  If you're willing to wait a bit longer on the Vista upgrade, I say wait until a DX10 game comes out (one that you want) because the only way you can run any new DX10 game in DX10 is if you buy Vista.  If you dont have Vista and have the DX10 game it will only run in DX9.0C. 

hope this advice helps your decision.

If you look in your HL2 box theres a little card (quick reference card) that says what the requirements are to play in offline mode.  If you didnt save the box ive typed what the card entails about offline mode:

Quick Reference Card

STEAM REQUIREMENTS AND OFFLINE MODE

A Stam account is required to play Half-Life 2 and an internet connection is required to create and use your Steam account.  During installation you will be prompred to create your Steam account and validate your CD key, once this is complete you can play Half-Life 2.  An "Offline Mode" will also be availabile if the "Remember my password" box is checked on the Steam login screen.

Offline mode will not be available and an internet connection will be required if:

1.) You do not select the "Remember my password" option on the login screen.

2.) You choose to login as a different user

3.) You check "Dont save account information on this computer" on the Steam Account Settings screen

hope this helps.  I know i have my password etc. saved and when there is no connection to the internet...it prompts me to start steam in offline mode.

[QUOTE="tutejaa"]7600U will not be serious threat... its performance will be arround 7900gt. R600 core will totally demolish G80 if the spec are right and that ATI have tweaked the drivers. 9mmSpliff

7600U will not be serious threat... its performance will be arround 7900gt. R600 core will totally demolish G80 if the spec are right and that ATI have tweaked the drivers. tutejaa

Just read this on engadget...very good news!

If you want to join the ranks of the cool kids with one of those nifty DirectX 10 cards for promoting Vista shenanigans, but don't want to sell any vital internal organs to purchase a GeForce 8800 GTX or one of those upcoming ATI R600 cards, then you might be happy to hear that the price of entry is about to get a whole lot cheaper. Details of NVIDIA's upcoming GeForce 8600 series have been revealed, with the 8600 GT going for roughly $150 and the 8600 Ultra demanding a $180 pricetag. Considering the fact that an 8800 GTX will cost you about $600 at the moment, this is good news indeed. The specs aren't anything to sneeze at, either, with both 8600 cards being built with an 80nm process and 300 million transistors. The GT runs at 350MHz, with 256MB of RAM to call its own, while the Ultra sports a 500MHz core, with 512MB of memory. The launch is supposedly timed to coincide with the R600's launch, will certainly steal a bit of ATI's thunder.

The only downside to this is that ill have to wait a couple more weeks to build my new system because these cards arent due out until early march.  Well worth the wait though.

Full story:http://www.engadget.com/2007/02/02/nvidias-geforce-8600-series-brings-dx10-without-breaking-the-ba/

Source: www.endgadget.com