Well holiday specials don't really apply to me, I live in Israel and the only holiday special I'm gonna get is doughnuts :P.

So do you think I should wait for Windows 7? It's not going to be another flop like Vista?

P.S. I already have all the external devices I need, basically I'm only buying the box.

Well, the time has arrived, my AGP x8 computer can't run anything anymore.

I'd appreciate your advice on whether now is a good time to buy a new machine, in the price range of 700-800$, or should I wait for DX11 or some other new piece of hardware\software that will come out in a month and will make my newly purchased computer obsolete in 2 years? I'm hoping it could last me for about 5 years, and no I don't care about graphics at all I just want to make the minimum requirements for games that will come out in a few years' time.

I actually have to decide by tomorrow, so any quick advice would be greatly appreciated .

Oops, this really is OT, sorry didn't notice the hardware forum. Thanks anyway, I'm moving the topic.

Well, the time has arrived, my AGP x8 computer can't run anything anymore.

I'd appreciate your advice on whether now is a good time to buy a new machine, in the price range of 700-800$, or should I wait for DX11 or some other new piece of hardware\software that will come out in a month and will make my newly purchased computer obsolete in 2 years? I'm hoping it could last me for about 5 years, and no I don't care about graphics at all I just want to make the minimum requirements for games that will come out in a few years' time.

I actually have to decide by tomorrow, so any quick advice would be greatly appreciated ;).

Thanks for the help.

Anyway, maybe I'll take a different strategy. My friend advised that it may be worth it to upgrade to PCI-E, and he claims that it isn't expensive. I don't see how replacing your motherboard (if that really is what needs to be done) can be cheap, but who knows? Anyone know if this makes sense or did my friend get scammed?

OK, so that 1950PRO is pretty expensive, I doubt that I'll be able to buy it. I tracked down a list of more affordable ones, I'll appreciate any opinions on them.

-Raedon X1600PRO 512MB Gecube

-GeForce A7600GT 256MB Leadtek

-Raedon X1300 512MB GeCube

-Raedon X1550 512MB GeCube

They're arranged from expensive to cheap. And don't ask me why X1550 is cheaper than X1300....

I didn't include any GeForce GS or 6 seriescards, from what I understand they're not worth it even with 512MB. Let me know if I'm wrong.

-GeForce 7600GS 512MB Pine XFX

Nice topic guys, if I hadn't read this I probably would have bought a GPU I can't even use by now :?.

But now, I'm sorta stuck. From what I understand, if my computer is AGP x8 I'm screwed. I think that's what I have, I checked my current GPU's stats (Geforce 5500) and it said AGP x8. Is there any way to get around this without buying a new motherboard or something?

Also, if anyone could recommend a good GPU that works on AGP and costsmore or less200-250$ that would be nice.

Update: I may have found a good one: Raedon X1950PRO 512MB AGP Sapphire. It's a bit more expensive, but I think it's the best I can do. Let me know if I'm wrong.