video card upgrade question

[vaboz]

Hello everyone! I have a friend that is planning on upgrading his computer. He has a decent gaming computer right now but his Radeon 9800pro is startting to lag a bit on current games. His mobo only has an agp slot.
My friend has about $400 to spend and we have been discussing the idea of saving up more money and going pci-express. Can you guys please give some advise on the top nvidia and the top ati agp cards and which one you would go with in case my friend does decide to not wait.

Do you agree with me he should wait and just upgrade to pci-express?

His system
AMD 64 3200+
2 gb ram
some no-name 350w power supply
Epox mobo (sorry, cant remember his mobo model will get the model if thats nesssessary)
decent 160g HD
MSI Radeon 9800 Pro

Thanks again guys! You have been an awsome resource for me on my build and now i just want to get some reliable info to pass on to my friend!

[TwoRails]

AGP is not dead. I decided to stay with it for a while longer on my last update. I went from a 9800 Pro to the x800 and love it. Plus, they are coming out with extremely fast cards! Take a look at this thread:

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=155509

[786ARS]

7800GS i think is an agp card, but seriously upgrade his psu, it wont be able to cope with a 7series Nvidia approx $300 for the nvidia card.

[vaboz]

Awsome! Thanks again for the steller advise! I will pass it onto my friend!

By the way anyone out there want to argue the case for just saving a bit more money and going pci-express??

Thanks!

[Alaron]

I would hold out for PCI-E until he could afford a full system upgrade. There are powerful AGP cards out there that will keep that system running for awhile yet. I agree with the others. Spend the money on a larger PSU and a 7800GS and enjoy that system for at least a year.