I personally have seen no problems running an ATI Radeon 9700 Pro on a DFI NFII (NF2) mb. There are all kinds of "game" programs available. Certain types rely on speed to make them more exciting. First Person Shooter games (FPS') are this sort. Playing any of that type from the past year or so calls for a relatively expensive VGA card, or accepting very low resolution and dialed-back effects. Some of the online (MMORPG's) games offer a very rich graphics environment that needs a decent GPU to enjoy at better settings.
On the other hand, a "puzzle" game, like the addictive "Bejeweled" is mostly bit-mapped, and relies on a moderate speed cpu to run, not a high dollar GPU. One of the best alternatives in choosing video cards is to seek out a discounted card that was among the more expensive a couple of years ago. I didn't feel that I could afford a Radeon 9800XT card when those were still new, nor when only a year old. But I just ordered a new one through an eBay seller, for about $110, with shipping included.
I don't believe there is a PCI-e equivalent (it would be an X700-something), so by going with the latest type video slot, you have to pay more.
The best prices almost always are found online, and a service such as Price Grabber can be very helpful. If you want to hold a card in your hand before you buy it, you should STILL use the 'net to research what you need. There is an excellent Geforce 6200, 128/128, that is very hard to find on brick and mortar stores' shelves. They have been pushed off by the very inferior 6200TC's, that cost so much less.
I think that the 6200 with 128 Bit memory bandwidth, and 128 MB's of RAM, is pretty good for a non-FPS game player, better than the ATI X300. The X600 and X700 fall between the 6200 and 6600, as I recall. AFAIK, each of those "700" and under X-cards are actually Radeon 9xxx's with a PCI-e bridge chip added. I may be off some, but the X300 is supposed to equal a Radeon 9600. The X600 is a Radeon9600XT, and the X700 is a Radeon 9800, slightly slowed down by the bridge chip.
:thumbsup:
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