<< i'm just looking for a decent cheap PCI video card for my friend's hewlett packard (ugh) and was wondering how it would play CS >>
Then just get a Voodoo3 3000 PCI card, which goes for about $40 used. That way, you get power similar to Voodoo2 SLI *and* you get built-in 2D acceleration, saving you 2 PCI slots. Voodoo2 SLI requires 2 PCI slots for the Voodoos and 1 for your 2D card. Voodoo3 takes up 1, since it is all-in-one.