tigerdirect < * and I don't recommend ordering from them. With that out of the way...
The 5200 isn't as bad as most people think. Doom3 on normal settings is not playable IMO, but it does run the full ARB2 path with all effects playable if you lower the resolution down to 512x384. Many games play pretty well at 1024x768 and the more demanding ones are playable at lower resolutions.
I ran a bunch of benchmarks on my PCI 5200 here. The AGP version is 0%-20% faster, depending on the benchmark (most games are 10-20% faster on the AGP version).
My card has default clock speeds of 250MHz core and 500MHz memory (128-bit). Some highlights @ stock speed:
Doom3 512x384LQ, ARB2 path, all effects enabled demo1 28fps (not in the link above)
Q3A 1600x1200HQ max demo four 61.7fps
RTCW 1024x768HQ max checkpoint demo 57.0fps
3DMark03 1024x768x32 1590
Far Cry 800x600 autodetect quality (medium) regulator demo 34fps
CS:S VST all options high, reflect world, trilinear, no AA 800x600 54fps
Tomb Raider 800x600 PS1.4 paris3 demo 39fps
UT2003 botmatch 1024x768 antalus + asbestos demos avg 58fps
and lowlights:
Doom3 640x480LQ, ARB2 path, all effects enabled demo1 20fps, not playable
Halo ~22fps even in PS1.1 mode, not playable
Aquamark 3 9137 (GFX 1014)
And as I mentioned above, this was from the PCI version... the AGP version would generally do a lot better.
There are 64-bit 5200s and those are dog slow, but most of the regular 5200s with 128-bit memory are fine for light gaming. Halo and HL2 are probably the only 2 games that are completely unplayable at stock speeds. And I'm not sure about HL2, it may be playable at 800x600 with the DX8.1 path like CS:S is.
The 5200 isn't as bad as most people think. Doom3 on normal settings is not playable IMO, but it does run the full ARB2 path with all effects playable if you lower the resolution down to 512x384. Many games play pretty well at 1024x768 and the more demanding ones are playable at lower resolutions.
I ran a bunch of benchmarks on my PCI 5200 here. The AGP version is 0%-20% faster, depending on the benchmark (most games are 10-20% faster on the AGP version).
My card has default clock speeds of 250MHz core and 500MHz memory (128-bit). Some highlights @ stock speed:
Doom3 512x384LQ, ARB2 path, all effects enabled demo1 28fps (not in the link above)
Q3A 1600x1200HQ max demo four 61.7fps
RTCW 1024x768HQ max checkpoint demo 57.0fps
3DMark03 1024x768x32 1590
Far Cry 800x600 autodetect quality (medium) regulator demo 34fps
CS:S VST all options high, reflect world, trilinear, no AA 800x600 54fps
Tomb Raider 800x600 PS1.4 paris3 demo 39fps
UT2003 botmatch 1024x768 antalus + asbestos demos avg 58fps
and lowlights:
Doom3 640x480LQ, ARB2 path, all effects enabled demo1 20fps, not playable
Halo ~22fps even in PS1.1 mode, not playable
Aquamark 3 9137 (GFX 1014)
And as I mentioned above, this was from the PCI version... the AGP version would generally do a lot better.
There are 64-bit 5200s and those are dog slow, but most of the regular 5200s with 128-bit memory are fine for light gaming. Halo and HL2 are probably the only 2 games that are completely unplayable at stock speeds. And I'm not sure about HL2, it may be playable at 800x600 with the DX8.1 path like CS:S is.