I love to play AOM and AOE on my box. Thats the only thing I use it for, apart from checking emails. I recently upgraded from 128 MB DDR to 256 MB DDR. I noticed an increase in speeds, but I am thinking of getting a cheap Video Display Card. That should speed up gaming.

Any recommendations? I am looking for something in the range of $ 20 - 30.

I have another box where I test new software (mostly beta). Its got 512 MB SDRAM and a 1.3 Ghz AMD Processor. I format this machine average twice in a month.

I notice that quite a few applications take loads of time to install. How do you speed up the installation time for applications?

nVidia 6800 GT or a Radeon 9800. Either will do fine. Stay away from the *cheap* hardware.

i second that motion. if your going to spend money on a video card, may as well get a decent one. if you get the bottom of the line card, then you will regret it when a game comes out you want to play, but your card is insufficient. if you are absolutely sure that you won't do that, then go right ahead and get a cheap card. i have found the best prices at newegg, and they have free shipping on most products.

Which almost goes for all hardware