You'll need a good video card to fully enjoy many games. The minimums are usually not enough to see all the details and smoothness you'd like to get. High-end video cards are expensive, but well worth it. However, most games do not ultilize the special features of high end cards. For those with a tight budget, there are a few great cards to try as well.
1) Visiontek Geforce3
Want to speed up the frame rate of your favorite game? This is the card to get it. If you can afford it and have an AGP slot, this is the video card for gamers. It has an awesome resolution and will allow you to experience almost every special effect out there. The downside is the card is expensive, and you'll need a high-end computer to fully use the card's capabilities.
2) Hercules 3D Prophet 4500
This card is a great buy. You'll get beautiful video for a good price. Full OpenGL and DirectX are supported. The card also supports a 3-D resolution up to 1,920 x 1,200.
3) GeForce2 MX400
If you don't have an AGP slot, this is a great PCI card to get. Its also an easy way to upgrade your older computer to make it into a gaming machine. You'll still get good performance and relatively high frame rates, even though it is a PCI card. So don't despair, if you don't have an AGP slot, there are affordable solutions.