Sorry I just didn't have time to go through all this thread, but I was a huge BF1 fan--I bought all the expansion packs and downloaded all the mods and etc...
I have yet to jump into the BF2 pool simply because I have been spending money elsewhere and I need to desperately upgrade my machine.
I have a P4 2.4 512 with a very out of date video card.
What would be the cheapest way to upgrade so I could play??
For cheapest to be able to play, I am going to go on the assumption that you have 2 256 MB RAM chips and 2 free slots. I will also assume you have an AGP slot. Correct me if I am wrong. This setup will let you play any game out RIGHT NOW:Oh wait, I don't know what type of RAM your computer takes, but either way, figure $35-50 to add another 512 RAM.
As for video card, here are a few options:
ATI X1600 Pro $129
ATI X800 GTO $175
NVidia 6800 GS $219
NVidia 6800 $154
Now, I would rank them from low to high just as priced - lower to higher. I can give you a $300 AGP card that roXor, but that is not what you are asking. If you wanted to know the sweet spot, I would say the X1600 Pro is a good card for the price, but you get a lot of AGP bang for the buck with the X800GTO.
Now, you want to know the irony of it all? If you had a PCI-Express slot, I could tell you about the ATI X850XT for $154, which would outperform the $300 AGP cards, but such is life. Almost enough to want to upgrade the motherboard/CPU, huh?