Yo man...
i have a GeForce 4 MX 460 with 2 VGA outs and Video In Video Out
it works VERYYYYYYY welll on games ( all games works on it verryyy welllll no probs at all ) very fast 2d and 3D gfx... and it doesn´t cost more than 300 U$D ... i bought mine for around 180 U$D ( making the money conversion ) here in Brazil.... it´s a veryyy goodd Card... Get it.> :0

Cheers..
PG

I've talked to this dude on another forum and directed him to recording.org due to lack of answers.
I'm sure that's a great card for gameplaying pgstudio, but what about in a DAW?
Are u using the same pc as your DAW with that card?

kriswilliam,
First of all, thank you very much for coming to recording.org. I sincerely hope that you will spend some time on this site, and see the sort of information that is discussed here, as well as the comfortable atmosphere.
You probably did not find the answer to your question on another forum because, as simple as it may seem, it really is not. I'll gladly take the time to explain why.
Playing relatively advanced games on a computer and recording music on a computer have conflicting requirements and compatibility issues.
For recording music, using digital audio workstation hardware and software, your graphics requirements are relatively minimal. The rule of thumb is that you want to use a graphics card with 32Mb of RAM or less. However, the major issue is compatibility. ATI and nVidia cards are known to have compatibility issues with a lot of DAW systems. The Matrox G550 is the current "standard of the industry" for DAWs because it is known to be the most compatible card for use in DAWs, with adequate power at 32Mb. The average price of a G550, in the USA, is about $100 USD.
For gaming, the Matrox G550 falls far short, but it's not intended for gaming. ATI and nVidia cards, with at least 64Mb of RAM, are generally your best choices for gaming. Although the high-end gaming cards are $300-400 USD, there are many ATI and nVidia cards that perform very well for $100-150 USD. Personally, I have a Sapphire ATI Radeon 9000 Pro in one of my PCs that is AWESOME for gaming, especially since it was less than $100 USD!
So, to be honest, I believe the reason that your question was not previously answered was because there really is not a reasonable, correct solution to your dilemma in one graphics card. I guess no one wanted to take the time to explain it to you. HOWEVER, all is not lost!
In your post, you stated that your budget for a graphics card is $300. In my opinion, the best solution for you is to buy two graphics cards. If you spend $100 on a Matrox G550 and $100-150 on a decent ATI or nVidia Gaming card, you will still be under your budget. Unfortunately, you'll have to switch between audio and gaming, but this gives you the best of both worlds. If you WERE to "settle" on a card to use for both audio and gaming, it would definately be lacking for one or the other, or both.
I know this is probably not what you wanted to hear, but it's the honest and complete answer to your question. I hope it helps you.

:c:

I'd go with ATI. The Radeon 8500 is actually faster than the 9000 (and geforce3 and geforce4MX) and comes in a few configurations. For example, mine has the standard d-sub output as well as s-video and DVI. I only paid $100 for it like 5 months ago so I imagine they're even cheaper now. I don't know how much it would cost in Sweden though.. but I'd take it over any Matrox board. Like Matrox, ATI is based in canada and offers a solid product. ATI is also very good with driver support and has a big tweaker crowd like nvidia. http://www.rage3d.com is a good place to start.

I have a dual display Geforce4 440MX on my anus at work and it performs very well. I haven't had any problems with it and its great for games and is well under your budget. Though I'd still recomend Matrox for DAWS for its proven performance in music, getting a card that is also good for games can be tricky sometimes. I use that anus daily so hopefully that will help you with your decision.

I would go the way SonOfSmawg mentioned, but whatever you do...thought I would mention that the P4PE agp does 1.5v cards only. Don't get a 3.3v although it sounds like you wouldn't anyways.

Good luck with your new anus!

Fother
Remember...these are DAW only and not video game machines...high intensive RAM based video cards can cause more PCI bandwidth soak than anything. In reality you should set your display bit depth to 16bits as well to lower it. It will take away performance die to video drawback issues.
If you want a gaming machine build one specifically for it. You can get a nice gaming machine for like 300-500 bucks!
Cheers
Opus

You can get a nice gaming machine for like 300-500 bucks!

Yeah, Opus is correct. Pick up a used Athlon machine (1 gig or more) for $2-300, throw in a $100 video card and extra RAM ... you'll be able to play 95% of the games very nicely.

My two cents, Stay away from ATI, I've read lots of posts on various forums regarding problems with the Rage and especially the All in Wonder cards. A lot depends on your motherboard and whatever software you're running. Go with Matrox or G-Force.
I found a G-450 dual head on EBay for 35 bucks. :D