your config looks normal as far as performance impacting features go however i have no idea why the intel_agp module would not load. what logs do you get when you manually modprobe it?
i should not post to a forum when being disgruntled/distracted by another issue, i'll check again and provide useful data feedback.
I believe since my initial post i had noticed two things and made small progress
1. the stock ubuntu kernel loads a video module which i've not seen on my own vanilla+grsec build 2. i (believe i) remember intel_agp is now loading but the i915 driver is still reporting blahblah 'no device found'