Help find me a video card! (PCIE)

[EliteRetard]

So I built a mid-budget machine...but was using an integrated video solution due to the budget. The plan was to upgrade the video later...and thats what Im looking for now. But with all the massive ammounts of video cards out and many with the same performance and different names Im quite confused. I need a video card thats got performance to match or slightly beat the system Ive got now. Cheaper is better, unless I can spend 10$ more for a much better card. So onto the system specs:

Foxconn 6150 MOBO
AMD Opteron 146 at 2.5GHz
1x1GB Corsair DDR500 (will eventually upgrade to 2x1GB)
Thermaltake 430Watt PSU

250GB SATA HDD
Sony/NEC CD/DVD Drives

So theres X800s X700s X600s X1600s X1700s X1800s X1900s 6600s 6800s 7600s 7800s 7900s and all manner of cards in between with like 5 versions of each...thats like 50 cards I gotta choose from...and no benchmarks Ive found really properly compare them. Itd be awesome to just get a line chart starting at lowest performance up to the best. List ATI on one side and Nvidia on the other. Itd be kinda like a timeline...that would kick ass.

 

[A5]

The main determining factor is how much you want to spend - once you decide that, we can help you a lot more.

 

[Ika]

Looking at your system, it seems like your budget is around $250-$350. At the moment the best card for you would probably be a 7900GT, as those are MSRP $300 and have great performance. (if you feel adventurous, you can try turning up the vcore on them and clock them to beastie speeds).

 

[v8envy]

X1800XT or 7900GT for $300+
7600GT for $190-200

There are no longer any decent performers at the $150 pricepoint (rebates expired).

If you can stomach bottom-of-the-barrel, X1600Pro or 6600GT for ~$100 with or without rebate.

Your built in video is about the same level of performance as a vanilla 9600. Just about any discrete graphics from the previous two generations will be a step up. The question is, how much of a step up are you looking for and how much are you willing to pay. < $100 will not be a giant leap up, $100 should be good for last year's games, $200 should last you through this year, and $300 should do you for 2+ years.

 

[EliteRetard]

Lets just say for the moment price doesnt matter...I simply want to know whiuch card will best match my system. I dont need a card that is 14 times faster than my system can handle. From what I understand, the CPU is the biggest bottleneck at this time. Even an FX-60 cant keep up with current cards unless your running 4billion by 6million at 150Hz and 128bit color or something insane like that. Max resolution this system will be running is 1600x1200 but more likely 1280x1024. Currently the monitor is restricting it to 800x600 at 256 colors...but thats gonna get fixed soon too.

So yeah, which card matches the system? After a certain point Im sure better video cards wont offer any extra performance. Kinda like 4GB of RAM. Yeah I /could/ do it...but its a huge waste of money because it offers almost no performance boost over 2GB. So the same with video cards...can my system really benefit from an X1900XT or 7900GTX? Or will I see similar performance from something like a 7600 or X1600 ect?