Which Video Card card should I get?

Question

See, I was looking around on the internet when I found what I thought to be a very nice video card on eBay. It is a VisionTek Xtasy Radeon X1300 for PCI: http://cgi.ebay.com/VisionTek-ATI-RADEON-X1300-256MB-PCI-VIDEO-CARD-NR_W0QQitemZ220032676901QQihZ012QQcategoryZ80184QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I thought it was a very nice video card, seeing that it had 256mb of DDR2 memory, and the reviews on CircuitCity.com were good, too. However, when I went onto CNET reviews, it said that it wasn't good for gaming. Now, on the other hand, It's supposed to be able to run games like Doom 3 and Battlefield 2 at high resolutions and detail with a good FPS rating. CNET says it is mediocre, even with a low end card. Or should I just go for an Radeon 9250 with 256mb of memory, or something from nVidia? Really, I want something that will run Vista with a rating higher than 3 and run Battlefield 2 really well.

Radeon X1300 256mb DDR2
Radeon 9250 256mb
nVidia same/better (with good price or on ebay)

Not PCI Express, just PCI.

Answer 1

Well that is the best card you can get for PCI, so that is really your only option. The 9250 is a big step down from the x1300. This card is not a high end card, but there is no PCI card made that will run Battlefield 2 on the highest settings, so this is your best bet until you get a new computer.

Answer 2

If youre a serious gamer you might want to consider a card with at least 256 megs and pixel shader architecture. Some of the newer games require this feature. If money isnt an object, go for 512 megs of ram. This should keep you game happy for a couple years at least.

Answer 3

i have a 7800gt pci express Nvidia card and it is awesome for gaming, it runs fear, oblivion etc... with no problems, and its not that expensive newegg.com