Buying a Video Card

[Ginger_Ale]

Recently I got a good chunk of money for Christmas, and I have some stored away to spend. Since Civ4 runs pretty badly on my computer, I want to upgrade it and replace my old nVIDIA GeForce2 MX 400, 64 MB, with a new one. This is where you guys come in...I don't know much about buying video cards. I've heard some good things about the GeForce 6600 and GeForce 6800, and I'd like to stay with the GeForce series. Are those any good? My budget if you guys have any other suggestions (I'll probalby get it off of NewEgg), is around $150 maximum, give or take $25.

My other specs:
1.8 GHz P4
256 MB RAM (later I'll upgrade this hopefully)
nVIDIA GeForce2 MX 400

Thanks.

 

[Gainy]

GeForce 6600GT AGP. I really doubt your motherboard has a PCI-E slot, so don't even bother with that.
Very good performance for a relatively low price. Should be a little over $100.

 

[BriantheBold]

If you want to stick with the Nvidia GeForce series the 6600 GT AGP is probably your best bet in that $125-175 price range. Also I have a ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 256mb and a Dell 20 inch 2005 FPW LCD monitor that often has graphical glitches even with ATI's newest patch for the Radeon series and the newest Civ IV patch.
Nvidia is a better choice for Civ IV and the framerates you will achieve with the 6600 GT will far surpass your GeForce 2 MX 64mb. Remember, MX is Nvidia's way of saying crap.