Is it worth "upgrading" to this card?

BTW heres a website I used to compare the video cards. SOme of you might find it useful. http://www.gpureview.com/show_card [...] &card2=519

When I run dxdiag It says Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz (2CPUs) (Not sure if that means I have a dual core)
2.5 gigs DDR PC3200 RAM
130 gig seagate harddrive
Asus P4P800-SE motherboard

You likely have a Pentium 4 630 or 631, with Hyper Threading.

The x1950PRO would be a great upgrade, and would allow you to play modern games at reasonable settings. I would almost recommend the HD 2600XT, but, it's not going to be as big of an upgrade...it was a lot for me when I went from an x800GT to it, but maybe not from an x850...

You in all likelihood have a P4 Northwood that has "hyperthreading" which provides a 2nd 'virtual core'. Hyperthreading does help for applications that are written to take advantage of it. Doom 3, for instance, makes use of it and while not the equivalent to a true 2nd core, does provide a 16% boost in frame rates for this game. The key clue to which processor you have is in the memory. I can't remember if there were very many motherboards made for 5XX and 6XX series of Intel processors that used DDR memory - most of these transitioned over to DDR2.

The 1950 Pro cards are scarce as "hens teeth". If you can wait just a little longer you may be able to purchase one of these:

http://www.powercolor.com/Global/p [...] uctID=1730

VisionTek is also rumored to release a 3850 version as well. The 1950 GT (or the Pro) would not hold a candle to the 3850, but on the other hand, the GT is available today. The price will probably be $20-30 higher than the PCIe variant, as it must include the Realto bridge chip to translate code from the PCIe native interface to AGP.

Good luck in your quest...

Oh, in terms of whether or not it's worth the upgrade, look at this former Tom's article:

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/0 [...] age10.html

The 1950 Pro made a difference for a 2.5 Athlon, and an even bigger difference for a 3.4 Ghz Athlon.

Add $20-30 to what you can buy a PCIe 3850 for, and this should get you in the ballpark, possibly around $200, but it would be worth it compared to what a "third party" 1950 Pro is selling for on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-lis [...] dition=all

DO IT! GET IT! GT

Found another 1950 Pro, but it's still too much...

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna [...] u=A0948347

The 3850 would still be hard to beat...if you can wait...otherwise jump on the GT. I, personally, would wait. And, the 386X varieties are coming as well, though not as powerful and the 3850.