LF a new video card

[noobcpujunky]

Hi everyone! I am about to finally upgrade my graphics card! FINALLY! I have been researchign and searching for the right one, but I have to admit, all the info i've taken in has scrambled my eggs. I honestly can't tell which card to go for!

My mobo is a Gigabyte board. The model number is GA-MA74GM-S2.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128342
I have 4 gb's of ram installed.
My processor is as follows-
2.20 gigahertz AMD Phenom 9500 Quad-Core
256 kilobyte primary memory cache
512 kilobyte secondary memory cache
64-bit ready
Multi-core (4 total)
Not hyper-threaded
I'm using a very generic 430w psu. It is not certified at any level but it is holding it's own for now and has been for a while.
I have a PNY 8500GT card installed. I got it from a local Best Buy for about $50 maybe just over 5 years ago. Just recently, with the newer wave of games have I had to drop the settings all the way to low. I'm impressed it has lasted as long as it has!
I've been seriously looking at the XFX 7750 card.
http://www.amazon.com/XFX-DisplayPort-PCI-Express-FX775AZNP4-FX-775A-ZNP4/dp/B007Z3T5JC/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1362710522&sr=1-2&keywords=xfx+7770
But after what Ive read and seen as far as benchmarking today I have to wonder if I would be better off grabbing an older card. Like a 6790HD? It seems that they do out perform a lot of cards that are being produced now. Or would I be better off going up to a 7780 or should i stick with Nvidia and their 600 class cards?
I have about $150 to spend.I'll go a little higher if it is needed. But I want to stick to the 150 ball park. I play a lot of WoW, CoD and I generally check out just about every game I can. I've noticed a lot of frame rate loss while raiding in some encounters and well that dosent just hurt me, it hurts the team! Im not expecting to run everything on Ultra settings with max AA but I would like to get close to it.
I understand the aging architecture of my cpu and mobo will cause some bottlenecks here and there. I do plan to upgrade those components in late spring. So, since Im asking you experts, another question has arisen in my mind, would it be ok to get a "better" card that my current config wont even be able to truly take advantage of?
Im sorry for my long winded post, I'm just at a road block. Thank you guys so much, in advance, for your time and experience!

 

[hizodge]

That motherboard is what PCI-E 1.1? What century is it from? Before the Mayans?

Honestly I'm not even sure if today's cards would be compatible with that thing. I have heard that Nvidia's lower end cards in the GTX 600 series can be used with PCI-E 1.1 while some of AMD's HD 7000 series cards can not.

If so, this is pretty much what I'd recommend for you.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127710

 

[4745454b]

You can't run most of the older generation cards due to your PSU. You can try a 7750 but your CPU and possibly your motherboard are going to hold you back.