the best cheap graphics card for a media computer

[mr clark25]

i have a media computer setup with these specs:
pentium 4 @ 3.0ghz, with HT
4GB dual channel DDR 400 mhz RAM
radeon x300 graphics card
300w brand-name PSU

it has a pci express graphics slot.

currently running ubuntu 11.10, plan to upgrade to 12.04 when it comes out.

the radeon x300 is painfully slow. any video played in fullscreen at 1920x1080 is choppy. i blame poor drivers, but that card isnt exactly a good one.

i want to upgrade the graphics card so that i can play fullscreen 1080p videos, and some light gaming.

with it being a media computer, it needs to be quiet. fanless or somewhat quiet fans.

budget: about $40-50

the best card i can find is this nvidia geforce 520, which seems to be about the best deal:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121567

any thoughts or recommendations?

[kurt18947]

That looks pretty good to me. It doesn't have a fan which is a + in my book -- quieter and no risk of overheating due to fan failure. It seems AMD/ATI has gotten better Linux support but I'd still choose Nvidia. Here's a list of Nvidia chipsets supported by the latest 64 bit driver:

http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux-d...33-driver.html

[Lucradia]

You can use the NVIDIA GeForce 8600 series, and still perform as good as the PS3's older variants.