Upgrading my graphics card

[FakeCheese]

Okay, just before Xmas this year I built my first ever PC. I'd like to be gaming on at least medium settings on games like BF3 and the like but i have to have everything on low to run it. I'm unsure if its my crappy old monitor OR my graphics card. I'm upgrading both anyway soon so can you recommend me the best graphics card for about £150-£300.
My current setup is:
Intel core I5 unlocked
AsRock p67 Extreme 4 socket 115
GeForce GTX 550 Ti
8GB of dual channel 1600Hz ram (4+4)
1 TB of storage
and an old crap monitor that uses a VGA cable.
Is it my graphics card slowing me down or my monitor and whats the best for that price range.
Thanks for your time.

 

[unksol]

the only monitor spec that will affect your fps is resolution.

a 7850,7950,or GTX670 would all do very well at 1080p

 

[Chainzsaw]

Hello,

Yes that 550TI is a weak card. If you do get another card, you will need to make sure to get a new LCD screen as well so you can have a direct digital connection. Analog to digital conversions are a mess.

I don't know much about euro pricing, but i think your budget is pretty good. What resolution do you plan on gaming at? That will help us narrow down what you require.

Tale a look at the chart here:

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2012-vga-gpgpu/13-Battlefield-3-DirectX-11-B-Performance,2968.html

I would say a Radeon 7870 Ghz edition would give you a healthy boost over your current GPU.

What tech shops are available for you? If you can - just look at the chart - and compare the prices of the GPU's for the online tech shop.

 

[FakeCheese]

Thanks for the replies, I've been away recently but now I'm back I can tell you that in $ my budget off the top of my head would be about $225-$450 if the exchange rate an average of 1.5. I'm for sure going to get a new monitor with the new card as I discovered a few days ago the monitor is about 10 years old. I'll probably use scan.com or a like thing.

 

[Chainzsaw]

Whats the resolution of your old monitor?

Do you plan on getting another monitor?

Or are you just upgrading the GPU first and then think about a monitor later?