pretty new to all this, jsut got a new computer,

amd 4200 x2
gig of ram

and i gota ATI radion x700 pro

i want to be able to play COD2 online with at least medium settings and such but im only getting 17-20 fps, .. even with the settings all the way down i get only 22 maybe

all at 1440x900 res

i was told this card should be fine, . but its sucking, .. is it how its set up? or is it the card?

i have 6 mor edays to return this card and get another, and willing to spend like anothe 100$ to make the total 250$ ... but theres so many cards out there and im new to this all so i dotn knwo how to compare them and get a better one?

is it the card? or somthing else

Well a card up from that would be the X800 or the Nvidia GeForce 6800GT
Here's a good review medium to high end cards: http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/01/05/squeezing_value_out_of_lower_end_cards/page5.html

I get around 32fps in COD2 with my 6600GT, OCed by 20%. But my res is 1024X768. Make sure you have the latest Radeon drivers and DX9.0c.
Here's a guide to COD2 tweaks which can help maximize performance :http://www.tweakguides.com/COD2_9.html

Get the Geforce 6800gs you will like the increase in power from your x700. ;)