slow ubuntu 10.04

[James]

Hi Guys

it seems that somewhere after my last set of updates my system has 
slowed dramatically, e.g. it can take a minute or more to switch between 
applications. My googling has lead me to believe it's related to an nVidea 
based graphic card on the system which if I check shows the 173 driver 
active. I do have all visual effects turned off. I forget if the card is based 
on a series 6 or 7 geforce chip but I should be able to figure that out 
when I can take a closer look or is there another way I can get the 
specifics in the system itself? Also any ideas how to make it snappier. I'm 
actually considering buying a non nVidea based card to replace and am 
also wondering what probs I may run into there. My local computer store 
has an ATI 3650 and I don't think I've heard of any caveats with ATI cards 
so maybe that would make a good replacement if it comes to that?

James