When Francis Jeffers put Town ahead on four minutes an easy win looked on the cards, but the visitors came back strongly and deservedly levelled through Paul Parry eight minutes before the break.
The second half had gone into a lull before substitute Jon Walters came on midway through it and within seconds he had put Town ahead and he supplied another neat finish later to seal the points.
Ipswich started strongly with Alex Bruce missing with an unmarked header from a corner inside two minutes, but they led two minutes later when an offside-looking Jeffers ran onto Owen Garvan's through ball to score off the post.
Cardiff were in no mood to lie down though and launched numerous shots at the Ipswich goal, although Shane Supple coped relatively easily with most of those which were on target.
Ipswich were content to attack on the break, with one such move ending with former Cardiff forward Alan Lee shooting across goal from a Jaime Peters pass, while Gary Roberts appealed in vain for a penalty after a challenge from Darren Purse.
However, a Cardiff equaliser always seemed on the cards and it duly arrived on 37 minutes when Warren Feeney's cross to the far post saw Parry rise above Dan Harding to nod back across goal and in.
Ipswich almost regained the lead immediately, only for Kevin McNaughton to clear Fabian Wilnis' header off the line from a Gavin Williams corner.
Ipswich began the second half as they had the first in lively fashion with Lee heading wide from a far-post Garvan free-kick, then being denied by a diving David Forde and then Wilnis sent an overhead effort wide from a Roberts corner.
At the other end, Parry again got the better of Harding before sending in a low shot which Supple parried and Wilnis hacked away.
Forde denied Wilnis after Bruce headed down a Garvan free-kick, but Town went ahead on 68 minutes - seconds after Walters had come on for Lee - with the striker converting a Garvan pass from close range.
Peter Whittingham saw an angled shot saved by Supple and then his effort from the rebound was blocked by Bruce as Cardiff tried to rally again.
They were a beaten side 11 minutes from time though when another neat Ipswich passing move saw Garvan sweep a cross-field ball to Peters, who squared for Walters to neatly side-step Purse's attempted block to net.
Forde saved a Danny Haynes flicked header and a Peters angled shot as Ipswich finished strongly, giving hope to their fans for next season, while Cardiff will also be hoping for a better campaign next time around.
External Reports
South Wales Echo