Need a graphics card

I recently bought a new desktop on a budget having read on the display that the graphics card was a GeForce 8200 running at 1024MB, I believed this and didn't think to question it and proceeded to buy Empire Total War and ARMA II which are both so slow as to be almost unplayable.
When I tried to update my drivers Nvidia told me I had a GeForce 9200 and yougamers.com marked this at 256MB or less.
Obviously feeling pretty hacked off both with myself for not researching better and at the shop for misinforming me, can anyone suggest a cheapish card that might be able to run both of these games to a decent standard.
So far i've been taken by a BFG 9500 for £50 on Amazon, is this any good?
Help would be greatly appreciated!
Cheers

the 8200 is not a card but rather an integrated chip that offers basic graphic options. It will even struggle with basic computing on a larger resolution LCD (i've suffered through it)

the 9500GT is a basic entry gaming card and will run those games at low settings

ARMA II needs a solid GPU
http://www.yougamers.com/gameometer/10346/

as does Empire Total War
http://www.yougamers.com/reviews/2 [...] war-page5/

some answered questions will help us out recommending a card for you
your CPU
your power supply
the resolution of your monitor

what about your power supply? or at least the make and model of your PC.

model number?

im guessing its this one

http://www.buy.com/prod/acer-aspir [...] 85927.html

if it is, you have a slimline PC with a 220w PSU

your graphic options are rather limited

look for a low profile ATI 4550, the card itself draws just 20w. You would have to lower all the settings in the games you mentioned in order to play them but it will be better then the 8200 you currently have.

two examples (make sure they come with the low profile bracket also)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102819

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814121306

OUCH this Acer thing only have a 220W PSU ....

Acer.com X3200

Well you cant really go anywhere with this. The better card this can power is a 9500gt/9600gso but this PSU gona get hot and this is going to reduce its lifespan.

PLUS you CPU is ... SLOW. NM if its a quad, 1.8ghz is slow. If you think of gaming with this youll need to upgrade few parts. ( PSU/CPU/GPU )

have fun !

You should forget it. If you are to spend more than the computer in additionnal parts, maybe you should wait and buy yourself a whole PC at 500$ or 600$. (around £350... I think)