Need new video card - help!

[Lizagna]

My fiance and I are currently playing Rift. We got him a new computer a few months ago and now we need to upgrade his video card (he gets horrible lag when more than 3 guys are around). Can you recommend a good one that will run the game smoothly and fit in his computer? Our budget is $200-400.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Here is his computer specs:

Acer AX3400-U4032

Processor (speed, L2 cache, FSB)
AMD Athlon™ II X4 Quad-Core Processor 645
(3.1GHz, 2MB Total cache)

Preloaded Operating System
Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Video Graphics
NVIDIA® GeForce® 9200 Chipset

Hard Drive
1TB SATA Hard Drive (Green Product - variable RPM)

Memory
6144MB DDR3 Dual-Channel SDRAM Memory

Maximum Memory
Expandable to 8GB

Optical Drive
16X DVD±R/RW SuperMulti Drive

Keyboard
USB Keyboard and Optical Mouse

Sound Solution
High-Definition Audio support with 5.1 Channel Output

Integrated Communications
10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 port)
802.11b/g/n Wireless

Security
McAfee® Internet Security Suite Trial

System Weight
19 lbs.

System Dimensions
13.62 (H) x 7.48 (W) x 20.79 (L) inches

Limited Warranty
1 Year Parts and Labor Limited Warranty with Toll Free Tech Support

Included Software
Acer eRecovery Management, Adobe® Flash® Player, Adobe® Reader®, eSobi™, McAfee® Internet Security Suite Trial, Microsoft® Office Starter 2010, Microsoft® Office 2010 preloaded (purchase a product key to activate), Nero® 9 Essentials, Acer Arcade Deluxe, Wild Tangent Game Zone, Netflix

Interfaces
9 - USB 2.0 Ports (5 Front, 4 Rear), 1 - HDMI Port, 1 - eSATA Port, 1 - VGA Port, 1 - High-Definition Headphone Jack, 1 - High-Definition Microphone Jack, 2 - PS2 Ports (Keyboard and Mouse), 5 - Audio Ports, 1 - Ethernet RJ-45 Port

Expansions

Total Available
1 - PCI-E x1 0 - PCI-E x1
1 - PCI-E x16 1 - PCI-E x16

[Dizey]

Ouch, should have come here before you bought the computer. I wouldn't invest too much more into that system. Keep it around $150 or less IMHO.

Something like:
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=554...r&promoid=1297
or
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=639...X&promoid=1297

Make sure a decent gaming graphics card will fit in the system first. The case looks pretty small. You'll also want to make sure your power supply is sufficient. You may have to explore some smaller cards. If I were in your scenario, I would probably just sell the system on craigslist or something to recoup some of the costs, then purchase/build a more suitable gaming system.

[vesseblah]

Big problem with that computer and all other PCs that are using slim cases is that you simply can not fit a regular graphics card inside. Only way to make the upgrade would be bying new case and power supply and transplant stuff from your current computer to the new case. Then you can fit in new graphics card.

Edit:

This is the most powerful graphics card you can physically stick into the current case. It's pretty damn expensive considering the gaming power, and not really recommended purchase.

[Dizey]

I dunno if i would put a 560ti in that system Vess. It's sorely underpowered for an MMORPG already.

Nothing wrong with a 460 either. Little more power draw, but meh. I put the 6850 there too!

[vesseblah]

I dunno if i would put a 560ti in that system Vess. It's sorely underpowered for an MMORPG already.

Not really that far behind Phenom II x4 955. Anyway, edited my post quite a lot after checking the computer details.

[Nellah]

The computer is a slim tower, neither of those cards will fit. He'll need something tagged "Low Profile", which really cuts the options down to cards that also qualify as "shitty", "overpriced", "hot", and "loud". Or "slow" if you want to avoid the last two.

EDIT: That 5570 is not the best card, though, by far. Lemme find a better one.

EDIT 2: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127585. HD 6570, $75. A bit more looking into it would have shown you a 5570 for about $60, not that $179 monster. I saw a low profile GTS450 once, but it appears they took it down, apparently it had some pretty bad heat/noise problems.