I've been trying to figure these things for quite some time now, and I've gotten a little more than nowhere. When I try searching the internet for information, I end up finding people trying to sell me things. I've seen smart people that know far more than me comment in these forums, so I figured someone might be able to help me.

Here's my issue:
So I go out to buy a game, like Galactic Civilizations II for instance. There's a set of minimum requirements and recomended requirements. Recomended is something like, wait lemme find the box, a 128MB Directx 9.0c compatible graphics card. So I go out and purchase a 128MB graphics card. Yet, when I install the card, the integrated graphics on the computer worked better than the card. Why is this?  

I've noticed that the integrated graphics work better on other games, too.
The graphics card is a GeForce MX 4000 PCI Graphics card, 128MB DDR.

So did I just waste money by buying a cruddy card, perhaps I made a common mistake when I installed the card. Maybe there are just some things I don't know.
Oh, and if it is a cruddy card, which ones are better, and how does one know the difference?

Thank you for anyone who replied to this thing, whether you know things or not. If you have questions about my post that need clarification, I won't be able to answer them for the rest of the day (It's currently 10am where I am). I have to be at work in an hour. But I will return.