Hi There, First Post.
I'm looking to upgrade my build from a Donkeys old AMD 2600+ system to something a little newer.
With this comes the change to PCI-E.
So it's time to say goodbye to my 9800Pro 256Mb AGP Graphics card, and invest in something else.
 
I have 2 19" LG LCD Monitors (EDIT: on D-sub, the only inputs they have). They each have a native resolution of 1280x1024, and I don't plan on changing them for a while, yet (I do lots of Web Design, so I like the wiiiide desktop).
I do like to play some games, like C&C3 and a few others.
 
My question is, as I'm only going to be using the new graphics card for fairly low-res gaming (just on one screen), what are my best options?  
My budget's under £100 really.  
I bought a 7600GT for the mother in law to play Sims 2 at 1028x768, and that runs just beautifully. (See it here)
I thought something like that would do, but then I saw this Sparkle GeForce 8 here for just a little more.
 
Are there any other cards I should look at? And what should I look for when I've got a shortlist and need to choose one?

Well i would go for a X1950Pro if its not out of your budget. That 8500GT is a terrible performer.

nah for only casual gaming the X1950pro will be enough. And it's about £100 (in sweden). The gf8600 isn't that good at gaming compared to the x1950. Most x1950 offer two DVI ports. The only problem is that the x1950 is louder and warmer than gf8600. But overall I recommend he x1950 over gf8600.
 
If you want to wait a few weeks you might want to check how good the HD2600 is... maybe it's a better buy.

avoid the 86/5 series like the plague, get a 7900gs or a 1950pro/gt, personally, the 1950gt.

Is the amount of VRAM going to make a difference at the resolutions I'm looking at?
will 256Mb be enough, or would 512 be safer?

256mb should be sufficient for 1280x1024, especially for the games you are considering.

Agree. 256mb should be fine for that resolution.

I run my setup with an lcd monitor and lcdtv, both at 1280x1024 and my 6800gt (old i know) runs them both fine (I use clone mode most of the time)

Thanks for all your help, I'll certainly be looking into the X1950 Pro/GT with 256MB Vram.
 
Cheers!