I don't game but I use a large 22" LCD at 1600 x 1050 and my main use is to scroll through large PDFs and other files.. I really don't want ANY sluggishness with any graphics effects on the screen (like special effects when windows move etc but most importantly, scrolling any PDF document, no delays in rendering pages etc).

My budget is around $50 - $60. I really want Nvidia and not ATI (too many problems with my Ubuntu system).

Should I be look at memory (256 MB vs 512 MB?) or should I be looking at the number (6800 vs 7xxxx vs 8500/ 8600 ?) or the clock speed or something else?

Thanks!

The rest of my system - Q6600 with 2 GB of memory on a Gigabyte board (P35-DS3R)

If you don't mind mail in rebates you can get an 8600GT with 256MB of DDR3 for about $50 which should be more than enough for what you want.

An 8400GS will handle that with no problems.

Low end Geforce 8 series will be enough.

Main thing is to avoid the GF6 & 7 series due to less options available to you for now and in the future.

I assume you already have the mobo, if not, get a g45 board and skip the graphics card all together

Thanks for those replies!

I'm now sure that I'll add a second 22" LCD @ 1600x1050 in the coming months.. I understand the 8 series is recommended but can someone tell me if the memory is important for such high resolution on 2 LCDs?

Is the clock speed only important for fast games?

What does quick rendering of large PDFs require?

Any of those mentioned will be more than enough for your purposes. The best performing card that's in your $50-60 price range would be hd3650. Although it's an overkill.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102726