On card memory gets to be important due to this simple calculation. If you're using a 1024x1024 texture that's 1 million pixels. Times 16, 24 or 32 bits of color per pixel gives 16, 24 or 32 MB of texture. As long as your textures fit on the card you'll tend to get faster rendering (if your hardware and software setup can take full advantage of the card). If the textures are larger than available memory the card will swap as needed but it will slow it down some. Can't lose by getting the most memory possible on the card. If you're going to be doing large scenes with a lot of texturing then go for more system RAM, especially now that it's dirt cheap, and then go for CPU speed. Check out the newsgroups on motherboards and videocards and search on your combinations. Helped me decide which CPU, motherboard and card combination to go with my last upgrade.