looking for a budget video card

I am trying to decide what video card would suit me best, I am looking for an Nvidia that will be good for gaming but not too spendy, I am getting an hp tommorow with a PCI-e slot and I plan to upgrade this february when I egt birthday money, I am also wondering, is 256 mb necessary? cards with 256 mb seems to be a lot more expensive than cards with 128mb.I want to play games like hl2 WOW halo CoD2 F.E.A.R and Bf2

 

i am also comfused about the connection, what kind of a connection on the video card do i need and what should I look for in an LCD monitor, my grandparents are helping me cover teh cost of the lcd but it needs to be somewhat cheap, I will probably get a 17" what type of connection is best and what will it be compatable with is mostly what ia m trying to figure out.

 

any suggestions?