which graphics card to get???

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127304

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127295



lower memory, but faster speeds, or higher memory, but lower speeds?

 

I would go with the oc version. it has active cooling instead of a heat sink that relies solely on your pc's air flow

 

I would recommend getting the one with 512 ram (better performance).

 

If the choice MUST be one of those two cards, I also recommend the overclocked card, especially if your PC has 1gb RAM or better. But for $15 more, you can get this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127293
or this (same card as above, but over-clocked) for $20 more than the 8500s:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127286
IMO the difference in performance between an 8500 and 8600 makes the 8600 an EXCELLENT value. There's a 512mb 8600GT at Egghead made by a company I've never heard of (Apollo) but the price is right:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814140089

 

I tracked down this Apollo company.... their home page is http://www.apollovcard.com/
And here's a link to the spec sheet for the card I mentioned above http://www.apollovcard.com/Products...IDIA_GEFORCE_8600GT_GDDR2_512MB&infotype=spec