Q: or GDDR3 or some other superior type of RAM which I couldn't use DIMM's of to install directly into my mobo? like: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133205 or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130315
A: Yes the memory on the GPU and on the motherboard are completely independent. all you have to worry about is if your motherboard has PCI-express. The PCI-express v2.0 card should work with any PCI-express slot (it is backward compatible). Modern GPUs do not have any memory upgrade capability so you don't have to worry about that. go for the faster memory card gddr3, budget permitting :)