You might want to look into a Firewire capture device. While USB ones suck badly, Firewire ones tend to be very good due to the explosion of firewire products for the Mac. Dig around for some reviews on Mac sites, and check and see if it will also work on the PC side (most do). That way you have a decent capture device, and the ease of plugging cables in without having to reach behind the system.

As far as medium range video cards, just pick up one aimed at a gamer, with a price tag of $150ish. Should be an excellent card for gaming, but nothing overly powerful.

And wait about three or so weeks on the video card if you can...