Help me buy a video card...

[blkmgc]

Don't mean to throw you off your choice BUT........ I slapped a Egva 7600GT (Newegg - $69 after rebate) into my new homebuilt and I'm more than happy with it. You might want to check this card out in Tom's Hardware vs the 9600 and see what you get for the extra $100

Yup, you'd be better off with the 7600GT or 7950 . The 9600 and the 8600 are the "next gen" FX 5500 that you would buy real cheap at Best Buy. My wifes rig has a 7600 GT and runs COD4 and RO on full effects and graphics (1600x1150). About te only advantage I see with the 8800 GT is the obvious increase in FPS , and the ability to turn the AA and other effects up without sacrificing and frames.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

8800GS is $100 after MIR now. It's nearly as fast as a 9600GT.

[BaldEagl]

8800GS is $100 after MIR now. It's nearly as fast as a 9600GT.

I'd guess the 9600 GT is a lot faster than the 8800 GS.

Here's the memory bandwidth (a good indicator of performance) on the various 9600 GT's from the EVGA site:

62.4 GB/s-60.8 GB/s-57.6 GB/s-57.6 GB/s

Here's the memory bandwidth for the various 8800 GS's:

45.6 GB/s-38.4 GB/s

Possibly why the 9600 is more expensive?

[MrRiplEy[H]]

The 8800 GS is faster than the ati 3850 but cheaper. It's slightly slower than a 9600GT but also a lot cheaper. So if money is tight, a 8800GS is an option to think for.