Upgrading to a 9600GT

[tutipute]

I currently have the XFX 8600GTS XXX edition (which is OC from the factory):
http://www.xfxforce.com/web/product/...tionId=1062796

I considering buying the XFX 9600GT XXX:
http://www.xfxforce.com/web/product/...tionId=2037704

Which runs 2GHz/700MHz! (Memory/Core)

Was wondering:
1. I am a fan of XFX which usually provides good performance at a decent price, can anyone recomend an alternative?
I've noticed the eVGA card:
http://www.evga.com/products/moreinf...512-P3-N867-AR
Which runs at 1.95GHz/740Mhz and retails at 219US$.

2. I've noticed that the 9800 series is about to be released at the end of the month:
http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/03/..._got_9800_gx2/
and though i am definitely not going to purchase one, i was wondering on the effect it usually have on the price of the X600GT (9600GT in my case) series.

Thanks a lot! Best of luck!

[clocker]

I think the 8800GT > 9600GT.

See here.

Since they are both in the same price range, the 8800 seems like the better deal.

[Detale]

I just got the Evga 8800 GT and I think its great, as i understand it it has a lifetime warranty too.

[kondrae]

BFG is another really good vga maker. i bought i defective 6800gt off ebay once and got it replaced with a 7800gt no questions asked. + msi, evga, pny are all reliable companies

[tutipute]

I think the 8800GT > 9600GT.

See here.

Since they are both in the same price range, the 8800 seems like the better deal.

Thanks for the help!
Yeah, the 8800GT and 9600GT go around the same price (9600GT is slightly cheaper). The 8800GT slightly ourperformes the 9600GT:
http://www.crysis-online.com/forum/i...3059.msg321149

However, i would not invest in a former generation (Unless its a 200$ GTX card... ).

The 3870 is also out of the question since it doesn't deliver the goods nor has a significant difference in price. The only advantage it has over Nvidia cards is the HDMI output which is now part of the 9xxx series.

Looks like i'm treating myself with a VGA card...

My only worry is that as i can recall when the 8xxx series came out it was first the 88xx series then the 86xxx/85xxx/84xx (Which had an advantage over the 88xx, at that time, since it provided H264 hardware decoding acceleration which the 88xx did not).
I do not remember how it was for the 6xxx/5xxx series...
If anyone does recall, i would be happy to understand the effect it had on the price of the slower series.

Thanks again!