9600 XT is best bang for your buck. Unless you go with the 9800 XT....
remember...XT is tha bomb. forget SE and Pro models.
With my 9600 XT
I play Doom3 on medium at 1024 x 768. (40-90 FPS)
I play CSS at 1024 x 768 on medium. (50-110 FPS)
course, if I had the moola, Id be looking into the x800 or GF6800....but, i have to plant the money tree first.
p.s.
If you get the Radeon, buy the Sapphire model. Sapphire actually build all ATI cards, so same quality at a cheaper price.