I'm in a similar situation. I want to spend about $200 on a card. I like games, but I'm not crazy enough to spend $300-400 on a high end card like the 9800.
I've been doing some research on this board: [url]http://www.hardforum.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=3[/url] and there is some really good info.
Especially check out this thread for beginners: [url]http://www.hardforum.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=3[/url]
I'm not sure how accurate that guy is, but he basically lists all the cards in order regarding performance. It also lists the prices, and he makes suggestions for the best card for $100, $150, $200, $300, etc...
Seems like in the $200 range, the guys on that board are split about 50/50 between the Radeon 9600XT 128 meg card and the Geforce FX 5900 (non-Ultra) 128 meg card.
To me it seems like the Geforce card is faster, but some guys are arguing that the Radeon will be better for future games like Halflife2 and Doom3. It's hard to weed through all the brand loyalty shit, it's kind of like the old Colt vs. Bushmaster arguments.
Keep in mind that different card makers make the 9600XT and the 5900NU (NU=non-ultra), so so the prices and quality will vary.
To compare prices, check out: [url]http://www.pricewatch.com/[/url]
And to check the rating of online stores: [url]http://www.resellerratings.com/[/url]
Hope this helps, it's a lot of reading...