How good is this gpu card?

Hi, I am planing to build a new system, soon with these components:

core 2 duo E6600
2 gigs of DDR2 Ram 800 (5-5-5-12) Corsair xms2
Asus P5w dh Deluxe
saphire radeon x850xt
Thermaltake Purepower 480 W (18A)PSU
windows XP Home Retail

I wanted the system to last me atleast 4 years maby with a ram upgrade(ofcourse ill replace the x850xt for a dx10 card)

I was wondering how doog is the gpu card? I m planing to get one of the new dx10 cards later on when they come out(with a new psu, or an aditional sloted psu just for the gpu), and the madnes about them "cools" down a bit(especially the prices), but for now i m getign the x850xt , i was wondering:
-how well does it perform, i know it does not have shader model 3.0 , will that be a major drawback
-what games use it
-what games will i be able to play with relatively high quality? my max lcd resolution is 1280x1024
-for those who have this card, what would You say about it in relation to gaming?

Thank You for all replies.

thx i was planing to finaly be able to "really" play some nice games, even with the x850xt while i await the dx10 cards, will i be able to play battlefield 2, battlefield 2142, fear, battle for middle earth 2, far cry, and such games on high visuals with this card, and the mentioned setup? just curious

Yes.

sweet , i might even stay with that card for a litle bit longer than i thought

in reply to prozac26: o.ok ,I thought that there might have been some advantages to the mobo over the others.

i would thnk the 480 is more than enough to power that system. that should do well until early next year when the next gen cards hae been out for a couple of months or so.

thank You for the info