I was all set to get my 8800GTS when I read a little about the 9600GT and decided that it would be a better price point for me. Anyone feel stongly that the 8800GTS is THAT MUCH better than the 9600GT? When i checked new egg i saw that they had a combo deal with Kingston Ram, is this ram okay? Would this ram/mobo/vid card combo all play together nicely for a mid range gaming machine?

EVGA 512-P3-N862-AR Superclocked GeForce 9600GT Superclocked 512MB 256-bit GDDR3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130328

Kingston HyperX 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820104001

ABIT IP35V LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813127034

Thanks for the input.

I don't know, reading toms comparison review of the 9600 with the 8800 gt left me awfully happy that I went ahead and got an 8800GTS. the 8800gt beat the 9600 in almost EVERYTHING.

Yeah... but are those performance gains enough to justify spending ~$320 for a good 8800gts over ~$170 for the 9600gt ?

in the long run, i think so... how long do you want to keep the PC for? alternatively you could just drop down to the 8800GT...

well i am hopefully keeping it for awhile, I would like an EVGA card so I was thinking maybe start with 9600gt and see how i like it, then i could step-up to the 8800gts/gtx if needed.

8800gts 512mb can be had for $260-270 after rebate, while the 8800gt 512mb can be had for about $200 after rebate. $170 for a 9600gt is not worth it IMO, maybe $150.

i agree... rather, go for the GTS, and step up from that... think of it this way; what's $60 when you're buyign something that will last for several years?