I'm in need of a new video card, my 8800GTS 320mb is dying.  My budget is in the 200-280 dollar range.
 
I play at 16x10 when possible, I have a widescreen display.  So what would be best for my money?  I was looking at a 9600gt 1gb version, but would that outperform an 8800 g92 512mb?

The 8800 G2 512mb is faster.

So the 1gb on the 9600gt wont overcome the better power of a lower memory 512mb 8800 g82?

Let me put it another way.  Link your suggestion for a ~250$ card that will work best at high resolutions.  

512MB 8800GTS > 1GB 9600GT.
 
Take a look at the 8800GT compared in it's 256MB, 512MB, and 1GB versions: http://en.expreview.com/2007/12/30 [...] %EF%BC%9F/
 
Go for the 8800GTS G92. 16x10 isn't high res, but even 19x12 the GTS would be better.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814134037
 

 
Make sure it really is your video card thats failing and not another component in your system (psu, motherboard etc)

Out of curiosity why is your GTS 320mb dying?
 
Tom's have done benchmarks on all of the above mentioned cards. Just follow them and read the articles "Best cards for your money".
 
Everything you need is in there.

I think you should wait fro the 4870 and the 9900s, then price will drop.

Yeah I am curious, what is wrong with your 8800GTS 320?  It should be a decent card for a little yet.
 
If you do replace it, just get an 8800GTS/512  the 1GB cards don't really add any performance but come in handy at VERY high resolutions, nothing else.  

The problem with the 8800GTS 320 is that games crash randomly after 20-60 minutes of play.  Sometimes it bluescreens and the computer reboots, the bluescreen error is with nv_disp with an 0x0000008ea error code.  Other times the games just suffers from severe articfacting and then freezes.  When I alt tab out to the desktop it is in like 256 color mode and 640x480 res or worse.  
 
The temps are all normal.  Memtest runs just fine.  HD has no problems.  

Updated the drivers?

What Power Supply are you running?  
 
Yeah doesn't sound to good. The artifacts pretty much give it away.  You could always try uninstalling and reinstalled new drivers. I assume you did that already.

You sure you got enough virtual memory?

Im guessing you dont want to fix the old card cause you need the excuse to buy a new one? (Thats how I justify purchases)

 
Good point. Deserves an LOL!

I've tried everything I can think of, I made a thread about it on this forum titled "video crash at least once a day".  
 
I tried different drivers, I have enough virtual memory (double what my RAM is).  I forget the exact model of the PSU but its an Antec PSU 550w.  I would love to fix this card but I can't find a way to do so.   Im opened to suggestion.  Im not keen on spending another ~250 on a card that will barely be an upgrade from what I curretly have.
 
At the moment Im running the latest nvidia drivers, winxp pro sp2, a64 4200+ x2, 1gb (512x2) mushkin memory, 250gb WD sata 7200rpm HD, my virtual ram is 4gb (4x my RAM size which should be plenty, maybe even too much).  If I left out anything else important please let me know.
 

Well, from what I have read the G92 chip WOULD be a pretty big jump for you.
 
If you are certain its the GPU, and your budget is tight, the 8800GT can be had for about $180, and you will not be dissappointed.
 
Your entire system is aging (I just replaced a very similar set up because it just wasnt as stable as it used to be. Might be worth saving your pennies and taking a leap to some new technology!

Yeah an 8800GTS/512 wouldn't just be a small jump for you, it was be a VERY noticeable difference.  My 8800GTS just spanks my old x1900xtx OCed out the wazzo. And that would be just lightly under what you currently have going on.

As mentioned your system could use a little updating.  You should really get at least 2GB of RAM, that will REALLY help in current games. DDR2 800 memory is SO cheap its retarded. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820146565

Also, I would look at Overclocking that 4200+ they can usually be bumped up pretty well over their stock clock. That will also give you a nice increase.

the 8800GTS/512 is $250 or under for certain brands and some have rebates.  You can always go for an 8800gt which will give you very similar performance on a budget. You can get an eVGA 8800GT for $160 after rebate, which would still STOMP your current card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130318
I like this MSI one with the sweet cooler and OC
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814127329

I am planning on updating my system in the next few months.  I will be using whatever card I get in the new system as well.  I wanted to be able to take my current card to the new system but it doesn't look like thats going to happen.  
 
I'd love to be able to take my card and test it in a freinds system but I just dont think thats going to happen

Yeah testing it would be the best choice.  Can you make the card fail? or do you have to play several hours to cause it to stop working?  Maybe a local computer show would be willing to test, but you know they will charge you like $20