Building new system, recommended video card?

I just sold my old system, my card was an 8800gts 320mb and my big bottleneck was an intel 965 chipset. I'm building a new one and I am stuck in picking a video card. Here is what my new system will have:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 (Probably OC'd from mid-3's to almost 4ghz)
Gigabyte GA-EX38-DS4 Motherboard
4gb (2 x 2gb) G.Skill DDR2-1066
Corsair 750w power supply
WD Raptor 10K 150GB and 250GB 7200rpm
Zalman 110mm cooler in cooler master centurion case
dual sata dvd/rw

I have never ran Ati, but the board is crossfire ready, so I was considering it. My budget is around $250 for cards but I can go a little over $300 if I have to.

1. eVGA 8800GTS 512mb KO edition
2. 2 X Ati HD3850s
3. 2 X Ati HD3870s (a little over my budget)

My other thought is to go with a cheaper card and wait until the better cards are launched this summer and invest in them. Also, I game at 1280X1024. I like to turn on all of the effects. Also, how are the current drivers and crossfire working in general? Thanks

i'd wait for either the hd4850 or hd 4870 from ati.

This is the best option
Drivers Of Cross Fire are far better than SLI but still not perfect
Also not all games support dual graphic cards
One good card better than 2 with lower specs in Cross Fire or SLI

id say...get the cheapest 512mb 8800gts g92 u can find...
by now those will overclock to over 800mhz... with the rest of your systems specs ... its enough to run crysis at 1680x1050 directx 9 ..on very high (with dx9 fix).

it'll probably work better than dual 3870's (crysis anyway)....other games the dual 3870s will win out...
but the overclocked single 8800gts will still be way more than enough with your spec for now in those other games for the resolution you stated FOR SURE.

9800gtx is a waste of time

then just wait for the new 4870/new nvidia chip... see how they go... and then make back something for the 8800gts

Well my last system I had a Q6600 OC'd to 3.2ghz and the 8800gts was overclocked. It was actually my third CPU in that system, I started with an E6400, then and E6600 and finally the Q6600 and it also started with a 7950GT before the 8800. I work in a computer shop and we can sell our old parts and systems here. I got $1300 for my old one. It was faster than I needed, but I wanted the Q9450 so bad.

I think it would be cool to run a dual card system, even if the performance is a little less. I'm thinking about picking up an 8600GT to hold me off for a month then buy a 4870 and crossfire later. The only game I am playing at the moment is team fortress 2.

Keep the 8800gts 320mb until the new cards come out.... but honestly, if you're playing at only 1280x1024 on such a sweet system, pretty much ANY card will be fine.

You don't really need a better card unless you want serious AA... I'd wait till mid-June (or July since nvidia usually delays launches!), get a new monitor, plug in the new g280 and play at 1900x1080