Here are my options:

My friend is willing to sell me his 8800gt 256mb ram for $85. At this price is it a better deal then buying a 4850 for sub $200? I know the 4850 beats it in performance, but would you save the extra money now and use the 8800 and the upgrade later in the fall or near christmas when another series of cards may be out?

Thanks to all for their input. I know there are a lot of threads out there talking about the performance of the 4850's but I just wanted to know some of your opinions. I'm still new at building computers.

If it was the 512Mb GT I would say go for it.
256Mb is not enough for any current card.
I would save a little more and get a 4850 for ~$170.

The 4850 is far superior to the gt, plus the lack of ram on the gt (256) is a no no. Get the 4850, and dont look back

^ yep, HD4850

That's right. Say no to 256 mb at all costs.

Thanks to all for the quick replies. I'll save up for 4850.

I don't think an ATI card was ever recommended so much.. Except maybe the 9700pro era

I would take the 8800GT and buy 1 year later as you said. We know 256mb is not the best, but you have a card for less than half price.

It's barely half the price, even the 8800GTS's been selling 120$ since the arrival of the 4800s.

256MB 8800GT is never a must buy, unless he sells it to the OP at $9.99

Im looking at todays cards possibly needing more than 512mb of memory. I have an old 1900xt512mb, and in some games, like oblivion, it acually performs a little better than my 8800gts320, simply because it has more memory. In no way would I ever recommend a 256mb card for gaming, unless its lite, for kids games.