buying a new video card, which one?

[juh915]

Okay I'm in the market for a new video card being that my current one is 32mb. Everything in my computer is upgraded except the video card. So I'm looking at spending around $150 or less if possible, but I could use some advice.

So here are the cards I've been looking at:
GeForce 5600 Ultra 128mb
ATI Radeon 9600 Pro 128mb
ATI Radeon 9600 XT 128mb

I realize that the XT is faster than the other two, but what are some of the differences between a geforce card and an ati card?

Also, for the ati cards, the 3rd party manufacturers (sapphire, asus, etc) are usually around $10-$20 cheaper than the ATI brand card, what is the performance difference between these? If the ATI is faster, is the difference in speed really worth the extra money?

As far as the geforce card, which manufacturer should I go with since there are so many out there.

Thanks in advance,
Justin

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by juh915 on 12/17/03 02:43 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Crashman]

The 9600 Pro is faster, and includes complete DX9 compliance instead of some hacked up DX8/9 driver forced mutation.

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