Well guys....Most of you are acting like we (me) did in the 3dfx community. So sure that our V2 cards and all expected and unexpected 3DFX cards would woooop the competition, guess we were dead wrong....As you ATI fans are. (And im not one...and neither am i a Nvidia fan...they killed 3dfx.) I dunno really why you are so blind to the fact that atm Nvidia FX5900 line of cards puts the ATI 9800 card back on the shelf...You cant really be seriuos that the cards ATI can put up today can match what Nvidia has, they simply dont have the juice in them. (But it will surely, soon, come out an ATI card that beats the FX series, but that wasnt what this post was about.) And the guy that says 9600 will run HL2 better than the FX series, gosh, what planet did he came from? Dont go out and buy a 9600 if you want to be able to play Doom3 or halflife2 with premium quality cause it cant handle it. Best card atm is without doubt the FX 5900 series from Nvidia if you want the best atm. (Althought 9800 actually has better image quality, but you will never notice.) So to answer your question simply: If you want to pump up coming games in 1600x1200 Medium to high quality there are only 2 alternatives, FX5900 and 9800pro, where i would prefer the FX card for more raw muscle power. (Dont even consider 9600 or any other card if you really want the best quality in future games.)
But my advice is to wait, there are 2 lines of cards waiting around the corner that will beat the 2 above with atleast 5-10% in performance....And will make the prices for FX5900 and 9800pro to drop dramatically.
And dont listen too much on fanboys, they are often stuck in the past. (Like that 9600 fanboy) Heck, ill recommend you to buy 2 3DFX V2 cards for best gaming performance ever, 2 V2's in SLI beat anything, ANYTHING (Even 9600), scrap those nvidia and ati cards....