Shoutbox

If you want to buy nVidia it is up to you.  I would avoid PCIe until it becomes more widespread.  The X800 (which Halo nutter) is mentioning is a good card, but don't believe benchmarks.  ATi are in the docks for using tweaks that are against fairness.

For games around now while keeping to a SENSIBLE budget a 9700 Pro is probably your best bet, altho 5900XT's are not to be sniffed at either.  Also, those games aren't the most taxing around.  Try runing  Far Cry at 1024x768 or even Painkiller at the same resolution and see how they stumble.  Far Cry & Painkiller are True DX 9 games and are current engine builds.