K, sorry for taking so long in getting back to you. The benchmarks were run on a P35 motherboard with a Q6600 @ 3.0GHz w/ 4GB DDR2 1000MHz ram at 1280x1024 resolution running the latest nVidia drivers and the the latest nHancer release. This is DX9 without force light bloom using the benchmark found on AVSIM over the Seattle area. I ran the benchmark 3 times on each setting and then took the average and here are the results:Max settings:9800GTX: 9.7796679600GT: 9.4823338800GT: 9.388Global Ultra High:9800GTX: 20.389600GT: 19.453338800GT: 19.86233Global High:9800GTX: 31.274339600GT: 31.0798800GT: 31.819DDR2 800 vs 1000:9800GTX 1000 20.389800GTX 800 20.25So there you have it!Overall impressions of the 9800GTX is that ahh... it's big, quiet, and the board doesn't get quite so hot as the 8800GT :) It seems that it has just a very very small tad less blurries than the other two, but it's hard to measure that. I find it interesting that the 8800GT beat the 9800GTX in the high setting. I wish I had a 8800GTX to throw in there as well but I would imagine that they would give similar results. I don't suppose that anyone would lend me one huh? :)

Thanks Kevin. I think you're not seeing much difference because of the resolution. At 1920*1200 there would be a far bigger gap with the 9800GTX a clear winner.I'll do some research tomorrow before making a decision assuming they find my card faulty. Although the 9800GTX is th latest card logic tells me the 8800GTX is still a worthy opponent.Why don't you treat yourself to a large display and the power of the 9800 would really show through?Cheers.

I swapped from an 8800GT to a 9800GTX driving a 42" at 19x10. This untrained eye's subjective impression couldn't tell any difference at all. If someone needs a card right now, I'd suggest a $150 8800GT, then wait and see what happens with the GTX280 due out next month. Right now, any expendature beyond $150 will provide a marginal improvement, at best. Keep your power dry (for now).

Thanks for that tip. I'll do a few benchmarks at 1600x1200 (the farthest I can go). I'll try to get them done tonight since I'm going out of town for the weekend. It will also include Scenery Tech's Landclass, Ultimate Terrain X, Ground Enviroment X, and Flight Environment X (since those what you all probably run, or something similar). I don't know if I'll have time to run the 8800GT, but I'll at least do the 9600GT (since that's what's in it right now) and the 9800GTX.

Sam,I don't want to wait until the new range of cards come out. I could be without a working FS PC for weeks. But anyone considering buying now would be wise to take your advice.My 8800GTX was faulty and I swapped it for an Asus Extreme 8800GTX. Currently stress testing it and it looks good.Kevin,Please don't do those just for my benefit now. As you can see I had a bad card and it's been exchanged. Having read several reviews of cards with lots of memory they really come into their own when driving high resolutions with lots of AA/AF.I have UTX (Europe) and am keenly waiting for GEX (Europe). I use ASX for weather including clouds.Phil Taylor did a write-up on cards a while back and in his opinion the 8800GT was a league lower than the 8800GTX/Ultra. For the price I paid I'm very happy with the 8800GTX's performance.Thanks.