I heard that the 9600 is a good card.
I was about to get one, but i went with an 8800GT.
I was doing all these research on it, and it has some great benchmarks.
I bought a PNY 8800 GT XLR8 Performance Edition off of Newegg for $110.00. It's not there anymore. But, I would have definitely recommended it. It came with free shipping, as well.
I play at 1280x1024 anyway, my max res on my 19" LCD. All my games play alright with my 2600PRO so I should be able to play them at even better frame rates, and I could maybe add some AA/AF in there. I'll probably ordering this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161235) sometime next week.