we just built a comp. for a buddy and he had the 9600 to begin with. It played like crap. he bench marked a 486 on 3dmark05. we put my 9800 pro in it, and it went to 2550 with only the card difference. we have upgarded to this card on two computers and both made a huge differnce.
if you would like, i will put my 9800 pro card in it, to see if it makes a differnce or not, before you purchase it.
brandon