ummmmm just my 2 cents.im also about to buy a new card to upgrade from a 9550 radeon.something i havnt seen anyone mention besides all these hardcore specs that are always helpful is that the x1000 series has avio software thats going to have over 1 billion colors.in addition to that there is also the adaptive anti aliasing to quote the official ati site"Radeon X1600’s 90-nanometer process technology and ultra-threaded architecture combine power and efficiency to optimized support for Shader Model 3.0 and deliver new high dynamic range visual effects, enhanced realism with adaptive anti-aliasing"
i was originally looking at the x800 series and while the unlockable 4 pipelines are tempting i am pretty sure they dont support shader 3.0,avio,and adaptive antialiasing.
in my case and yours in a value minded search for an awesome vid card the x1600 is much more appealing to me because it has the latest software and honestly the x1000 series hasnt even begun to be really overclocked yet while the x800 series has been pushed to the limit.
im waiting for any replies too