Ok so I'm uprading a graphics card.

[Glok]

Not my PC the family PC. So I'm not fussed about top end shit.

I have narrowed it down to either a GF5700ultra or a Radeon 9600XT. Any preference?

[Vampire222]

the xt, should be a bit better

[QuantumDelta]

Actually 9600 XT vs GF5700 Ultra is probably quite a bit closer than you'd expect.

I'm an ATI Convert, but I have experience with both those cards and I'm pretty sure the 5700 would win out.

--
Lots of reasons behind it, but basically, the 9600 is the 'sneaky budget' card of the 'top end' 9x00 range.

[Glok]

Actually 9600 XT vs GF5700 Ultra is probably quite a bit closer than you'd expect.Yeah, and they are about the same price too. I'll probably end up just flipping a coin. :p

[nightwind]

i have a 9600 xt and so far it has not given me any problems

[winnoc]

Get the 5700 and do a bios flash to a 5950 ultra.
I've done it and it works great.

[Opar]

omg 9800 pro.

ffs.

Buy.

[Ryuben]

http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20031229/images/image009.gif

standard bench mark to give u some thing to look at ;)

[Xizor]

9800pro.

[CkVega]

The FX5900 xt costs almost the same as the fx5700 ultra but outclasses it in almost any test.

Some people will suggest you go for the Radeon which is an opinion I can respect, as they do seem to perform better on paper than Nvidias cards.
I am still not convinced that ATIs Radeon cards have adequate Driver support as I've had a few problems in the past getting them to work with certain configurations of PC.