Now. at last, the questions; I have to make my mind up whether
go with the 9600 pro (the "full" one, not the EZ) or a FX5600 Ultra.
My experience with the FX5600 non-ultra has made me wary of Nvidia
latest chipsets and after seeing the difference in Planetside with
just the "EZ" version of the 9600 Pro I am leaning towards the 9600
Pro. However, with Doom III and HL2 in mind, am I being
short-sighted? I realise this is an ATI NG, but that is where the
experienced ATI users will be, so, FX5600 Ultra or 9600 Pro? Please,
advice as impartial as possible.

Think the 9600 Pro and 5600 Ultra (rev2) is about par on older games witha
slight edge to 5600 Ultra (Higher memory bandwidth), but when it comes to
newer games (especially as you mentioned coming DX9 games) it seems that the
Radeon cards leave the Nvidia ones in the dust.. So I'd say, go for the full
9600 Pro (Something like Sapphire or PowerColor).

Best Wishes
Thomas