Which X800XT?

[frostmeister]

I'm looking at upgrade choices in the near future for music/video watching, but also largely for doom3/nfsu2/hl2 and the like.
I'm running a 2500+ barton, OC'd to run @ 3200+ speeds on an A7N8X, 512MB corsair PC3200 and a 9700pro. I can crank up this lot and get about 18000 in 3Dmark2k1 and run playably like this.
What I want:
An A64winchester 3500+, Abit AX8, 1GB crucial DDR2 dual channel kit and more relevantly to this channel, an X800XT - PCI-e
So:
Having looked @ the X800XT choices out there, I've seen basically the same card with differing software bundles and a price varying between £300-£400 or for you lot across the pond $555 - $740. :) Yeah I know our prices *suck*. The cards I've looked at so far are the MSI, Saphire, and ASUS variants, + one other non-brand ATI reference design, the cheapest of the lot.
Is it worth paying the premium for the ASUS card? Is the reference ATI design worth going for instead being $180/£100 cheaper? Bear in mind I'm going to be making my own watercooling blocks/setup for this lot to, so cooling isn't an issue. I just wondered if there was a reason other than a fancy heatsink that I should pay more for one than the other?

[Sucka]

I have a sapphire XT (agp though) and it does 550/565 right out of the box, no added cooling or mods. Of course you're looking for pci-x which doesn't exist on the A64 platform *yet* so you'll be hard pressed to find anyone that could give you a run down on how the specs you're looking at will perform.

[frostmeister]

Thanks sucka, I was just looking for an opinion from people with the card, not neccesarily on the A64 platform as like you say, the AX8 and other boards sporting PCI-e are very new on the scene.
It just seems to me that it's the software bundle that makes the difference - or a webcam as well if you go with the ASUS X800XTPE. I'll probably go for the ATI reference design when the kit is all out if that is the case, unless anyone has any good reasons for getting an ASUS / other more expensive card. :)

[Sucka]

With the way these cards perform, i really don't think a few extra mhz here and there by card design is really going to make a difference, so buying by package isn't a bad idea. If you don't upgrade often, i think it might be wise to wait a few months for pci-e + A64 to come around, however if you plan to upgrade within the next 6-12 months, i think it's best to go AGP, and wait for the bugs to be ironed out of the A64 platform. The first few boards to come out i have a feeling are going to be buggy, i know i won't be jumping into the first generation A64 pci-e. Of course that's just my opinion :p

[PottaCoola]

i have a sapphire x800xt pci-e and it clocks 570 core/ 536 memory 2.0ns ram

[frostmeister]

Cheers chaps. It's all hanging on the mainboard really. As soon as the AX8 is out, I'm buying. Going for the non-branded overclockers.co.uk radeon X800XT - £317.