I'm very satisfied even with my se's that don't softmod. if you're hurting for cash, it might be worth it to pick up the sapphire one. 136. couldn't hit the high speeds, but it would play anything I threw at it, so long as you weren't running a 1600*1200.
however, with the chance of a softmod, you prolly end up with a card that's either slightly above or slightly below 9800 spec.
your call really.