i posted something a while back comparing the 128 and 256 ati 9800's, i don't remember for what site. Anyway, i remember thinking that the insignificant gains on the benchmarks could not be worth more the $5. However, most of the games out now would never use 128 megs of video ram, so it would be expected for the fps to not change much. Doom 3 and some of the newer games that shoujld be coming out MIGHT prove differently, but then, there will probably also be a new round of vid cards out by then as well, so trying to prepare for that is useless. I'd go with the 128 myself and spend 25 on summer reading material (or toward a game for the non-ubergeeks out there).