Ready to upgrade my video card. GeForce3 Ti200 is around $150, Ti500 is $250, and the Radeon 8500 is $200. The Radeon has more raw power on paper but I've heard the drivers are a mess.

What are people actually experiencing? I play mostly at 1024x768 and I want smooth framerates in Quake 3 and upcoming titles.

GeForce3 Ti200 for reliability. Nvidia's drivers are just so much more stable and mature than ATI's right now. The Detonator drivers are excellent.

Radeon 8500 when the drivers work is genuinely faster than the Ti500. But 'when the drivers work' is doing a LOT of heavy lifting in that sentence. ATI needs to get their act together.

Ti500 if you can afford it. Best balance of performance and driver stability. You won't need to upgrade for at least a year.