I have a 3850 and have been able to play most games (like Fallout 3 and Half-Life 2) at the "high" performance level (I don't play many high-end shooters like Crysis, however, so YMMV)
I agree that buying last year's games are a good idea - by that time the price has usually dropped $10 - $20, most of the bugs have been patched, and often with games like Morrowind and Oblivion, a great deal of mods have sprung up.
Best of luck with whatever video card you decide on.
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I'd recommend a Radeon HD3850 - they're cheap at the moment (around $70), support directx 10.1, and only use 13.5W at idle and 63.1W under load (http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/radeon-hd3870-hd3850_13.html#sect0). Your current card, (I'm assuming you have the XT, not the Pro), consumes 23W at idle and 55.2W under load (http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/radeon-x1650xt_4.html#sect0).
If $70 is too much money, or you'd like less power consumption, the Radeon 4650 might be better for you. It goes for around $60 and uses only 30W under load (http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/ati-radeon-hd4650_4.html#sect0). It's not quite as powerful as the 3850 though.
I have a 3850 and have been able to play most games (like Fallout 3 and Half-Life 2) at the "high" performance level (I don't play many high-end shooters like Crysis, however, so YMMV)
I agree that buying last year's games are a good idea - by that time the price has usually dropped $10 - $20, most of the bugs have been patched, and often with games like Morrowind and Oblivion, a great deal of mods have sprung up.
Best of luck with whatever video card you decide on.