Questions on 9800GT, need some advice!

Just an FYI, your link is dead. If your card is an environmentally friendly underclocked edition, just go ahead and overclock it to the normal core and memory speeds, or beyond if it's able. I would recommend using EVGA Precision to overclock it, and ATI Tool to test for artifacts. Don't worry, EVGA Precision works with non-EVGA cards as well.

The only thing that might limit your overclock and shorten the life of the video card is heat and voltage. Unlike motherboards, CPU's, and RAM, video cards cannot have their voltage increased without modifying them in some way. So since the voltage is locked, all you can do is increase the core clock, memory clock, and shader clock little by little until artifacts appear. Use EVGA Precision to increase the clock speeds, and after each incremental change (maybe 5-10 MHz at a time) click the scan for artifacts button in ATI tool and look at the fuzzy little image thing. If the fuzzy image starts flickering with random artifacts, then you need to back down the overclock a bit. Although increasing the clock speeds will create a bit more heat which can reduce the lifespan of electronics, it is pretty trivial so long as the card is not artifacting. So just get the highest stable overclock you can reach and enjoy

And yes, 3DMark06 Pro is a fairly good comparison tool for video cards, but it doesn't necessarily reflect the real world performance of the games you own and play. The best way to make sure the card meets your needs is to play some games and make sure the gameplay is nice and smooth. I think the 9800GT you bought should be just fine, it's definitely a massive upgrade from the 7600GT so it should play all your games just fine.

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It's still superior to the 9600GT. OCing a GPU is easy, just download EVGA Precision (free download with registration), it allows you to adjust the core, shader, memory, and fan speed. I'm using it currently to run the shaders on my 8800GT @ 1728mhz for folding.

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Yes overclocking the GPU is easier AND faster than overclocking the CPU/RAM/Motherboard. GPU overclocking is done while in Windows, no confusing BIOS and no restarting. There are only three options you can really overclock, and that is the core clock, memory clock, and shader clock. Adjust them one at a time, little by little, using EVGA Precision. You can have ATI Tool open while you do this. After you make a small change, click the scan for artifacts button in ATI Tool. If everything is ok, you won't really see much happening. But if your settings are too aggressive, then the little fuzzy image will start artifacting. It will be VERY noticeable if it's artifacting. Once you find the values that create artifacts, back it down like 20-30MHz less than that value to play it safe, and enjoy your overclock

As for other cards in your price range, here's a 9800GT for $76 shipped. It's US48 only, but if you offer to pay $70 + whatever the shipping to Canada costs I'm sure he'd accept. Just tell him to ship it with whatever the cheapest option available is when he takes it to the post office.

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I wouldn't count on any significant price drops on the 4xxx series. They're making the 5xxx series cards now so they can keep prices steady on the few 4xxx series left, since they know there's a mix of people who will still want a second card for CrossFire or just noobs who heard from someone somewhere that some certain 4xxx card is the way to go and they'll blindly buy it regardless of price haha. I mean look at newegg for the 3xxx series cards, there's still HD3850's for $70-90. I think if you're considering an HD 4770, 4830, or 4850, you should just look for a used one in the OCN marketplace. Just missed me selling both of my HD 4830's for $75 shipped each haha. But don't worry, there will be others.