The Geforce3, besides being really overpriced would be a big mistake at least for a couple of months. The Geforce3 is supposed to be able to handle games written specifically with DirectX8a in mind. These games aren't even out yet and so if you look at the current gaming benchmarks like Q3 and MDK2, the Geforce3 is only a little better than the GF2 Ultra.

I would go for the Asus card you wanted or a lower priced one by Inno3D (www.ocie.com) they have a GTS on sale for $154. I'm upgrading now and I'm gonna get a GTS and wait a while for the Geforce3 MX since I'm a gamer and not a professional graphics designer (I also don't have piles of money to throw around, either).