If you go here, http://www.futuremark.com/community/halloffame/3dmark06/, you will see that the 2900xt in crossfire holds 4 of the top 5 in 3dmark06.

I would say the ATI is doing pretty well...

For your price range NVIDIA is really the only choice. 8800GT or 8800GTS would be perfect. Good luck finding the 8800GT though.

Here are all the DirectX 10 cards for the upper end of your price range...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048+4018&srchInDesc=DirectX+10&name=%24200+-+%24300

Newegg is your friend!

Good luck!